An Earthquake Shakes Ecuador

Recovery efforts are underway after a massive earthquake rocks the country 

DOLORES OCHOA—AP

A police officer in Pedernales, Ecuador, evaluates the damage to a structure that was destroyed by the earthquake.

On Saturday night, the Earth rumbled in Ecuador. The massive earthquake registered 7.8 on the Richter scale, a system that measures the force of earthquakes on a 10-point scale. The last time Ecuador experienced a natural disaster this severe was nearly 70 years ago, in 1949.

The quake knocked out power in many parts of the country and sent people fleeing to higher ground, many fearing a tsunami and the sudden collapse of the structures that were left standing after the initial impact.

GUILLERMO GRANJA—REUTERS

Debris litters the streets of the Manta, a city off of Ecuador’s Pacific coast.

The city of Portoviejo, which is about 20 miles off Ecuador’s Pacific coast, was among the hardest hit. In the costal town of Chamanga, an estimated 90% of homes where damaged. In Guayaquil, the roof of a shopping center and a highway overpass collapsed. After the quake, 230 aftershocks were registered by Ecuador’s Geophysics Institute.

“Our grief is very large, the tragedy is very large, but we’ll find the way to move forward,” said Ecaudor’s president, Raffael Correa. The president, who cut his overseas trip short to oversee relief efforts, declared the country in a state of emergency. As of Monday morning, at least 350 people are known to have lost their lives, and 2,500 people are reportedly injured.

Aid Pours In

The Spanish Red Cross reports that as many as 100,000 people need assistance, including 5,000 who need temporary housing. As Ecuadorean officials and military personnel were dispatched to help citizens in Portoviejo with search-and-rescue efforts, support has been pouring in from neighboring countries.

On Sunday, more than 3,000 packages of food and 8,000 sleeping kits were delivered to Ecuador. Venezuela and Colombia, where tremors of the quake were also felt, organized airlifts, while Chile and Mexico sent rescue teams. Spain sent a military plane with 47 search-and-rescue experts and rescue dogs. The road to recovery is long, but president Correa stands strong. “If our pain is immense,” he says, “still larger is the spirit of our people.”

This is a tragedy! What can kids do to help the people in in Ecuador?

Drink up!

A new study shows that many kids aren’t drinking enough water

GETTY IMAGES

Kids should drink between 10 and 14 cups every day, according to a new study

Summer is almost here, and the weather is heating up.  Are you drinking enough water? Many kids aren’t, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health.

The study’s lead author, Erica Kenney, a scientist at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, originally planned to look into the amount of sugary drinks kids were consuming in schools. However, during her research she found that many kids were simply not drinking enough water.

Kenney and her team examined data from a group of 4,000 children, ages 6 to19, between the years of 2009 and 2012. The data was taken from the National Health and Nutrition Survey, a study on the health of children in the United States conducted each year by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

While looking through the survey results, she noticed that more than half of the kids who participated were dehydrated. Of that group, boys were 76% more likely than girls to not have enough water in their system. Nearly one quarter of the kids in the survey reported drinking no plain water at all.

“These findings are significant because they highlight a potential health issue that has not been given a lot of attention in the past,” Kenney said in a statement. “Even though for most of these kids this is not an immediate, dramatic health threat, this is an issue that could really be reducing quality of life and well-being for many children and youth.”

TONY GARCIA

It is important to drink a lot of water when you are being physically active.

How much is enough?

The human body is made up of 60% water. It regulates body temperature, delivers oxygen all over the body, assists in digestion, and performs various other tasks that keep our bodies healthy.

Not drinking enough water can lead to health problems such as headaches, irritability, poor physical performance, and even more serious issues.  Your body needs more water when you are in hot climates, when you are physically active, and if you have a fever.

The United States National Agriculture Library says on average, kids need between 10 to 14 cups of water every day. This water can come from a mix of drinks and foods that contain high amounts of water, such as celery, melons, or tomatoes. It is also recommended that fluids come from water instead of sugary drinks that are high in calories and can lead to weight problems.

“The good news is that this is a public health problem with a simple solution,” said senior author on the study and professor health sociology at Harvard University, Steven Gortmaker. “If we can focus on helping children drink more water – a low cost, no calorie beverage – we can improve their hydration status, which may allow many children to feel better throughout the day and do better in school.”

Tips for staying hydrated

The United States Center for Disease Control offers the following tips for people to stay hydrated:

- Carry a water bottle for easy access.

- Freeze some freezer-safe water bottles. Take one with you for ice-cold water all day long.

- Choose water instead of sugar-sweetened beverages. This tip can also help with weight management. Substituting water for one 20-ounce sugar-sweetened soda will save you about 240 calories.

- Choose water instead of other beverages when eating out. Generally, you will save money and reduce calories.

- Give your water a little pizzazz by adding a wedge of lime or lemon. This may improve the taste, and you just might drink more water than you usually do.

Why do kids need to drink water daily? Do you think you drink enough water?

The Jungle Boy

TFK talks to Neel Sethi about his starring role in Disney’s The Jungle Book. 

DISNEY

Neel Sethi plays Mowgli in Disney's "The Jungle Book."

Neel Sethi, 12, stars in Disney’s live-action remake of The Jungle Book, hitting theaters April 15. He plays Mowgli, an adventurous boy who grows up in the jungle among a pack of wild wolves. When a frightening tiger named Shere Khan threatens Mowgli’s life, the “man-cub” leaves his wolf-family and journeys into the depths of the jungle.

