Mt. Everest is the highest peak in the Himalayas and the tallest mountain on Earth! Located in Asia, Mount Everest is located on the border between Nepal and China and rises to 29,000 feet.

The year 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of the first successful ascent, when New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mount Everest. Their achievement has encouraged many more climbers to conquer the peak.

Every year, thousands of men and women try to climb it, to capture the peak and stand at the highest point on Earth. These climbers train for a long time to build the strength needed to climb Mt. Everest.

In addition they carry a lot of gear with the help of local very experienced climbers called sherpas and furry sure-footed animals called yaks.

The Climb
The first part of the climb is to traverse a glacier called the Khumbu Icefall.  This terrain is dangerously slippery and has deep crevasses. The climbers tie a rope to each other so that if a climber were to fall into a crevasse one of their teammates can pull them out.

After traversing Khumbu Icefall glacier, next is the climb up a very steep wall of ice called the Lhotse Face. This is a wall covered by thick ice and snow that never melts.

The Sherpas are very skilled and it is they that climb this wall first, to attach the ropes to the mountain, for the rest of the team - this is called lead climbing.  Climbers wear a harness that is connected to these ropes to help with the climb and prevent falls.

Climbers also have to carry oxygen cylinders as the air is thin resulting in very little oxygen to breath at these altitudes.

After months of preparation and weeks of climbing, the climbers reach the top only if all goes well.


Outstanding achievements
In 2010, Jordan Romero, a 13 year old American boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest. He was only nine when he climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa!  He claims to have been inspired by a painting in the hallway of his school that showed the highest summits of the seven continents.Did you know

The world's highest flying bird is an Asian goose. It can fly up and over the Himalayas and has been known to fly up to a height of nearly 21,120 feet .

GEM words
glacier: a slowly moving large mass or river of ice 
crevasses: a deep open crack, like one in a glacier

This is the story of 9 year old Caine Monroy. It shows how parental encouragement and a good samaritan’s kind gesture can change one’s life.  

So, what is Caine's arcade all about?
In the summer of 2011, Caine built a do-it yourself cardboard arcade in his dad’s used-car garage. He worked on and improved the games over several months. A filmmaker - Nirvan Mullick had stopped by the store to buy a door handle for his car. He was awed by the kid’s creativity and made a movie of the arcade and Caine. The movie went viral and many people visited the arcade. 

Nirvan decided to organize a surprise flash mob of customers to make Caine’s Day. Since then Caine’s Arcade has had visitors from all over the world! Nirvan setup the Caine’s Scholarship fund aiming to raise $25,000 for his education and donations over $60,000 were raised overnight! After first 2 months of the film's release, over 100 Schools in 9 Countries created cardboard arcades inspired by the story.

Caine was the youngest entrepreneur to speak at the USC Marshall School of Business. He was flown to France, where he became the youngest ever speaker at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. He also received the Latino Spirit Award from the California State Assembly in Sacramento . 

Meanwhile, millions of kids and adults around the world have been inspired. Nirvan created a second documentary film, called Caine’s Arcade 2 and launched the Imagination Foundation, to find, foster and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in more kids! The fund has raised over $235,000 and has launched the Global Cardboard Challenge that is held each year.

The Global Cardboard Challenge
The Imagination Foundation’s 1st annual Global Cardboard Challenge was held on October 6th 2012. It had over 270 events in 40 Countries. This year’s Global Cardboard Challenge is on October 5th 2013. This is an opportunity for all kids to participate and show their creativity in cardboard creativity.
 
Media quotes:
“It’s amazing what our children can do when we let them think for themselves…It’s retro and counter-intuitive, in an era of Tiger Moms and competitive nursery schools…” -Los Angeles Times

“…The kids who are building and sharing their own cardboard creations can instantly see themselves as part of a real movement.” -MacArthur Foundation

Gem words
flashmob - a group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, and perform an unusual act for a brief time
good samaritan - a charitable or helpful person
go viral - an image, video, etc that is circulated or sent around the Internet rapidly from one person to another

Labor day is devoted to all workers in the United States. This day is a celebration of the social and economic achievements of American workers.  


How it all began
More than a century ago, workers were forced to deal with harsh working conditions. The situation was such that everyone regardless of age, had to work extremely hard to survive. They were paid very little, and they often worked 10- to 12-hour days. Men, women and even small children were forced to work even when they were sick.

