A Healthy Environment

Children are growing up with a concern for the environment. Their textbooks cover subjects like acid rain and pollution. School receptacles help them take recycling for granted. From the first Earth Day on April 22, 1970 to the report from the UN-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on April 6, 2007, young people have seen the environment make news. During their lifetimes, in 2007, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore shared a Nobel Prize for Peace for his contribution to global warming awareness. Some students probably have seen "An Inconvenient Truth," Gore's Oscar-winning documentary film on the subject.

     Carbon dioxide and other gases, such as methane, have the shorthand name, greenhouse gases. The IPCC report, Climate Change 2007: Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability, said there was unequivocal evidence that human activities generate the greenhouse gases that trap energy from the sun and cause global warming. Children who know they cannot leave pets alone in a car in the summer are well aware of the dangerous result when glass lets in the heat of the sun without reflecting it back out.

     Greenhouse gases are generated in a number of ways. Garbage dumped in landfills and cattle during their digestive process emit methane. Oil and coal produce needed electricity, but burning these fossil fuels produces trapped heat. Yet, more than a third of the energy consumed in the U.S. comes from oil, and coal generates nearly half of all U.S. electricity. The military requires these reliable sources of power for national security. Throughout the world, the growing industrial and transportation demand for oil, including increased domestic demand in countries that currently export oil, adds pressure to continue an aggressive search for oil shale and other limited oil reserves here and abroad.

     With the growth of world economies fueled by coal and oil, air pollution increases and the greenhouse gases that are heating the earth will continue to melt the polar ice cap and glaciers that reflect heat away from the planet. In 2012, the sea ice in the Arctic Ocean, 1.58 million square miles, was at a record low. Storms build in warm water, and, since the Atlantic Ocean is now warmer than it was in the early 20th century, storms can become more violent. Also, melting ice has caused water to rise, thereby leading to more coastal flooding from storms. As a result of the rising sea level off the coast of India and Bangladesh, New Moore Island disappeared in 2010.

     Glacier melt high up in the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau affects the water supply of three billion people in India, Pakistan, China, Nepal, and Bhutan. Increased melting can cause flash floods to overwhelm villages in Nepal and Bhutan. Flooding from Kashmir's record rainfall, the heaviest in 50 years, killed 400 people in 2014. Ultimately, vanishing glaciers could cause competition for limited melt, especially to grow food, among three nuclear powers: India, Pakistan, and China. On March 31, 2017, a court in India granted Himalayan glaciers the status of "legal persons" to give legal representatives a way to protect them. Water shortages are already a fact of life in China, where drought and a dam on the Yangtze River caused the country's largest freshwater lake to drop to 5% of its usual capacity. With China now planning to construct three dams on rivers flowing from the Tibetan plateau, the area's future water shortage could be even more dire. A plan to build a dam on the Irrawaddy River was blocked, because it was expected to produce electricity for China, but flood villages in Myanmar.

    Every year, World Water Day on March 22 calls attention to the fact that the U.N. already estimates over one-sixth of the world's population lacks fresh water for drinking, washing, and cooking. The Water.org website provides information about efforts to come up with solutions to the need for water in developing countries. In a limited way, according to trendwatching.com, a billboard in Peru collects water from humidity in the air. Trendwatching.com also reports that the nonprofit, Water Is Life, is distributing a "Drinkable Book" in Africa, China, and India. The pages not only provide basic health information, but they also act as water filters. Coated with silver nanoparticles, the pages remove 99% of harmful bacteria, when water passes through them.

     All in all, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change projected the following results from an anticipated three to seven degree Fahrenheit temperature increase. Oceans would rise over islands and coastal areas, and already dry desert countries would suffer greater water shortages. There would be lower crop yields, diseases, extinction of up to 30% of plant and animal species, and intense natural disasters. Some 50 million people could become what the IPCC termed environmental refugees.

     The impact of drought on food production is leading to some solutions. Scientists are developing drought-resistant crops with longer roots to reach water and with genes, such as those from ferns and mosses, that enable crops to recover from dry periods. The Swiss firm, PlantCare Ltd, has developed a system to reduce water used to irrigate fields. Soil sensors monitor the water needs for plants at various growth stages, seasonal temperatures, and time of day before a central computer determines the amount of irrigation to deliver to a field as large as one with a 18.6 mile radius. The company also can deliver mobile irrigation systems to fields that do not have permanent ones. Another promising development is the cross-breeding process that mates animals with breeds from Africa and India that already have developed a tolerance to heat and drought. Trendwatching.com reports a truly innovative idea Korean designer, Gyeongwan Kooz, has for turning chopsticks into plants. He would put a seed under a starch cap on each chopstick. After use, the sticks would be placed tip first into soil.

Student action

From two directions, students can take action to reduce global warming and contribute to a healthy environment for the world's population. They can reduce activities that produce greenhouse gases by consuming less electricity for light, heat, air conditioning, transportation, manufacturing, pumping and purifying water, and running appliances. Secondly, they can reduce the amount of refuse that ends up in methane-producing landfills, explore ways to sop up greenhouse gases before they go into the atmosphere, and identify energy alternatives for oil and coal. The book, Green Is Good by Brian F. Keane, might even give them an idea for a career in which they can take advantage of money-making, responsible environmental opportunities.

     Summer offers students an opportunity, not only to read about ways to implement clean energy solutions, but also the chance to make a healthy contribution to the planet by drinking tap water instead of water from plastic bottles that last forever in landfills. Summer also presents an opportunity to plant a rain garden of flowers at the curb to stop dirty water from running into the street and ultimately into streams and lakes. By planting a vegetable garden, youngsters can eliminate the fossil fuel burnt carrying some foods to market. Raising vegetables and herbs can be a major undertaking (See "How Does Your Garden Grow?" at the end of this post.), but planting seeds or tomato plants in any available plot of ground still helps children learn how to care for the earth by watering their "crop," seeing it grow, removing weeds, and harvesting their own food. Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) and MindWare (mindware.com) both provide kits that enable children to watch a few carrots, onions, and radishes grow in a Root-Vue Farm year round. In grocery and other stores, kids might find herb plants or seeds and soil to grow rosemary, oregano, thyme, and mint in containers on sunny window sills.  

      Several science kits from MindWare (mindware.com) and Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) also enable young people to gain  hands-on-experience with solar power during the sunny days of summer. They will  see how solar panels can power models, including robots, a windmill and airboat. Another MindWare science kit shows how to make an oven that can cook an egg using sun power, and MindWare's Weather Station kit provides experiments that demonstrate the greenhouse effect, while its Clean Water Science kit helps kids understand the process of desalination. Free Spirit Publishing in Minneapolis offers two books that describe water-related projects for children in elementary school (Make a Splash) and those in high school (Going Blue). The company also publishes A Kids' Guide to Climate Change and Global Warming.

