An asteroid recently got some visitors. The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency landed several robots onto the surface of an asteroid in an historic achievement. It is the first time that this has been done. The asteroid, Ryugu, which is about 180 million miles away from the Earth, has little gravity so the moving robots hopped around, traveling about 49 ft. with each movement. During their short life span(about 17 hours), the robots collected data and beamed it back to earth. It is hoped that the data collected will help scientist learn more about asteroids.

At one time people thought a 1000 pound pumpkin was impossible. Almost each year a new record size pumpkin makes the news. This fall, Steve Geddes, of New Hampshire, has taken the world record for a pumpkin grown in North America. His whopper of a pumpkin was 2,528 pounds! Now, the thought of someone growing a 3000 pound pumpkin is being talked about as a possibility. Geddes pumpkin smashed the previous record, in 2017, of a 2363 pound pumpkin. In case you are wondering the world record is held by a Belgian named Mathias Willemigns. In 2016, his giant pumpkin weighed in at 2,624 pounds!

Photograph from Time.com

During the summer, eight year old Saga Vanecek was swimming in Lake Vidosten, in Sweden, when she spotted something unusual.Turns out that what Saga found was a 33 inch sword(about 3ft. Long) and not just any sword, a pre-VIKING sword believed to be about 1500 years old! Saga, whose family moved from the USA to Sweden last year, found a sword of metal, wood and leather, the first of its kind ever found in the area known as Scandinavia. Archaeologists are searching the Lake to see whether there may be other Viking artifacts. Thus far, a brooch has also been uncovered thought to date back to 300-400 CE. With a drought this summer, the lake levels were low and it is believed the is why Saga was able to spot the sword. Saga's discovery will be going on display at the Jonkopings Lans Museum. When Saga first held up what she had found, she called to her dad and said she had found a sword in the lake. She's being called the "Queen of Sweden" for her discovery.

Photograph from Jonkopings Lans Museum

Scientists have uncovered a new species of dinosaur. Found in South Africa, the Ledumahadi mafube(“giant thunderclap at dawn”), weighed a whopping 26,000 pounds when it roams the planet. Thought to be a relative of the brontosaurus, the huge dinosaur lived an estimated 200 million years ago. It is believed that like other sauropods(like the brontosaurus) this new species walked on all four legs and was a plant eater. Interesting, too, is the fact that the Ledumahadi is related to a dinosaur found in the country of Argentina, on the continent of South America. At one time, it is believed that there was a giant continent called Pangea making walking from one continent to the other very easy at that time!

Illustration from phys.org

Starting in November, a cafe in Tokyo, Japan, will have robotic servers, thanks to Ory Lab, a developer of robots. The unique experiment, using 4ft. tall robots to bring food to customers, is more than a novelty idea. It will give people with severe disabilities a chance to have a job. The robots, weighing about 40 pounds, can be operated by people who are unable to come to work. A tablet or computer with internet is what operates the robotic server, who has a built-in camera and microphone in its head. If the experiment works, it is hoped that a permanent cafe will be operating by the 2020 Olympics, to be held in Japan.

Photograph from sciencenewsforkids.com

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"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to compromise."FDR "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."(Ben Franklin) "You must be the change you want to see in the world."(Mahatma Gandhi) "School is a building that has four walls-with tomorrow inside."(Lon Watters) "We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make."(Senator Ted Kennedy) "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." (Robert Byrne)
Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!

About Gail:

I have retired from teaching after 33 1/2 years in the classroom. Of that time, I taught Grade 6 Social Studies teacher for 31 1/2 years.I earned my BA in early secondary education with a concentration in social studies from SUNY Oneonta, New York, and my MST in social studies education from Binghamton University in New York. In 1988, I was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies. Additionally, in 1988, I was also awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award by the National Council for the Social Studies. I am the author of 8 books for teachers and over 30 books for children(Purple Turtle Series by Aadarsh Publishing). In 2019, my new series of three books, "Odd History" will be published by Red Chair Press.

My work has appeared in most children's publications including:
Appleseeds,Scholastic's Super Science,Scholastic's Science World,Highlights for Children,Jack and Jill,National Geographic World, Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Faces, Muse Magazine,Contact Kids, US Kids,Action Magazine(Scholastic),Girls' Life,Boys' Life,American Girl, Instructor,Creative Classroom,Middle Years,Time for Kids,Scholastic News,Scholastic News Zone, Time for Kids , Ask Magazine, Dig,Calliope, Cobblestone, FACES, Studies Weekly, Glo Adventurer, and more.

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