Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2015 i Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children

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. “Lizzie’s flushing again!” Mom rushed to the bathroom and picked Lizzie up. “Remember, Lizzie,” she said, “flushing is not a game. We only flush after we use the toilet. Let’s find something else to play with.” Lizzie burrowed her head in Mom’s shoulder. “Why does she like flushing the toilet so much?” asked Andy. “I think she likes watching the water and paper disappear,” said Mom. “You did that when you were Lizzie’s age too.” Lizzie squirmed out of Mom’s arms. “Bye-bye, water! Bye-bye, paper!” she said and ran…

Hi! My name is Trevor. I’m 5 years old, and I live in Missouri, near a river called the Jacks Fork. Before I was born, my grandpa Ted and grandma Pat decided they wanted to help keep the river clean. So they started a club called Stream Team 713. I like our other name better—the Jacks Fork River Rats! The River Rats make sure the water is clean and healthy for fish and people. And now I’m big enough to help take care of the river too. Come see! Picking up trash is sort of like a treasure hunt. My friends and I find bottlecaps, cans, candy wrappers, and all sorts of stuff. But there used to be even more garbage here. In one weekend, my grandparents once picked up…

“We need to have a yard sale,” says Mom. “Why?” asks Yo. “Because we have too much stuff,” says Mom. “We can sell things we don’t need.” “I don’t need a highchair,” says Yo. “Highchairs are for babies. I have too many chairs.” “I’ll start making price tags,” says Dad. “We can have the sale on Saturday.” Lots of people come to the yard sale. “Yo,” says Mom, “that lady is looking at your rocking chair.” “I changed my mind about the rocking chair,” says Yo. “I want to keep it.” “OK,” says Mom. “Almost everything else is sold. On Monday, the garbage truck will take what’s left.” “I think Lips changed his mind too!” says Yo.…

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. Crash! Clang! Clatter! The packer blade inside the hopper crushes the load to make room for more trash. Then the truck rolls to the next house, and they do it all again. Some towns use other kinds of garbage trucks. This side loader truck has an arm with a grabbing claw. The driver uses controls inside of the cab to make the arm pick up and empty the trash bin. A front loader truck collects trash from big buildings. It has two long…

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 must be dumped in a special place. Pile leaves and grass and vegetable scraps. Abracadabra, zoom, and zap! That compost heap will soon become Plant food for your garden. Yum! Toys and tools and clothes that are old Can be given away or sold. Reduce, recycle, and reuse. We can all help Earth, if we choose.…

Any serious gardener will tell you that you have to have a compost heap. Instead of throwing away food scraps like apple cores and old lettuce, I mix them with dead leaves and grass clippings in a big pile outside my cave. I even toss in crushed eggshells! Then these little guys start chewing. They break everything down, and in a few months I have beautiful, rich gardening dirt. My friends think I’m a brilliant gardener. But these guys do all the dirty work.…