     When it's time to go back-to-school, the Environmental Protection Agency (epa.gov) reminds students to purchase notebooks made from recycled paper. The carbonrally.com website challenges students to strive for waste free lunches by carrying a reusable lunch box/bag and putting lunch items in washable, recycled "butter," sour cream, and cottage cheese containers. Carbonrally also suggests substituting reusable, insulated stainless steel bottles for disposable juice boxes and plastic water bottles that require energy for production and emit gases in landfills. If a school does not elect a Commissioner of Environment to student council, students should suggest the need to add this office. At my granddaughter's school, the Commissioner collects and properly disposes of recycled items from each classroom, suggests projects (planting a tree), and finds ways to participate in energy saving and other contests for students.

     Year round, children can recycle their outgrown toys and clothing at a garage sale or thrift store to eliminate the need to use electricity to manufacture new ones. They can save energy as often as they walk or run outside instead of on an electric-powered treadmill and when they walk, bike, or take public transportation rather than ask to be driven to school, activities, or the mall. Finally, they can help save water by sweeping decks, walks, and driveways rather than hosing them down.

     The same beguiling ways children use to persuade parents to buy a new cereal and scouts use to sell cookies can urge adults to:

• Replace incandescent bulbs that release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere with compact fluorescent lights. Turn off lights (and computers), when no one is using them.
• Buy ENERGY STAR (registered trademark) efficient appliances.
• When information is available on clothing tags, company websites, and apps, buy clothing that has received a high Higg Index score from the Sustainable Apparel Coalition for reducing energy costs, use of water and harmful chemicals, and unrecycled landfill fabric. 
• Buy hybrid cars that burn less fossil fuel and electric cars that run on lithium-ion battery packs.
• Paint roofs white to absorb less heat and weatherize windows and attics to prevent heat loss.
• Cut down on the use of fuel to generate electricity for air conditioning by setting summer thermostats at 78 degrees. Keep warm in winter by wearing a heavy sweater or robe rather than turning up the heat past 68 degrees.
• In hot weather, reduce the need for air conditioning by cooking in the cooler mornings and evenings.
• Rediscover awnings. Investigate and use other ways people kept buildings cool before air conditioning.
• Buy produce a a local farmers' market to reduce the fuel needed for transport, and remind them to carry a reusable sack to market and to store leftovers in glass rather than disposable plastic bags and containers.
• Urge parents to buy a mulching mower that leaves grass clippings on the lawn to decompose and   provide moisture to shade roots and reduce watering needs.
• Conserve water by fixing dripping faucets; taking shorter showers; and wetting hands or toothbrush and turning off water while applying soap or toothpaste before turning the water back on again. 
• Pave walkways, drives, and parking lots with porous concrete that enables storm water to flow back into the ground.
• Start petitions to establish recycling centers for electronic goods and to pad playgrounds with recycled, shredded tires.
• Remind adults to recycle ink cartridges at stores where they were purchased.
• Reduce landfill waste that releases methane emissions and pollutes the soil by recycling glass, paper, cans, and plastic and reusing padded mailing envelopes, plastic bags, and other items. Not only do plastic bags last forever in landfills, but they also end up in water where they kill over 100,000 whales, seals, turtles, and birds every yearSa.
• Save trees by getting off mailing lists for unwanted catalogs and viewing brochures and other information that is available online.
• Keep from contaminating soil and water by using safe community disposal methods for used batteries, oil, computers, and energy efficient light bulbs that contain mercury.
• Visit the website, smartpower.org, to learn about the Neighbor to Neighbor Challenge.

 Absorb less heat

Scientists in the field of geoengineering are discovering ways to control global warming by helping the planet absorb less heat. To counteract the loss of reflective ice from shrinking polar ice caps, they would force the ocean's dark open water to absorb more carbon dioxide by fertilizing plankton with iron and phosphorus. Other geoengineering proposals worthy of pro and con study include: sending giant mirrors into space, injecting reflective sulfate particles into the stratosphere, pumping seawater into clouds to help them block more sun, covering the deserts with reflective sheets, and engineering trees to absorb more carbon dioxide.

     As is, one mature tree already absorbs 48 pounds of carbon dioxide according to the website, planetgreen. discovery.com. The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, Wangari Maathai, founded a program to plant a billion trees. The United Nations Environmental Programme reports her idea has resulted in 12 billion trees being planted in 193 countries. At school and at home, students can join this effort by planting trees and going to unep.org/billiontreecampaign to record the number of trees they planted.

     Trees have the added benefit of cutting down on electricity consumption. The Department of Energy reports as few as three leafy deciduous trees placed on the south and west sides of a building block sunlight and prevent summer heat buildup indoors. Once these same trees lose their leaves in fall, they let in sunlight to warm buildings in the winter. Evergreen trees on the north and west sides of a building block wintry winds.

    Another idea to keep an eye on is a light-colored coating for black asphalt pavements. Several colors are being tested. They show promise for reflecting up to 40% of energy.

    

Energy alternatives

The need to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases has set off a race to find quick fix solutions and alternatives for fossil fuels. Much like foods that stress their low fat and high fiber content, but fail to mention they contain lots of salt and sugar, remedies proposed as renewable resources, solutions for a clean environment, and the cure for global warming gloss over drawbacks. The Department of Energy's Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy website (eere.energy.gov) provides information about alternative energy sources, such as solar, wind, water, biomass, geothermal, and hydrogen and fuel cells.

        Students challenged to develop science fair, scouting, or research projects might want to learn more about the peel-and-stick solar panels developed by Chi Hwan Lee and Xiaolin Zheng at Stanford. Unlike the heavy, rigid fixed panels that now collect solar energy, their process creates a flexible film of solar cells. Students should be able to find many uses for this low cost, peel-and-stick solar cell film that can adhere to irregular surfaces and to paper, plastic, window glass, and other materials.

     Students interested in designing a full scale green city of the future will want to keep an eye on Chengdu, the city in southwestern China that is designed to accommodate 80,000 residents in a central core surrounded by green areas and parks. This city aims to develop solar, water, and waste systems that use 48% less energy and 58% less water than towns of a comparable size.

     Students also need to think about tackling some of the problems associated with the following "solutions."

     Although hybrid and electric automobiles reduce carbon emissions from burning fossil fuel, expansion of the electric power grid needed to supply these cars requires additional fuel. Moreover, these cars are too expensive for most buyers, and more battery exchange or electric charging stations are needed to service hybrid and electric autos. According to the website, trendwatching.com, a company in Italy has come up with a solar powered charger for electric vehicles.

     Without any changes, all automobiles can reduce gasoline consumption by substituting a 10% ethanol additive. However, land needed to grow ethanol crops, such as corn and soybeans, has led to food and animal feed shortages, the destruction of rain forests that sop up greenhouse gases, and reduced animal habitats.

     Biodiesel fuel can be extracted from algae that is fertilized by municipal and agricultural wastewater and even saltwater. The carbon dioxide released from burning algae-based biodiesel fuel is less than the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed during the algae growing process. But the cost of establishing a one acre algae pond mixed by motorized paddle wheels is higher than planting corn for ethanol. Bioreactors that prevent microorganisms from invading ponds increase costs even more. Algae ponds also absorb less carbon dioxide in winter and none at night. At the moment, the cost of extracting and refining biodiesel from algae is too high to be economically feasible.