After getting tired of the long hours and dangerous conditions, workers began organizing themselves into labor unions. Besides fighting for higher pay and shorter workdays, they also took a stand for the rights of children. 

The rise of the workers
A New York City carpenter named Peter McGuire is credited with coming up with the idea for Labor Day.  When Peter McGuire was eleven years old he sold newspapers, shined shoes and cleaned stores, and later ran errands on the street in New York City. In 1863 his father, a poor Irish immigrant, got called to fight in the Civil War. Peter had to help support his mother and six brothers and sisters which was a very high expectation for a child his age.

When Peter was 17, he began to work in a piano shop. This job was better than his others, as he was learning something new, but it still had long hours and paid very little.

The main issue with labor conditions was that workers were tired of long hours, low pay and uncertain jobs. Soon they started to organize themselves into a union of laborers to improve their working conditions. In the spring of 1872, Peter McGuire and 100,000 workers went on a strike and marched through the streets, demanding a decrease in the long working day. This event convinced Peter that an organized labor movement was important for the future of workers' rights.

Peter spent the next few years speaking to crowds of workers and unemployed people to join the cause of workers' rights. He became known as a "disturber of the public peace." The city government ignored his demands. Peter himself could not find a job in his line of work.

In 1881, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri, and began to organize carpenters there. He organized a convention of carpenters in Chicago, and started the “national union of carpenters”. He later became the General Secretary of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America.

McGuire spent a decade fighting for worker's rights. Seeing Peter McGuire’s rise, other factory workers and toolmakers also began to make demands for an eight hour work day and a secure job. In 1882, McGuire proposed creating a special holiday for workers. On Tuesday, September 5, 1882, more than 10,000 workers marched in the streets of New York City for the first ever Labor Day parade. Two years later the celebration was moved to the first Monday in September. And in 1894, Congress passed a law making Labor Day a national holiday.

Labor day parades continue to this day to celebrate the day. Labor day also marks the end of summer when families enjoy a day of barbecues and picnics.

Gem Words
Regardless- Without paying attention to the present situation.
Expectation- A strong belief that something will happen or be the case in the future
Decade- A period of ten years
Proposed -  Suggested
Social - relating to human society
Economic - generation, distribution, and use of wealth.  
Credited- honor given to some action
laborer- a person who works
immigrant-  a person who moves to another country
unemployed – without a job
convention – a meeting or a formal assembly
union – join together to form a group for a common purpose

What if you were told that we could power the Earth only using sunlight plus water?  Scientists at MIT are working on making that possible! They are building what they call "an artificial leaf" or "hydrogen leaf" to do that.The "leaf" is built out of inexpensive metals. And, it can operate out of a glass of water, even dirty water, to create electricity. Wow! That sounds like electricity out of nothing! This technology can benefit the everyone, even in developing countries and remote areas!

Want to learn more about it and how it compares to a real leaf?

Using the same concepts behind photosynthesis in a plant, the artificial leaf uses the sunlight’s energy to break down the WATER it is placed in, into its hydrogen and oxygen components.  These gases are then collected when they bubble up through the water, and can later be used as fuel to produce electricity with the help of special devices called Fuel cells.

The real technology is in the ability of the "artificial leaf" to convert the water into the 2 gases  using just sunlight

Another similarity between the artificial leaf and natural leaves is that they both can undergo a self-repair mechanism  - this means that they are able to fix themselves in order to keep functioning.  When the artificial leaf was first built, it was only able to operate in pure water.  This is because bacteria builds up on the leaf’s smooth metal surface and that stopped the energy production process!  Now, the leaf has been treated with a special layer or “catalyst” that can fall apart, so there is no smooth surface that is required for the bacteria to grow on. This special layer is able to heal and come back together onto the leaf’s surface! With this major breakthrough, the leaf can now operate in dirty, unfiltered water! This is very attractive for use in the real world since water cannot be purified easily.  

The next step is to make manufacturing possible on a larger scale. Researchers believe that if this technology works as expected, we can double the world’s electricity production in the next 35 years. The use of cheap metals in the making of the artificial leaves and use of fuel cells makes this one of the cheapest and cleanest solutions. Any guesses on the byproduct or waste from the fuel cells? It is water!