Along the way, Mowgli meets many animals. Some of them give him trouble, while others help to steer him away from danger. Bill Murray, Lupita Nyong’o, and Scarlett Johansson are among the actors who provide the voices for the animal characters. “I can’t pick a favorite actor to work with,” Neel told TFK. “They’re all really cool.”

DISNEY

Mowgli and his wolf-mother, Raksha, share a moment together.

As the only human with a starring role in the movie, Neel filmed most of his scenes in front of a blue screen. This is a special backdrop that lets a separately filmed or animated background be added to the final image later on. He acted many of his scenes out with puppets and other props that were eventually replaced by animated animals and jungle landscapes.

Neel particularly enjoyed his scenes with Baloo the bear, who was voiced by Murray. In Neel’s favorite scene, Mowgli floats on top of Baloo’s stomach as they sail down a river and sing “The Bare Necessities,” a song from the original 1967 version of The Jungle Book. This scene was actually filmed inside of a water tank, Neel says. “There was a big lump of styrofoam in the water with brown carpet on top of it. When [the brown carpet] got wet, it looked like Baloo.”

To prepare for all of the running and swinging that Mowgli does in the film, Neel trained in parkour, an athletic activity that involves quick movements through obstacles. “I run and jump around on my own time anyways,” Neel says, “so it really wasn’t that hard to turn into Mowgli.”

Neel grew up in New York City, a setting that’s very different from the wild jungle that Mowgli calls home. Yet the two boys have a lot in common, Neel says. “Mowgli and I are very similar, so there was no real character change. We’re both very stubborn, adventurous, and energetic.”

Have you seen this movie? Would you want to see the movie? Tell me why.

Success for SpaceX

The private space exploration company lands a rocket on a drone ship

SPACEX/PLANET PIX/ZUMA WIRE

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 booster rocket lands successfully aboard a drone ship on Friday, April 8.

NASA/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

This NASA TV image shows SpaceX's Dragon cargo capsule arriving at the International Space Station on April 10.

On Friday, April 8, a SpaceX rocket booster successfully landed back on Earth after it blasted off carrying a cargo capsule. Following the launch at Cape Canaveral in Florida, the rocket booster, Falcon 9, landed vertically aboard a special drone ship in the ocean. Dragon, the capsule, then successfully carried 7,000 pounds of cargo to the International Space Station (ISS).

The Falcon 9 landing was significant because rockets used to help with space exploration are very expensive, and typically are not able to be used again. Also, this is the first time that SpaceX has been able to achieve a water landing for a booster rocket after repeated attempts. “The rocket landed instead of putting a hole in the ship — or tipping over — so we're really excited about that,” says SpaceX founder and CEO, Elon Musk. SpaceX’s last attempted cargo mission failed in June 2015.

Musk has said that the company’s goal is to make rockets as reusable as airplanes. SpaceX plans to reuse the Falcon 9 rocket again sometime in the next few months.

BIGELOW AEROSPACE, LLC.

The Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM) is a small habitat that will attach to the ISS.

“It’s another step toward the stars,” Musk said. “In order for us to really open up access to space, we’ve got to achieve full and rapid reusability.”

Dragon arrived at the ISS on Sunday morning with the help of ISS’s robotic arm. The cargo it delivered included crew supplies, research material, and hardware. It also brought an inflatable habitat called the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (BEAM). BEAM will be attached to the space station this Saturday, and will be filled with air at the end of May. After astronauts inflate the BEAM with air, they will spend two years running tests on its conditions. This new technology may change the way that astronauts live in space. NASA also said it could possibly use BEAMs during Mars expeditions planned for the 2030s.

Why do you think landing the drone was a big deal for the SpaceX company? Do you think it is important?

Wild Tigers on the Rise

Conservation efforts are helping tigers

ANIMAL PRESS/BARCROFT MEDIA/GETTY IMAGES

Tigers are bouncing back! This Siberian tiger is roaming in a forest near Vladivostok, Russia.

For the first time since 1900, the world’s count of wild tigers is on the rise. Wildlife conservation groups said Monday that the number of wild tigers roaming the forests from Russia to Vietnam is 3,890. India alone holds more than half of the world’s tigers, with 2,226.

Many say this is a promising trend. The last worldwide estimate in 2010 had the number of tigers at an all-time low of 32,00, according to the World Wildlife Fund and the Global Tiger Forum.

Experts say the new number is good news, but they are cautious. Since the last census, there have been advances in technology for tracking tigers. It may be that experts are just aware of more tigers this time around. The number of actual tigers might not have changed.

JONAS GRATZER—LIGHTROCKET/GETTY IMAGES

Students in Sumatra, in Southeast Asia, track tigers by remote camera in 2013. Their work is part of an ongoing conservation effort .

Still, this is heartening news, according to Ginette Hemley, senior vice president of wildlife conservation at WWF. "More important than the absolute numbers is the trend, and we're seeing the trend going in the right direction," she said.

The Tiger’s Future

Tigers are still considered an endangered species. While the latest counts in Russia, India, Bhutan and Nepal all turned up more tigers, the numbers are still falling in Southeast Asia. Poaching is a huge problem in this part of the world, as well deforestation, which is shrinking the tiger’s habitat.

Since 2010, the governments of 13 countries have teamed up with conservationists. They are looking for ways to double the number of wild tigers by 2022. This high-level commitment makes all the difference, says Hemley. "When you have well protected habitat and you control the poaching, tigers will recover,” she says. “That's a pretty simple formula. We know it works."

What can people and kids do to help wild tigers even more?