     Homes and businesses can tap into the Earth's underground heat (geothermal energy) to reduce carbon emissions, but front-end installation costs, including small bore drilling to reach the heat source target, can be expensive. Underground lakes of heated water, not available everywhere, are the best sources of geothermal power. However, the permits and other hurdles involved can delay a geothermal power plant from being built for 5 to 10 years.

     A close look at wind power also reveals drawbacks as well as benefits. At best, one estimate suggests wind could generate only 20% of the energy used in the U.S. by 2030. A less reported problem is the number of wind turbines that have caught on fire. Touted as a non-polluting and renewable source of electricity, wind power proponents also stress the industry's potential for job creation. What has been downplayed is the need to spend billions for new transmission lines to connect remote wind farms to urban areas and the need to develop storage capacity to save wind energy for calm days, since wind speed (and sun for solar power) does not ebb and flow with the demand for electricity.

      Apple is seeking a  patent on a process that addresses the problem of storing wind power energy by enabling the heat generated by rotating wind turbines to be stored in fluid. This concept of turning wind power into heated fluid also is being used to generate electricity by turning solar power provided by mirrors into superheated water that becomes the steam that turns turbines. While solar-thermal plants can generate electricity without the pollution and carbon emissions of fossil fuels, they are more costly than coal and natural gas furnaces. Government guaranteed loans were needed to help finance Ivanpah, the solar-thermal plant on the California-Nevada border in the Mojave Desert. Nonetheless, this plant, which also enjoys the guaranteed purchase of its electricity at above market prices from California's utilities, is a model for interested Middle Eastern desert countries, such as Saudi Arabia.

     Further, besides the problems of transmitting and storing wind power, some are concerned about the effect wind farms have on people, especially those living in wide open spaces where the wind power industry pressures local governments to grant noise control exemptions. Noise from wind turbines is described either as a jet engine or a rhythmic hum. In either case, the sound cannot be ignored while watching TV or trying to sleep. One study at a home 1,280 feet from a wind farm in Brown County, Wisconsin, found that even almost inaudible, low-frequency sound coming from outside caused homeowners nausea, dizziness, headaches, and ear pressure similar to motion sickness. According to a report in the "Wisconsin State Journal" (January 4, 2013), Clean Wisconsin, an environmental group that arranged the test and favors renewable energy, contended the study did not conclude that low-frequency sound caused the health problems, because no peer-reviewed studies found health problems related to inaudible sounds. Headaches, dizziness, and nausea also have been claimed by some people affected by the flicker effect of alternating shadows and sunlight caused by the spinning blades.

     Four years from now, wind turbines developed by the Spanish firm, Vortex Bladeless, could overcome some of the criticisms that have prevented windfarms from serving as an alternate source of energy, especially near homes in urban areas. A smaller version of the Vortex bladeless wind turbine, coupled with a solar panel and small battery, could be available to run three lights, a TV, and a refrigerator in homes in Africa and India in 18 months.

     By eliminating moving parts, bladeless wind turbines don't cause the flicker effect, and they are less visually intrusive, almost noiseless, and safer for birds. Yet they are able to collect close to 40% of energy from the wind (less than the 50% some conventional wind turbines collect and generate). Positioned on a magnetic base, the bladeless mast amplifies the oscillation caused by the swirling air passing by the 150-meter tall turbine. Since there is no friction, there is no need for lubricating oils. The lack of mechanical parts also reduces manufacturing and maintenance costs.

     Like Vortex Bladeless, students might focus on the questions about wind power that need answers. Are people making health claims because they do not like the look of wind turbines and the view they obstruct? Could strategically placed trees muffle sound and prevent flickering light and shadows? In terms of zoning, how close should turbines be to homes? What are acceptable low-frequency and high-frequency decibel sound levels? At what noise level do conventional wind turbines constitute a nuisance? What percentage of the nearby population has to be disturbed in order for a community to get an injunction stopping windfarm construction? Should state and/or federal governments prohibit local authorities from imposing regulations that block or ban wind energy projects?

Conclusion

Books and toys are beginning to tap into the concern children show for the planet. A Child's Introduction to the Environment, which comes with a reusable lunch sack, explains the need to protect the air, earth, and sea and lists 15 easy things to do to help the environment. It also includes instructions for conducting experiments, such as detecting smog. Catalogues from MindWare (mindware.com) and Young Explorers (YoungExplorers.com) come with more and more toys that demonstrate how new power sources work.

     Focusing on the environment means focusing on an interrelated system that includes the natural world and all the peoples that inhabit the Earth. Sometime in a child's future there may be no magazine articles, talk shows, television segments, websites, or documentary films devoted to reducing carbon footprints, water conservation, and recycling. These activities could become such a normal part of life that they would merit no more public discussion that how to order fast food, use an ATM, or wear contact lenses do today. If that day comes, kids can congratulate themselves for the healthy world they helped create.


                                                How Does Your Garden Grow?

Different soils have different needs Get a soil test by the state's cooperative extension service or buy a soil test kit at a garden center. Heavy clay soil, for example, requires added sand and nutrients from peat moss, manure, or compost. Acidic soil may need lime; alkaline soil, sulfur.

Dig up and turn over the top layer of soil before planting Remove weeds, rocks, and other debris from garden plot. Add compost or manure fertilizer. Make organic compost from lawn clippings, leaves, kitchen vegetable scraps, and egg shells. Go to the websites, birdsandblooms.com/mag and planetgreen.discovery.com, for additional composting ideas.

Fence out predators, including rabbits and pets Marigolds may deter rabbits, but, to really deter burrowers, a fine mesh fence needs to extend below ground level. Keeping deer out will require a six-foot fence. Pest control may require treatments matched to specific bugs.

Grow vegetables and herbs Check seed packets for advice about when to plant, how deep to plant, and how far apart to space plants. On little sticks, label which vegetables have been planted where. Tall plants, such as tomatoes and cucumbers, require support by tall stakes or small branches, and they should be planted on the north side of the garden to keep from shading lower plants. Vegetables might include: beets, broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, lettuce, onions, peppers, radishes, scallions, snap peas, squash,  and Swiss chard. Plant herbs, such as basil, chives, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme.

Maintain the garden by watering, weeding, and removing withered growths When possible, water with rainwater collected in buckets. Sandy soil needs more frequent watering than clay. Weeds will take over the garden if not pulled out by the root.

A mini-greenhouse provides a year round growing season. The website, fourseasonfarm.com, lists sources for glass greenhouses.

    

    



    
                                                                                                                   

Talk with the Animals

Animals are a familiar sight to babies who see lambs on their lullaby mobiles and cuddly teddy bears in their cribs. From an early age, children have ducks and bunnies on their clothes, eat animal crackers, imitate farm animal sounds, play with the family pets, go up and down on merry-go-round horses, and ride real ponies. The fast, smart, and surprising activities of animals make fascinating reading in a book such as Steve Jenkins' The Animal Book. And the games, stencils, stickers, and crafts in The National Geographic Kids: Animal Creativity Book provide another fun way for children to learn about animals.