I hope this technology works as demonstrated at the MIT lab and solves the looming energy crisis of the next few years.

By: Sally Sautner

On July 4, 1776, we declared our independence from Britain and a democratic United States of America was born. Every day thousands leave their homeland to come to the “land of the free and the home of the brave” so they can begin their American Dream.


Brief history of the Independence
In the 18th century Great Britain kept trying to make the colonists follow more rules and pay higher taxes. These colonists started getting upset and wanted to be able to make their own rules and regulations and become an independent country.

In 1776, Congress met in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and they appointed a group of people to work together , called the committee, to help Americans become independent. The committee put a formal documentation to inform Great Britain about their intentions. Thomas Jefferson was told to write the first draft of the document. After the committee’s final revision of the document the Americans declared the  the independence on July 2nd, 1776. They officially adopted it on July 4, 1776, therefore 4th of July is the official “Independence Day”. Just a few months later Congress had all the committee members sign the Declaration of Independence and by January of the next year the signed copies were sent out to all the states.


Declaration of Independence
Declaration of independence is a symbol* of our country's independence and commitment to certain ideas. The signers of the Declaration of Independence wanted the citizens of the United States to have a document that spelled out what was important to our leaders and citizens. The people who signed the Declaration risked being severely punished by the leaders in Great Britain. It was a huge risk to their life and they had to be very brave to sign something that would be considered a crime.

Importance of Liberty Bell
The Liberty Bell is a huge bronze bell that symbolizes freedom in the United States of America. The bell was originally cast in 1752 in London, England and was later secured in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

The bell rung at the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia (on July 8, 1776). It rang to announce many important events in early American history, including Presidential elections and deaths.

Did you know:

The stars on the original American flag were arranged in a circle to ensure that all colonies were equal, along with the thirteen stripes that exist on our flag today.


Gem Words
Revolutionary: Engaged in or promoting political revolution
Symbolize: Represent

Einstein the goldfish, who had lost the ability to swim, is afloat once more after his owner made him a special floating frame.

The elderly goldfish (Einstein), got sick with a problem called “swim bladder disease”. This is a pretty common problem in fish that live in aquariums. It affects the fish’s ability to float and turns it upside down!


Einstein was having a very difficult time swimming and kept sinking to the bottom of the tank.  Fortunately, his extremely creative owner, 32 year old Leighton Naylor, made him a life jacket out of recycled tubing! This life jacket fits perfectly over Einstein’s body and allows him to swim normally.

Because of the float, Einstein can no longer reach the surface to feed. Leighton drops him food through a straw into the water.  If Einstein is particularly unwell Leighton can also pick him up with his little life jacket to make sure he gets his food. 

Leighton says he is now looking forward to teaching new tricks to Einstein and his other friends in the tank - fellow goldfish Pat, Frank and Blondie. Einstein's proving to be his “star student.” The star goldfish can already swim through his teacher’s fingers and through hoops using a feeding wand! Leighton is going to introduce Einstein to fish football next.

Gem Words 
afloat - not sinking

The former Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, died aged 87 on April 8th 2013, after suffering a stroke. She was one of the defining personalities of the 20th century. Born in October 1925 at Grantham, a small town in eastern England, she rose to *prominence to become a British Prime Minister and was in office for more than eleven years (1979-90).


Early Life 
Margaret Roberts was born in Grantham, England on October 13, 1925. Her father was a grocery store owner. Margaret learned early on about politics from her father Alfred who later served as the Mayor of Grantham. Margaret attended Oxford University where she studied Chemistry.

While attending Oxford, Margaret became interested in politics. She became a strong believer in a conservative government where the government has a limited amount of intervention in business. She served as president of the Oxford University Conservative Association. After graduating with a degree in Chemistry in 1947 she got a job working as a chemist.


Prime Minister
Thatcher became Prime Minister on May 4, 1979. She held the top position in the United Kingdom for over 10 years. Margaret Thatcher became one of the world's most *influential and respected political leaders, as well as one of the most controversial.

Prime Minister Thatcher *implemented a number of changes at the start of her term including *privatization, union reform, increased interest rates, and changes in taxes. At first, things did not go well, but after a few years the economy began to improve due to these changes.

