My Science School

A striking read

Written by a noted sports journalist and author Moti Nandi, "Striker: Stopper" is a collection of two novellas on the lives of footballers in India. It has been translated from Bengali to English by Hatchette. Both the stories teach readers to chase their dreams and overcome adversities.

Adventures on wheels

A graphic novel "Roller Girl" tells the story of Astrid, who is fascinated by the sport and signs up for a summer training camp. As Astrid tries to find her balance on wheels, she finds herself drifting away from her best friend Nicole. Written and illustrated by roller-derby player Victoria Jamieson, the book is a heartwarming tale of friendship and self-discovery. It is also a great introduction to the obscure sport of roller derby.

Flying high

One day, watching gymnastics on the television, little Zoe realises that it's just like flying and she dreams of becoming a gymnast. Will Zoe be able to find her wings and soar high? In "She's Got This", author Laurie Hernandez, an Olympic gold medalist, shares important lessons she learnt on her way to Olympic glory.

Never say never

Kittu gets lost during a family outing. The 10-year-old, who uses crutches to walk, finds himself in a strange town with a skate park where he meets Mad, a girl who loves skateboarding. As Kittu waits for his family to come find him, he too develops an interest in skateboarding. Will Kittu be able to overcome his disability and become a skate boarder? Written by children's author Harshikaa Udasi,"Kittu's Very Mad Day" is an inspiring read

A pre-historical game

"Dino Hockey” is a book about an ice-hockey game like no other. Meat-eating dinosaurs face off against the Veggiesaurs in this epic pre-historical game. Different types of dinosaurs from T. Rex and Triceratops to Pterodactyl, clad in hockey gear compete, in this imaginative picture book by Lisa Wheeler and Barry Gott.

Sport, they say, can be a great leveller. Its beauty lies in the fact that nobody knows what will happen next and which way the ball will turn. Playing a sport, prepares you to push your limits, work as a team, and in the true spirit of sportsmanship accept success and defeat humbly - a great learning opportunity for young readers. Keeping this in mind, over the last few years, the sports genre has moved on from players biographies and descriptive books to fictional stories that impart crucial life lessons to young readers about friendship, self-discovery and perseverance.

 

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Demolition Division

This game can be found on Math Playground as well as Cool Math 4 Kids websites among others. In this quick game, aimed at improving your division skills, you need to defend your base from enemy tanks by solving division-related questions. The enemy tanks will contain a division question each, while your cannon will contain the quotient of one of the divisions. Based on the answer, choose the right tank and blast it. The game is timed and available in different levels of difficulty.

High Stakes Heist

In this game, available on ABCya!, you are Kit Foxtail and your mission is to get back the money of the townspeople stolen by Duke Von Wolfington. To do so, you will need to open safes using your maths skills. You will be given an equation to solve. You need to choose two numbers and an operator, guess the answer and move towards solving the equation. You will have to remember the Order of Operations, use your basic math skills and think fast to be able to win this game before time runs out. You have four such equations to solve.

Island Chase Subtraction

This game can be found on multiple websites. Aimed at testing your subtraction skills, this game involves a boat race between you and the computer or other players online. Your goal is to finish first in the race. To speed your boat ahead, you need to answer subtraction-related questions as fast as possible. At the end of the game, you will know where you are placed, what your accuracy was and how many questions you would be able to solve in a minute on average.

Cannon Ball Multiplication

You can find this game at multiplication.com. While it tests your multiplication skills, the game also lets you enjoy an Angry Bird-type game. You are posed a set of multiplication questions. Once you correctly answer these, you will be given the opportunity to throw a cannon ball at a castle and earn points to unlock the level. There are many levels in the game, with the difficulty of questions increasing with each level.

Integers Addition Blocks

This tricky game is available on XPMath. In this game that tests your addition skills, a target number is given to you and you need to add the integers given in a grid to reach the target number. If your answer exceeds the given number, you lose the round. In one minute you need to achieve as many target numbers as possible. Are you up for it?

 

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Before we find out what the "passive voice” is all about, let us find out what "voice" is. Voice refers to the verb that speaks either in active or passive voice. In most English sentences with an action verb, the subject performs the action shown by the verb.

Read the following sentences

(a) The car hit a tree.

(b) The painters have completed the work.

In these sentences, the subject (car, painters) acts upon the verb. What did the car do? It hit the tree. What have the painters done? They have completed the work. The sentences are framed in such a way that the subject is shown as doing the action. The action is done "on" someone or something (tree, work). This someone or something that "receives" the action is called the object (tree, work). In the above sentences, the verb is in the active voice.

Now, read these sentences

(a) The tree was hit by the car.

(b) The work has been completed by the painters.