     The natural affinity children have for animals provides a ready segue to an interest in the countries where animals live. Like the extinct dinosaurs that fascinate boys and girls, every species cannot adapt to every country's environment. A trip to the zoo demonstrates how the environments of countries around the world are not the same; some are suitable for some animals and some are not. In its Children's Atlas of World Wildlife, Rand McNally offers a comprehensive explanation of how climate, food, terrain, and isolation influence where different animals live, and, by inference, how countries differ. Reindeer, penguins, and polar bears found in most zoos live on flat tundras and ice flows in very cold climates. By contrast, giant pandas are only in a few zoos, because they seek privacy by hiding in China's dense mountain forests. Unlike the rare solitary pandas, zoo visitors are likely to find a town of prairie dogs and herds of buffalo from North America's grassland plains. The Lion King prepares children to see lions, zebras, giraffes, and elephants at water holes in the zoo's imitation African veld. For the zoo's hippopotamuses, large pools simulate the African rivers and lakes where they like to swim. The zoo's rhinoceroses, whether they come from Africa, India, Borneo, Java, or Sumatra, also like pools that represent the rivers and wetlands of their natural homes.

     The zoo's monkeys, apes, chimpanzees, gorillas, baboons, and orangutans come from tropical rain forests and dense jungles where they live with parrots and other colorful birds. Children familiar with Jungle Book also know the home habitats of the zoo's tigers, panthers, and snakes. Most interesting, as Charles Darwin observed in the Galapagos Islands, is the unique way animals develop when their environments are confined to an island country such as Madagascar or the island continent of Australia. These are the homes of the ring-tailed lemur, koala bear, kangaroo, wombat, and platypus.

     Just as zoo animals provide an awareness of different foreign habitats, pet origins can do the same. The tailless Manx cat, children learn, comes from the Isle of Man in the Irish sea. Thailand, formerly called Siam, produced the Siamese cat, while the long-haired Angora originated in Ankara, Turkey. Persian cats trace their ancestors to Afghanistan and today's Iran. What also could send children to a map are their first encounters with a wide variety of dogs, including a Mexican Chihuahua, English Sheep Dog, Dutch Keeshond, German Dachshund, Russian Wolfhound, Siberian Husky, Chinese Shar-Pei, Tibetan Lhasa Apso, and Japanese Chin.Parents who field requests for ponies could send their sons and daughters to a map to see how far they would have to go to find one in the Shetland Islands. These children may have to settle for a pony ride at the zoo or petting massive Scottish Clydesdales or French Percherons at a state fair.

Culture creatures

Some countries consider animals such an important part of their cultural identity that they include them on their national flags. Indigenous birds, for example, fly on the flags of Bolivia, Dominica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Kiribati, Papua New Guinea, Uganda, and Zimbabwe. The eagle soars on the flags of Albania, Mexico, Egypt, Zambia, and Moldova. A variety of animals appear on other national flags. Andorra's flag includes cows; Bolivia's, an alpaca; Peru's, a llama; and Sri Lanka's, a lion. Vanuatu uses the curved boar's tusk on its flag to symbolize power and riches. Some British dependencies and independent Commonwealth members continue to display England's golden lion on their flags, and, although the French flag is the official one flown by France's overseas departments, Martinique's unofficial flag has snakes, and leopards grace the unofficial flag of St. Pierre and Miquelon.

      In a country's culture, frequently seen animals also can begin to take on meaning. The Chinese and Japanese zodiacs associate those born in certain years with the traits of 12 animals: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep/goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. Many museum stores carry the Japanese netsukes that are little statues of the animal zodiac signs. Children born in the Year of the Dog, 2006, for example, might like to own a dog netsuke to remind them that they are thought to be excellent confidants because they are loyal friends who know how to keep secrets. Different cultures also assign different traits and meanings to the same animal. In India devout Hindus, who consider the monkey god, Hanuman, a symbol of wisdom, righteousness, and strength, believe primates should be free to roam cities not live in forests or zoos. Some cultures consider horses work animals, while others focus on their beauty and racing speed. All may see the turtle as a symbol of security and long life, while pigs may be seen as dirty or food.

Animal activists

If children could talk with gorillas, whooping cranes, and manatees, they would learn that all is not well in the animal kingdom. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, one out of every four mammals is in danger of disappearing forever. The same is true for one out of every eight birds and one-third of all amphibians. What is promising, however, is a growing awareness of the need for animal protection and recovery programs. Advocacy organizations, such as the World Wildlife Fund (worldwildlife.org), help the public understand the role each species plays in keeping various ecosystems in balance. They urge governments to crack down on wild animal poachers, the sale of ivory elephant tusks, the exotic bird trade, and the hunt for Atlantic bluefin tuna. On May 6, 2015, New York's Supreme Court will even consider whether or not nonhuman animals that are "sufficiently intelligent," such as chimpanzees, great apes, elephants, whales, and dolphins, can be considered property and held legally.

     There are a number of ways children are involved in animal preservation. Magazines, such as National Geographic Kids, Zootles, and Zoobooks, introduce young people to what wild animals do and how their habitats are disappearing. For a donation to the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), a lucky girl or boy can choose a plush version of 100 species of wild animals. Youngsters who ride the carousel at a zoo in Madison, Wisconsin, come face to face with animals threatened with irreversible extinction. Rather than the typical, colorfully decorated merry-go-round horses, they each go up and down sitting atop an endangered, protected, vulnerable, or threatened animal. National Geographic (shop.nationalgeographic.com) offers an Endangered Animal Discovery Game and the Safari Rush Hour Game.  With a bit of help from adults, all students who are informed about the need to protect vanishing species can write letters or send emails to government officials in the United States and elsewhere. (In its "Nations of the World" section, The World Almanac lists the addresses of foreign embassies in the United States.) As activist and Body Shop founder, Anita Roddick, used to say, "If you think you're too small to have an impact, try going to bed with a mosquito."

     Advocacy campaigns have paid off in the adoption of recovery programs for a limited number of species. In South America, a capture, shear, and release program has managed to both provide coveted fleece and save vicunas from the brink of extinction. Other countries have moved to protect animals by imposing fines for killing endangered animals and setting aside sanctuaries and pristine habitats. Governments also have compensated farmers for losses caused by protected predators, as the United States has done in the case of wolves. To save the bald eagle, the U.S. responded to the admonitions of Rachel Carson in her book, Silent Spring, by banning the use of the DDT pesticide that weakened shells before birds could hatch. Consequently, the bald eagle went from 417 breeding pairs in 1963 to an estimated 10,000 today. As a result of these programs, both the wolf and the bald eagle have been removed from the endangered list in some states.

Spotlighting special concerns

Even more than campaigns to save endangered species, circuses and zoos can cause children to face the reality of cruelty to animals removed from their native countries. Since a trip to the big top is an honored family tradition, the treatment of animal performers is a topic best approached by raising questions rather than by issuing inflammatory pronouncements. To that end, the first question is: How are circus animals trained? Are they like poodles, parrots, dolphins, and chimps whose natural abilities to learn tricks respond to positive reinforcement?