One of the most important events during Thatcher's term was the Falkland War. On April 2, 1982 Argentina invaded the British Falkland Islands. Thatcher quickly sent British troops to retake the island. Although it was a difficult task, the British armed forces were able to take back the Falklands in a few short months and on June 14, 1982 the Islands were once again under British control. She was very popular both at home and in the Falkland islands for her decision.

Margaret played an important role in the Cold War between US and Soviet Union. She was extremely against *communism but worked with President Reagan of the United States and Michael Gorbechev of the Soviet Union to end the tension between the two countries. It was during her leadership that the Cold War effectively came to an end.

Margaret Thatcher felt strongly about Privatization. She moved some government run industries such as utilities into private ownership. In general, this helped as prices for goods came down over time.

On November 28, 1990 Thatcher *resigned from office under pressure from the conservatives that her policies on taxes were going to hurt them in the coming elections.

After retiring, Margaret Thatcher was given the title of a Baroness in 1992. The title of Baroness is very prestigious and is not given to anyone outside of the Royal family! It is a remarkable honor that she was given this title by the *monarchy.


Life after Being Prime Minister
Margaret continued to serve as a Member of Parliament until 1992 when she retired. She remained active in politics, wrote several books, and gave speeches for the next 10 years. In 2003 her husband Denis died and she suffered a number of small strokes. Since then, she has not been involved in public life.


Interesting Facts about Margaret Thatcher

• While Secretary of Education she ended a free milk program in the schools. She was known for a time as "Thatcher, the milk *snatcher".
  
• A *journalist  from the Soviet Union even nicknamed her the “Iron Lady”; a name that stuck due to her strong style of leadership and politics.
  
• She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from the United States.
  
  

Important terminology
Communism - Communism is a type of government and philosophy. Its goal is to form a society where everything is shared equally. All people are treated equally and there is little private ownership. In a communist government, the government owns and controls most everything including property, means of production, education, transportation, and agriculture.


Gem Words
Prominence - The state of being important or famous.
Implemented - Put into effect
Privatization - Changing something from state to private ownership or control
Influential - Powerful
Resign - Quit
Journalist - Reporter
Monarchy - A form of government run by kings and queens

It is said that driving is a privilege, but it can seem like a terrible chore at times. In places like Southern California, the traffic is terrible, and often times driving a few miles can take much longer than it should. While we can’t take all the bad drivers off the road, what if technology created a world where there was no such thing as a bad driver? That’s why the idea of a self-driving car is so exciting, but it is also somewhat terrifying to give up the control of the car.

Self-driving cars seem like science fiction, but they’re actually more real than you think. In 2010 Google made an announcement to *launch their very first driverless car. The main goal of the project is to make driving safer, more enjoyable and more efficient. Their first model car has completed more than 300,000 miles of computer-led driving, gathering great experiences and an overwhelming number of enthusiastic supporters.

Many car companies and research organizations and universities have developed working prototypes of automated vehicles. These include Nissan,Toyota, Audi, and universities like Oxford and Stanford. As of February 2013, three U.S. states, Nevada, Florida and California have passed laws permitting driverless cars.

These driverless cars still require a real person behind the wheel to be able to override the computer of the self driving car. Once the technology and safety is proven it is expected that there won’t be the need for a driver behind the wheel.

In 2012, Google released a video of one of their self-driving cars doing a test run by taking a blind person for a spin in the car. It showed the clear benefits of such technology by driving the man to run his daily errands at the dry cleaners, to the pharmacy to pick up his prescriptions and even to Taco Bell for lunch.  The drive took place on a carefully programmed route with another person sitting in the passenger seat.

With autonomous cars, the technology promises fewer road deaths, faster travel, and more fuel efficiency. Since human error is the reason for most car accidents, technology can resolve this issue. Put enough of these cars on the road and they can talk to each other to keep a safe distance between each other and thus cut down on traffic jams.

It is clear that *autonomous vehicles are coming. The cost to manufacture these cars today is about $150,000 because of the technology being used. Once the technology and safety is proven, and costs brought down, *adoption will happen fast. They will redefine travel.

Gem Words
autonomous: independent
adoption: acceptance
launch: start
benefit: an argument in favor of something

Special Thanks to David Winsor