The object has become the subject in these sentences. The subject is not acting. It is being acted upon. The subject and the verb are passive. These sentences, where the action is seen from the point of view of the object (car, work), are said to be in the passive voice. The object in the original sentence is now the subject. The method of describing the action has also changed. The verb is written in this way, but the meaning does not change. The car hit the tree. That does not change.

When you read, you will notice that a sentence in the active voice flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than the same sentence in the passive voice.

Example: We listen to good music. Good music is listened to by us. Which sentence is better?

Choose the active voice whenever possible.

Find out more about the passive voice of the verb

The first question here is, do we need the passive voice at all? Why can't we write all our sentences in the active voice and be done with it? Ha, that is not always possible.

The passive voice may be a better choice:

[1] When the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted, or not needed in the sentence.

Examples: The votes have been counted.

The wires were stolen.

[2] When the writer wishes to emphasize the action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action.

Examples: The long-jump record was broken yesterday.

The theft was investigated.

[3] For scientific writing or for describing a process.

Examples: Penicillin was discovered just before the war.

A beaker is filled with water. (The action is important, not who does it.)

Think of this scenario. You happen to break your mom's favourite vase. You know she will be furious. Your first instinct is to give her the news in the passive voice, where you do not have to mention the subject. You can say, 'The vase has been broken." By whom – the subject who did the action - can wait till she is less angry. See? You do need the passive voice, right?

Read the following speeches

See the difference in force when the speeches are expressed in the

Active Voice

A policeman to a man on a scooter: Hey, stop, stop! Why haven't you switched on the light? You can't drive a scooter without lights.

Man: But the street has lights!

(The policeman lets out the air in the scooter's tyres.)

Man: Hey, what are you doing? Policeman: You don't need air. The street has a lot of air!

Passive Voice

A policeman to a man on a scooter: Hey, stop, stop! Why hasn't the light been switched on? A scooter cannot be driven without lights.

Man: But the street has lights!

(The air in the scooter's tyres is let out by the policeman.)

Man: Hey, what is being done by you? Policeman: Air is not needed by you. The street has a lot of air!

How and when to use the passive voice

We saw how words in the active voice are changed into passive voice. In the passive voice, either the doer comes after the verb (The kite was made by the old man) or the doer is not stated (The programme was telecast.) By whom is not mentioned.

When the doer is unknown, we use words like 'someone, we', they, etc. in the active voice. In the passive voice, these words are simply dropped. By whom the action was done is not conveyed.

Let us now see how the passive voice is formed with the suitable tense of to be followed by the past participle.

[1] My neighbour drives a Jaguar. Active

A Jaguar is driven by my neighbour. Passive

[2] My neighbour drove a Jaguar. Active

A Jaguar was driven by my neighbour. Passive

[3] My neighbour will drive a Jaguar. Active

A Jaguar will be driven by my neighbour. Passive

[4] My neighbour is driving a Jaguar. Active

A jaguar is being driven by my neighbour. Passive

[5] My neighbour was driving a Jaguar. Active

A Jaguar was being driven by my neighbour. Passive

[6] My neighbour has driven a Jaguar. Active

A Jaguar has been driven by my neighbour. Passive

[7] My neighbour had driven a Jaguar. Active A Jaguar had been driven by my neighbour. Passive

When you write your subject in the plural (My neighbours) you need to make the verb plural too.

My neighbours drive a Jaguar.

The passive voice may be convenient at times. But when you write, choose the active voice first. That way you will form strong sentences. Often sentences written in the passive voice sound weak and diluted, especially when you give orders or make complaints.

 

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Cooped up at home during the COVID-19 lockdown last year, many of us might have tuned into the radio to hear a friendly voice. The radio jockey's bubbly personality and an incessant stream of chatter can put a smile on our face, lift our mood, and maybe even make us feel a little less lonely. We can form a strange connection with RJs even if we cannot see them. This is the power of radio. And it has managed to stay on even with the television and the Internet. In an effort to stay relevant, radio programming too has evolved, opening up several opportunities for radio jockeys.

Who is a radio jockey?

Radio Jockeys or RJs are the people who anchor programmes and give commentaries on the radio.

Keeping the listeners engaged by playing music or conversing with guests is a major part of their job. So, they must keep abreast of the latest music scene and news events.

Besides content, RJs are also trained in handling the technical side of the show. They are expected to operate the mics, mixers and add sound effects whenever required.

What are the job prospects?

Radio in India has come a long way since the heydays of the All India Radio and Aakashvani. The entry of FM and private channels has expanded the scope of radio as a source of entertainment. One of the popular roles at the radio station is that of a radio jockey. Some of the major radio stations today are Big FM 92.7, Radio Mirchi 98.3, Red FM 93.5, and Fever 104 FM. In countries such as the U.S. and the U.K., Internet radio stations have also opened up. But in a modern-day radio set-up anywhere in the world today, RIs might also be required to come up with audio-video content to popularise their show on social media.