     Now, consider what the circus's lions, tigers, and elephants are asked to do. Has their natural animal behavior in Africa and Asia been suppressed by using electrical devices, bullhooks, and whips and by withholding water, food, sleep, and exercise? How are animals transported from city to city every four or five days? Do they have enough space to assume their normal postures and to move around freely or are they confined in cages or chained in ventilated, but not heated or air conditioned, trucks and railroad boxcars? Based on the considerations raised by these questions, Bolivia's government, for one, passed a law prohibiting the use of animals in circuses. On October 23, 2013, the Los Angeles City Council joined two counties in Florida and two in Georgia that banned bullhooks used to train circus elephants by inflicting pain on tender parts of their skin.

     Natural behavior provides a useful frame of reference for the treatment of zoo as well as circus animals. Bears are too curious to live where they see the same surroundings day after day. What do elephants do in the wild? In groups of as many as 20, African and Asian elephants roam up to 30 miles a day, eat, and bathe in water holes and dust. When only one or two elephants are confined in a zoo, they get bored and develop arthritis and joint disease from standing with all their weight in one place, especially in winter when they stand on concrete floors indoors. Other heavy animals, such as hippopotamuses and rhinoceroses, also develop foot problems unless they have large pools to buoy up their bulk. Giraffes and gazelles share the elephants' need to cover long distances.

     The big cats and primates, on the other hand, seem relatively well suited to zoo life. In the wild, after catching their prey, lions, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and tigers enjoy napping much of the day. The activity level of monkeys and chimps is just the opposite, but if they live in groups and have a stimulating play area where they can use their minds and fingers, they, too, are satisfied zoo dwellers.

     Children who want the best for the circus and zoo animals that come from all over the world will be happy to know that legislators, organizations, and zoo executives are working to eliminate abuses. In the United States, the Animal Welfare Act sets minimum standards for confined, warm-blooded animals. Congress needs to be asked to do more, however, since the number of government inspectors is insufficient and cold-blooded animals are excluded from the Act's protection. Animal behaviorist, Dr.Patricia McConnell, also points out that although there are federal requirements for protecting the psychological wellbeing of primates, there are no such standards for dogs used for research. She finds veterinarians and animal care technicians in laboratories focus on air flow, cleanliness, and food storage but neglect their needs for social bonding, intellectual enrichment, and a stable environment. Instead of relying on government funding, the Performing Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) uses contributions from individuals and community support to operate three California sanctuaries for abused, abandoned, and retired performing animals and animals rescued from the exotic animal trade. The PAWS website, pawsweb.org, invites donations and sells books, t-shirts, artwork, and travel packages to benefit elephant and other animal victims.

     Many zoos have decided to stop exhibiting elephants, and some cities have prohibited circuses from including elephant acts when they come to town. There is a proposal to confine elephants to a limited number of national zoos, just as a limited number of theme parks satisfy children. Tourists already are willing to go all the way to Kenya to see lions, giraffes, and other animals in the wild; to Costa Rica to see the famous blue Morpho butterflies, and to New Zealand for a chance to see an emperor penguin. Once young people realize the animals they love are abused or endangered, they will think of even more ways to support and publicize the countries and activities that protect their friends. As one student's science fair project demonstrated, based on natural behavior, some animals are best suited for the circus, others for the zoo, and most for the wild in the countries where they are born.







    

This We Believe

Around their neighborhoods youngsters are likely to see churches, temples, and mosques. In the supermarket, they may observe women wearing scarfs and veils to cover their hair, men wearing turbans and yarmulkes, priests with round white collars, and women practicing the yoga discipline of Hinduism. Some of their friends may put up Christmas trees and attend church on Sunday. Others will observe a period of penitence from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, play with dreidels on Hanukkah, and go to temple on Saturday. For Muslims, their holy day is Friday. On a visit to an art museum, children see paintings of saints, statues of Buddha and Hindu gods, but, curiously, no representations of Muhammad.

     Since religions tend to concentrate in certain geographical areas, knowing even a few facts about the world's primary faiths helps children understand people from other countries. To than end, Barron's has published the series, This is my faith, to give children an overview of the world's major religions. In a country, such as Bangladesh, all major Muslim, Christian, Hindu, and Buddhist holy days are national holidays. But different beliefs also can cause conflicts between peoples holding strong religious convictions. Christians launched Crusades against Muslims, and many Muslims oppose the Jewish state of Israel.

Mohammed's legacy

Of the world's more than six billion people who declare themselves a certain religion, nearly one out of every five is a Muslim. There are 150 million Muslims in both India and Pakistan and 125 million each in Bangladesh and Indonesia. Major concentrations of Muslims also can be found in Malaysia, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Egypt, Algeria, and Morocco.

     Interest in the Islamic faith increased after September 11, 2001, when Muslims from the al-Qaeda organization flew the suicide missions that destroyed the twin towers in New York City and damaged the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The airplane hijackers saw themselves turning the West's technology against a materialistic, anything-goes lifestyle contrary to their religious beliefs. To counter this point of view, churches, schools, and other organizations began to publish materials and sponsor programs showing the Muslim faith espouses a pious way of life that does not sanction suicide, killing innocent civilians, or destroying places of worship. Friendship Press (friendshippress.org), for example, published the book God is One: The Way of Islam.

     The Muslim faith was founded by Mohammed, who was born about 570 into an Arab family in Mecca on the Red Sea coast of what is now Saudi Arabia. Drawing on Jewish and Catholic religious teachings he turned away from the worship of idols and recognized one true God, Allah. As a result of the divine revelations he received from the angel Gabriel, Mohammed assumed the role of the last and greatest prophet, in the line of Moses and Jesus. His teachings were collected and written in Arabic in the Muslims' sacred book, the Qur'an. Hadiths describing Mohammed's attitudes and lifestyle tell Muslim men to wear full beards and refrain from drinking alcohol, gambling, collecting interest on loans, and eating pork, considered to be unclean. Along with belief in one God, Muslims pray five times a day facing Mecca, fast from dawn to sunset daily during a month of Ramadan, and once in a lifetime try to make a pilgrimage to the Sacred Mosque at Mecca. Muslims consider all representations, even of Mohammed, sinful idolatry.

     To escape local protesters who resisted conversion, Mohammed fled north to the oasis of Medina, Saudi Arabia, with his wife; cousin Ali; and early convert, his father-in-law, Abu Bakr; in 622. Muslims consider this date of Mohammed's flight, or hegira, the first year in their calendar. Faced with the need to support his followers in Medina, Mohammed claimed a revelation justified attacks on caravans carrying goods from Mecca. Muslims martyred in what became a holy war, or jihad, against the infidel were promised a paradise that satisfied their sensual desires.

