Hi! I’m a paddlefish. I swim in the Ohio River, along with more than 160 different kinds of fish. Birds, beavers, otters, frogs, and turtles use the river too. The Ohio River isn’t only in Ohio. It runs through or along six states. It’s a great plac

Can you tell what this big fish is made from? Plastic bottles! More than a billion plastic bottles are sold each day, and a lot of them end up littering beaches and oceans. Artists picked up these bottles and used them to build a fish to remind us th

Paper, plastic, glass, and cans Don’t belong in the garbage can. If you can’t use them once again, Toss ’em in the recycling bin. Batteries, medicine, some cans that spray Should not be just thrown away. They’re what’s known as hazardous waste And mu

April 2024 Volume 27 Number 4 cricketmedia.com $6.95 ■

Do you know where this trash should go? Follow the paths to see. Don’t flush used tissues down the toilet. Shredded newspaper and cardboard can be composted. But there’s a better place for large pieces. You don’t need to scrub empty cans clean, but r

Andy’s little sister grabbed a piece of toilet paper and dropped it into the water. She leaned over the bowl and flushed, watching the paper disappear. Then she reached for more toilet paper. “Mom,” Andy yelled, while holding his sister’s hand. “Lizz

Every Thursday a big green garbage truck slowly rumbles down my street. The driver stops the truck in front of a house, and a worker jumps off. He grabs the trash bin sitting on the curb and empties it into the hopper, where the garbage is collected.

It’s recycling, yard waste, and trash pickup day. Who will get the job done first? Carefully remove the takeout pages. Cut out the truck markers on the dotted lines, then fold each marker along the solid lines so the truck will stand. Each player cho

“I love my new fleece vest,” exclaims Yo. “You’re supposed to be helping,” saysDad. “You know, that fleece of yours is made from bottles like those.” “That’s silly,” says Yo. “No,” says Dad, “it’s recycling.Factories buy plastic, chop it up, melt it,

When plastic or metal or paper gets recycled, it gets smashed and chopped into little pieces. Those pieces are then used to make new plastic or metal or paper. That’s good, but the quality of the new stuff may not be high. Upcycling is when you turn

Jeff pushed his nose against the window, waiting for his cousin Liz to arrive. Liz and Aunt Molly were coming to stay at his house. Jeff couldn’t wait to play at the park with them. He planned to show Liz the backyard fort that he and Dad had built.

If you look at the moon every night for 29 days or so, you’ll see how it changes shape, and you’ll see all the phases of the moon yourself! So, every night for about a month, go outside and look at the moon. Then go inside and draw how the moon looks

March 2024 Volume 27 Number 3 cricketmedia.com $6.95 ■

An observatory is a place where people look up at the sky through telescopes to learn about outer space. The bigger the telescope, the farther out into space you can see! Click visited his friend Natalia Tooley at the Cincinnati Observatory in Cincin

“The moon is so big and bright!” exclaims Yo. “It’s bigger than my basketball.” “Yes, the moon is bigger than that,” says Dad. “Bigger than our car?” asks Yo. “Bigger, Yo.” “Bigger than our house?” “Bigger, Yo. Bigger than all the houses in the world

Regular sunglasses are not enough to safely watch an eclipse. You need special eclipse glasses. But you can make a mask to go with them! All you need is half of a paper plate, markers or crayons, scissors, and your grown-ups’ help, plus solar eclipse

Eclipses occur because the moon and Earth are always moving. Earth orbits, or goes around, the sun. And at the same time, the moon orbits Earth. As Earth and the moon travel in their orbits, sometimes Earth moves between the sun and the moon and bloc

Everywhere you look—in drawers, in cabinets, or hanging from the ceiling—you’ll find simple machines. staircasebroomlightbulbblinds cordjar topoven doorsinkknifetoaster handlerolling pinpushpinpaper towel holder The paper towel roll spins around th

What am I? You’re so cleveryou know I’m a lever’cause I have a handle you swing. My name can mean noise,but all you’ll hear, girls and boys,is a soft thud when a ball hits my strings. What am I? I’ve a wedge at one endto cut into the ground.But to

One day when Jakey went outside to play, he found a possum in the window well. “Hello, possum,” Jakey said. “You look stuck. How did you get down there, anyhow?” The possum hissed at Jakey. “Whoa, possum,” said Jakey. He backed away. This possum didn

“I win again!” shouts Jennifer. “It’s not fair,” complains Yo. “You have the racing car.” “Look out!” yells Jennifer. “Look at it go!” exclaims Yo. “That gives me an idea.” “I’m making a ramp,” says Yo. “Me too,” says Jennifer. “Going downhill is alw

February 2024 Volume 27 Number 2 cricketmedia.com $6.95

flip a pancake? open a walnut? open a bag of snacks? take a hot dog out of a pot? a spatula to flip the pancake. a nutcracker to open walnuts. scissors to open the bag of snacks. tongs to take the hot dog out of the pot.