     After Mohammed died in 632, the Islamic world split to follow two different successors. Sunnis, who make up about 90 percent of the world's 1.6 billion Muslim population and are the Muslim majority in countries such as Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. These Sunnis favored electing a caliph to head a Muslim state. They followed Mohammed's knowledgeable early convert, Abu Bakr, who they recognized as their secular and religious leader. A number of Sunni Muslim groups have been organized to destroy Israel and its US ally. In 2014, fighters from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS), a radical strain of Sunnis, began terrorist attacks to take territory in Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, and northern Africa. In contrast, Sunni al Qaeda terrorists have no specific territory, although they have been active in Lebanon's Palestinean refugee camps and training camps in Afghanistan. Another fundamentalist subset of Sunni Muslims, known as Salafists, oppose Shi'ism and are willing to use violent jihad to purge society of all modern, Western influences and to create a government, proselytizing media, and social norms, such as coverings for women, that conform to rules laid down in the Qur'an. They consider all innovations that deviate from the straight path of Islam, submission to God, heresy that leads to hell. Consequently, they would eradicate the Shi'ites and impose strict Islamic law, or Shari'a, as interpreted in the "early Muslim" (Salaf) days of Mohammed, over the entire Muslim world.

    The smaller Shi'ite group of Muslims, located primarily in Farsi-speaking Persian Iran rather than in the Arab world, has a disproportionate amount of power, especially in oil-rich areas and, after the U.S. led defeat of Saddam Hussein, also in Iraq. Shi'ites, including those, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon, and Shi'ites in Iraq, Yemen, and Bahrain, follow descendants of a hereditary successor, Muhammad's first cousin and son-in-law, the imam Ali ibn Abi Talib. In 1979, Iran's Islamic revolution overthrew the pro-American Shah of Iran and established the Middle East's first modern theocratic regime. Hezbollah's Shia suicide bombers hit the U.S. Marine Corps barracks in Beirut, Lebanan and the U.S. Embassy there. Hezbollah fighters continue to terrorize Israel's northern border. Iran's determination to develop nuclear know-how is especially threatening to Israel.

    In contrast, Indonesia, whose estimated population of 253 million is 86% Muslim, is a democracy.

Judaic-Christian heritage

Two major events influenced early Jewish history. First, over 3000 years ago Moses led his people out of Egyptian captivity, received the Ten Commandments, and ushered God's chosen race into the Promised Land of Palestine. Secondly, King Solomon constructed the great Jewish temple in Jerusalem. In 135 Romans destroyed the Temple with the exception of the western wall, known as the Wailing Wall, and ordered the Jewish people out of Jerusalem forever. In 1917, Lord Balfour, Britain's foreign minister, raised the possibility of carving an Israeli state out of Palestine. London would gain an opportunity to implement Balfour's plan on September 11, 1932, when the League of Nations made Palestine a British mandate. In 1948, Israel became a Jewish state. Outside of Israel, nearly half of the world's Jewish population live in North America.

     Jewish people believe in one God but do not recognize Jesus as the Messiah. Consequently, their calendar is not divided into the period before Christ (B.C.) and after Christ (A.D.). The Torah is the sacred Jewish text that contains the five books of Moses, and the Talmud, which records Jewish law and legend, prescribes a code of living. Rabbis serve as Jewish teachers and synagogue officials who, among other responsibilities, prepare 13-year-old boys for their bar mitzvahs and 12- or 13-year old girls for bat mitzvahs. These ceremonies welcome young people who have studied to achieve a mature understanding of Judaism as adult members of the Jewish community. In some areas, Jewish and Christian families gather in late March or early April to share a Passover Seder, or banquet. Together they celebrate the Israelites' hasty escape from Egypt, when Moses delivered his people from slavery, and the Christian holy day, when Jesus ate his Last Supper with the Apostles.

Catholicism

From the earliest days of the Catholic Church, missionaries have followed the example of Saint Paul, who took advantage of Rome's Appian Way and extensive road network to spread Christianity. As a result, in addition to more than 500 million Christians in both Europe and Latin America, there are over 400 million Christians in Africa, more than 350 million in Asia, and about 277 million in North America.

     Christians recognize the Bible, Old and New Testaments, as the inspired word of God. Catholics also rely on tradition and abide by the authority and teachings of the Pope in Vatican City. They believe there are three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, in one God and that Jesus, the second person of the Blessed Trinity, is both God and man. Jesus is recognized as the Savior who mysteriously loved mankind enough to die on a cross in order to appease God for man's original sin in the Garden of Paradise. The sacrifice of Jesus reopened a heavenly paradise to mortal man.

     Throughout the centuries, Christianity's 2.2 has fragmented. Slavic countries, following the baptism of Prince Vladimir of Kiev in 988, formed the Russian Orthodox church. In 1100, the patriarch in Constantinople, head of what became known as the Greek Orthodox Church, separated from the Pope. Protestant Christians, such as Anglicans, Lutherans, Methodists, and Presbyterians, continue to espouse a personal relationship with Jesus but, beginning in the 1500s, their ministers were no longer ordained or bound by bishops consecrated by the Pope.

Approaching Nirvana

Hinduism, as it developed in India some 3500 years ago, recognizes a Trimurti of three great gods: Brahma who created every life form in the world; Shiva, the destroyer who brings forth new life; and Vishnu, the preserver. In contrast to Islam, the world's one billion Hindus in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Guyana, and Suriname use statues of millions of gods to represent different aspects of the one universe.

     Hinduism does not promise believers a material heavenly reward. Instead, most followers believe in karma, i.e. a person's present life form is an inevitable reflection of good and bad deeds performed in a past life. Ultimately, good souls are reborn into higher and higher life forms until they reach Nirvana, a state of peace and nothingness when the cycle of life, death, and rebirth end. Evil people, according to the Hindu faith, are reborn into lower life forms that require more reincarnations. The idea of transmigration, or constant reincarnation into higher or lower life forms, leads to the conclusion that even an insect should not be killed and that cows should not be eaten.

     Just as Muslims journey to Mecca and Catholics make pilgrimages to sites where Mary, the mother of Jesus, has appeared and miracles have occurred, Hindus travel to the sacred Ganges River, the dwelling place of the goddess Ganga, to bathe, ask for her blessing, and seek freedom from the pain of rebirth. For Kumbh Mela every 12th year, as many as 80 million Hindu pilgrims travel to Allahabad to bathe in the Ganges in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. Wherever they are, Hindus use meditation, symbolized by a third eye, to escape the pain and sorrow introduced through the senses, and they use the discipline required to hold yoga positions for long periods of time as a way to free their minds from earthly concerns.

Buddhism

The meditation and physical discipline of Hinduism failed to satisfy the wealthy young prince from India who founded Buddhism, a religion practiced primarily in Asia. In the sixth century before Christ, after he saw a man suffering from old age, another from disease, and another dying, Gautama Siddhartha, who would later hold the title of Buddha, launched a search for happiness. While sitting under a fig tree, defined as the Bo Tree or tree of enlightenment, Siddhartha determined that overcoming selfishness was the key to happiness. In the Tripitaka, which contains his teachings and monastic rules, Buddha counseled followers to know themselves, to concentrate on their inner resources, and to see life as it is with all its suffering and sorrow. Following the Noble Buddhist Path to personal enlightenment and social harmony requires right understanding, thought, speech, action, effort, and concentration. In other words, Buddhists strive to avoid anger, violence, lying, gossiping, and stealing. Without the help of idols, temples (the wat), or holy men, Buddha taught that followers could attain the Nirvana of Hinduism by performing their own good works.

     Prior to the opening of the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing, demonstrations broke out in the Tibetan region of China, where Buddhist monks have been under attack since 1959. At that time, the 23-year-old traditional Buddhist leader, the Dalai Lama, fled to India, where he has remained in exile for nearly 60 years. From his home in Dharamsala, he urges the leaders in China, where there are 244,000 Buddhists, to see that harmony comes from the heart not from force. As he has said, "In the practice of tolerance, one's enemy is the best teacher." Nonetheless, as recently as July, 2013, Yu Zhengsheng, who is in charge of ethnic minorities in China, said the country will continue its struggle against the Dalai Lama.  Contrary to the belief that  all Buddhists espouse non-violence, in Burma (Myanmar), the radical Buddhist monk, Wirathu, has been preaching hatred for Muslims. His sermons have led to violence against Muslim minorities not only in Burma but also in Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Malaysia.

     Like Catholics and Hindus, Buddhists do not consider statues idolatry. Actress Jennifer Aniston, for example, has a Buddhist statue of Avalokiteshvara, goddess of compassion, in her office. Although the Buddha taught that there is no one all powerful God, many followers pray at his shrines and celebrate his life and teachings on the Makha Bucha holiday as though he is one. Huge statues of Buddha dot Pakistan, India, Thailand, Japan, Korea, and Cambodia. These statues may be standing, sitting with legs crossed in the lotus position to represent emerging like a lotus plant from the mud to reach enlightenment, or lying down to indicate having reached Nirvana through death. Hand positions, or mudra, vary to signal welcome, no need to fear, meditation, victory over distractions, or that the Buddha is teaching. A popular 14th century Tibetan scroll painting features a blue skinned Buddha who is said to have the power to heal.

Peace through religious understanding

Brief descriptions of these major religions offer some idea of the impact they have on the behavior of people throughout the world. These descriptions also help adults introduce young people to the similarities and differences of the world's religions and respond to children when a movie, television show, or news item, such as the recent attack on a Sikh temple, pique their interest in sacred concepts. In the movie Mulan, for example, the dead relatives of a young Chinese girl care about her in the manner China's moral philosopher, Confucius, described in his teachings about ancestor worship six centuries before Christ. Pocahontas, on the other hand, showed a Native American girl who viewed spirits in nature in much the same way as children might if they practiced the Shinto faith in Japan. Exposure to other religions, even the superstitions, fertility cults, animistic fetishes, and voodoo found in Africa and Haiti, helps children gain insight into the way people in other countries think and live.

You Are Here

One of the easiest ways to introduce a child to the world is to hang a map. Just like seeing "You are here" on a map at a mall, amusement park, or subway, helping a child locate his or her home on a world map provides instant orientation on the globe.

     Book stores sell a wide variety of world maps. For example, the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides provide pull-out maps and additional information about 100 worldwide destinations. Free maps also are available at motor clubs and travel agencies. Satellite and aerial maps can be downloaded at earth.google.com and purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey. Since countries are prone to change their names, break up, join together, or adjust their boundaries, outdated maps and old atlases and globes frequently turn up at antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales.

     Not all maps are equal. Selecting a map would be less complicated, if the world were flat. In the process of projecting the global sphere onto a two-dimensional piece of paper, distances and shapes of countries at the nearly 25,000-mile Equator remain relatively unchanged. Toward the North and South Poles, however, flattening causes distortion. The Mercator projection developed by 16th century Flemish geographer, Gerardus Mercator, failed to compensate for distortion at the poles. His map shows Africa almost the same size as Greenland even though Africa is nearly 15 times larger. Using a technique reminiscent of the one employed by Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in 17th century China, Arthur H. Robinson created his egg-shaped, elliptical map to more accurately reflect the size of the polar regions in relation to the continents. The U.N.'s white on blue symbol overcomes distortion by viewing the world's inhabited continents from the North Pole.

     Children can replicate the way J. Paul Goode reduced distortions on his flat map, if they make one vertical cut on an orange, carefully remove the peel in one piece, and smash the peel flat on a piece of paper. The sections will be irregular, just as Goode's map has irregular sections. Nonetheless, the sections can be reassembled to fit perfectly without distortion on a spherical orange or globe.

     Some atlases, collections of flat maps, are especially designed for children. Mercator was responsible for naming a map collection an Atlas, because his title page showed the mythical Greek giant holding a heavenly globe on his shoulders. For each country in the world, an atlas often includes its political divisions, such as cities and provinces, on one page; its lakes, rivers, mountains, and other geographical features on another; and its agricultural and manufactured products, power plants, oil fields, highways, and railroads on another. The new book, Maps, by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinska has great illustrations and geographical features, plus fascinating facts associated with every region of the world. Also check out the site, "Maps4Kids.com.

    Atlases might include a collection of historical maps showing how the world was divided by the Greeks and Romans, during the Crusades, at the time of the American Revolution, after World Wars I and II, and how its political pattern looks today now that African states are independent and new states have been formed out of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. At timemaps.com, maps are connected to world history in an easy-to-use interactive way. In August, 2013, under "World" at washingtonpost.com/blogs, there was an interesting entry about 40 maps that explain the world. The maps showed expected divisions according to religion and language but there also were unusual maps showing, for example, the best and worst places to be born, where gay rights are legal, and where people are most and least: loved, racially tolerant, and emotional.

     It also is easy to make maps and globes part of a child's every day life. Map motifs appear on umbrellas, shower curtains, balloons, beach balls, coffee mugs, jackets, and Signals' world map bangle bracelet and world map poncho (signals.com). Modern and antique globes are sold as informative and decorative home accessories. Soft globe-shaped pillows sold at many map stores enable children to cozy up to the countries or continents stamped on them, while they can fall asleep using illuminated globes as night lights.

     Maps and globes also are designed as toys. Youngsters who have mastered wooden, magnetic, and floor puzzles of the United States can test their skills on continent and world puzzles as well as three-dimensional puzzle globes that stand by themselves. A giant, 252-piece world map floor puzzle is a best seller at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (store.metmuseum.org). The Metropolitan Museum, National Geographic, MindWare, and Young Explorers also have interactive globes students can use to find information about country statistics: population, weather, currency, and more. Rand McNally makes an electronic game that explores the world's geography, history, ecosystems, oceans, wildlife, sports, and art. Using the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's new "Global Glowball" children six months and older can touch one of 39 areas to make the globe light up and play a regional song. A number of board games, such as Atlas Adventures, rely on maps. On a rainy day, it is handy to have on hand blank outline maps (sold at map stores and teacher supply outlets) that children can fill in with the names of countries. Older children can go to geosense.net to test their knowledge of city locations throughout the world.

     On a world map or globe, youngsters can use a star, photo of home, or another symbol to indicate where they live. They also can use a world map as a bulletin board where they tack up their outgrown clothes on the countries that produced them. Kids who follow sports may wish to tape photos of their basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, and other athletic heroes to the countries where they were born. Maps that include time zones enable children to set clocks to reflect the different times in parts of the world they would like to visit and where their relatives and friends already live or plan to travel.

     Like spelling whizzes, would-be chess masters, musical proteges, and athletic phenoms, children who have grown up interacting with maps and globes are primed to test their knowledge against the competition. Millions in grades four through eight begin their quest to win scholarships in the National Geographic Society's annual Geography Bee by checking the website,
nationalgeographic.com/geographybee. In the end, children require no board games or national competitions to send them looking for geographical answers. Locating on a map what is happening in the news is a daily challenge. Map study provides the foundation for an informed citizen of the world.

What Do You Want to Be?

What are you going to be? When the contestants on "Kids Jeopardy" were asked about their career plans, none of the 10-to-12-year-olds said they wanted to work as freight forwarders, to teach English overseas, to manage the first Macy's store in Abu Dhabi, or to cover Iranian elections as a foreign correspondent. Yet, today's wise students need to think globally about their future careers. In fact, a poll conducted by John Zogby (zogbyanalytics.com) in late May, 2014, found that half of the 18-34- year-old smart phone owners expect to live and work in a foreign country at some point in their lives. Nader Luthera has launched coworktheworld.com/apply-now, which is a way to join a group that works anywhere in the world using a laptop and mobile phone.

     There are opportunities offered by professions, such as photographer (See the later blog post, "Take Your Best Shot,") that do not need foreign language translations. Opportunities involving sensors, for example, are worth exploring, since sensors already are being added to clothing to monitor a person's vital signs, and they are being used in fields to monitor a crop's need for irrigation. Nonetheless, youngsters who speak a foreign language, because they grew up with military, diplomatic, executive, and missionary parents stationed outside the United States, have an ear for foreign languages, or spent part of their academic careers in foreign countries, have additional options in what often are invisible international careers.

     It is, for example, a rare child who has been exposed to the physical distribution aspect of international trade, and, for that matter, the business of dismantling and recycling military, outmoded single-hull tankers, cruise, and other ships. And yet, working as a temp for the Matson Line in Hawaii, I found tracking containers and watching giant winches load and unload the 7,500 containers a ship could carry in those days a fascinating field of career opportunities that young people should explore. As a result of the shale oil boom in the U.S., consider how shipping sales reps need to meet the challenge of finding new customers in India and China and how transport experts need to  redirect to these new ports the tankers that used to carry crude oil from West Africa and Latin America to the U.S.

      Ups and downs in the world economy also provide careers for nimble managers. Soren Skou, chief executive of Maersk, the world's largest container shipping line, reports his industry needed to place a new focus on profit by cost cutting not gaining greater market share. Why? The world's weak economy caused projected annual growth to fall from a high of close to 10% before 2008 to 4% to 5% afterwards. Maersk's cost cutting involved making ships travel slower and scrapping older vessels to take delivery of 20 of the world's largest ships, known as Triple Es, that can carry 10% more volume.  (Maersk has denied charges of bribing a Brazilian official of state-owned Petrobras in order to gain tanker contracts.)

      Supply chain management from raw material to retailer includes job opportunities in the entire process of furnishing information; marketing; moving goods; and providing insurance, security, and other services. Consider all that is involved in the seamless transfer of goods from ship or plane to train to truck. China's COFCO Limited provides an example of a fully integrated supply chain. Through equity participation, controlling interest, alliances, and joint ventures, COFCO employs workers with 70 different nationalities in 140 locations. A new Supply and Value Chain Center at the Quinlan School of Business at Loyola University in Chicago is among the schools that have recognized the need to train students in the inter-related fields of transportation, distribution, and logistics. Since e-commerce marketers are finding they have to pay more attention to the process of shipping and delivering the goods customers purchase online, there new opportunities for experts in supply chain logistics throughout the world. (See the later blog post, "Problems Present Career Opportunities.")

    What if you were involved in moving cocoa beans from Ghana, Africa, to Hershey, PA, and chocolate bars on to grocery stores everywhere in the world? Maintaining a bare bones inventory would reduce costs, but a tsunami, longshoremen's strike, or any other disruption in the supply chain could wipe out the savings advantage of a just-in-time inventory. Since 95% of the world's export-import trade is carried by ships, the cost savings of using this slow mode of transportation is uncertain. Nonetheless, the Panama Canal is now being enlarged to handle the bulk of the world's ships that carry 13,000 containers. No canal can accommodate the even larger Capesize Triple E ships with a teu* capacity to carry 18,000, 20-foot containers.  How will shipping companies fill this new capacity? Young people need to explore career opportunities that involve understanding and deciding whether or not to rely on distant suppliers or move manufacturing closer to consumers.

         The logistics of moving goods and people throughout the world offers career prospects in other fields, such as livestock exports (See the blog post, "Dairy Cows on the Moove,") and the military. Gen. Colin Powell may not be available to speak about opportunities for the soldier-diplomat, but teachers and parents who organize Career Days need to seek out others who have served in the military.

     Then, there also is the need to expose young people to the experiences of those who joined the Peace Corps, invested in foreign currency (Go to my earlier blog post, "When to Buy/Sell in the World Market"), worked for international agencies (Check the directories for development organizations at devdir.org), handled intellectural property disputes in China, opened a Gap store in Kuwait (Go to my blog post, "The World of Fashion," for other career opportunities in the fashion field), or found a career in sports (Go to my blog post, "Wide World of Sports").

     Students need information about the competitive exams the State Department holds for college graduates who want to become Foreign Service officers like those who helped broker the Dayton Accords that ended ethnic cleansing in Bosnia. Whether or not there is a Cold War or a war on terrorism, national security depends on those, especially those with foreign language skills, who choose a military career or positions at agencies such as the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Treasury's Office of Terrorism and Finance Intelligence, or Energy's Office of Intelligence. Also, be on the lookout for opportunities in a new Technology Corps, proposed by John Zogby, pollster and co-author of The First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing Our First Millennial Generation.

     If international economic issues interest a student, there are employment opportunities at the Agency for International Development, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, multinational companies, and firms that invest in emerging markets. Students also might consider applying for positions as UN translators and interpreters or for the limited staff openings in specialized UN agencies, such as the World Health Organization or the World Meteorological Organization.

     To find information about international employment opportunities, students should see if their libraries carry the global jobs kit published by Impact Publications in Virginia. Books in the series cover internships, graduate programs, qualifications employers expect, and application procedures. Careers in International Affairs, an Impact publication, is worth purchasing. Another source of information about international job openings and internships is the Foreign Policy Association's website, fpa.org. At FPAU.ORG, the Foreign Policy Association lists career development training sessions offered for those who want to land a position in the international field. It is a good idea for students to join LinkedIn (linkedin.com), since linkedin.com/edu has a variety of ways to help them find the schools that offer courses in line with career objectives and the top employers of other alums who have majored in given fields. For example, a survey published by linkedin.com/edu/alumni found the U.S. Department of State, various branches of the military, the United Nations, Deloitte consulting, IBM, and The World Bank were among the main employers of those who had majored in international relations and foreign affairs.

     And, again, there are the directories for development organizations listed at devdir.org. Patrick Shields, the Executive Director and CFO of Global Recruitment Specialists, recommends using these directories to look for international organizations that need people who can do what you already have experience doing.

*Teu capacity measures the number of 20-foot long, 8-feet tall and wide shipping containers that a ship can carry.