What to study?

Radio jockeys do not necessarily need to have any particular educational qualification. People from different fields, who possess the required skills, can work as radio jockeys. However, a diploma or degree courses in radio and broadcasting is recommended.

Where:

• Asian College of Journalism, Chennai: Post Graduate Diploma in Radio Journalism and Communication.


• Benett University, Noida: Post Graduate Diploma in Radio Broadcasting


• Centre for Research in Art, Film and Television, Delhi: Certificate Course in Radio Jockeying.


• Academy of Radio Management (ARM), Delhi: Diploma in Professional Radio Jockeying (DR).


• St. Xaviers Institute of Communication, Mumbai: Workshop on radio jockeying and presentation skills.


• College of Journalism and Mass Communication (MGM) University, Aurangabad: Certificate course in Radio Jockeing (a two-month online course.); B.A. and M.A. Mass Communication and Journalism.

Required skills

• Speaking fluently


• Voice modulation


• Creativity


• Ability to improvise


• Scripting shows


• Strong interpersonal skills


• Sense of humour


• Versatility


• Discerning ear


• Technical knowledge

 

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The intrepid boy reporter from Belgium took the world by storm when he made his debut on January 10, 1929. "The Adventures of Tintin", a comic strip created by Georges Prosper Remi, better known as Herge, appeared in a serialised format in Le Petit Vingtième. The strip ran until May 8, 1930.

But not even Tintin himself could have predicted its runaway success.

The Belgian comic strip was translated to as many as 70 languages and adapted to television, radio and film. It has sold 20 million copies across the world.

While Tintin turned 92, his friend Captain Archibald Haddock turned 80. From the Soviet Union to China, Tintin has travelled the world in search of mysteries and adventures. Read on to know more about this iconic character and its creator...

Early life

Remi loved to draw and was constantly sketching out scenes from daily life along the edges of his school books. Some of these illustrations were of German soldiers, because his four years of primary schooling at the Ixelles Municipal School No. 3 coincided with World War I, during which Brussels was occupied by the German army.

From Totor to Tintin

Herge created his first comic strip "Les Aventures de Adventures of Totor') for the newsletter. The strip revolved around the adventures of a Boy Scout patrol leader. Herge who initially wrote captions underneath the panels, gradually conveyed his ideas through speech bubbles.

After finishing school, Herge enrolled in an art school Ecole Saint-Luc, hoping that it would help him pursue a career in comics. But he found the first lesson so boring that he quit the next day and started looking for a job. But no one wanted to hire him as a comic artist. So he ended up getting a job in the subscription department of a newspaper. But this job couldn't hold his attention for long. He quit and enlisted for military service. Through his numerous postings, Herge continued sketching and producing episodes of Totor.

The birth of Tintin

Finally at the end of his military service, Herge got a chance to work as a cartoonist and photographic reporter for Le Vingtieme Siecle.

Eager to come up with his own comic strip, Herge developed a character named Tintin as a Belgian boy reporter who could travel the world with his fox terrier, Snowy. The character was largely based on his earlier character of Totor. Herge wanted the character to be based in the U.S., but Wallez persuaded him to set his adventure in the Soviet Union. The result, "Tintin in the Land of the Soviets”, began serialisation in Le Petit Vingtième, a children's supplement of the paper on January 10,1929, and ran until May 8, 1930. Owing to its popularity in Belgium, the strip came to be published in book form. And with the publication of "Tintin in Congo" and "Tintin in America”, the comic strip soon became an international bestseller.

Captain Haddock turns 80

Tintin's friend, Captain Haddock completed 80 years in January. The grumpy sailor with a big heart met Tintin in 1941. Haddock made his debut when the strip was published in black and white in the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. On January 9, 1941, in the middle of the World War II, the sailor joined Tintin in a cartoon for the first time.

OH, REALLY?

• A rejected Tintin cover of "Le Lotus Bleu" ('The Blue Lotus”) illustrated by Herge set a new world record on January 14 as the most expensive comic book artwork. It sold at an auction for £2.8m. The artwork was rejected as too expensive to reproduce in 1936 and given to editors son, who kept it in a drawer for decades.


• Tintin landed on the moon at least 15 years before Neil Armstrong. In 1954, "Tintin On The Moon" was published. It showed Tintin exploring the moon.


• Remi started signing his illustrations as Herge, the phonetic transcription of his initials, RG, in 1924. Tintin's face has been drawn without much detail. It's mostly expressionless.


• In memory of the cartoonist, the Herge Museum was established in Louvain-la-Neuve in 2009.


• Herge never actually visited any of the countries which he let Tintin famously explore

 

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Ulysses S. Grant, the 18th president of America, was associated with the military right from his childhood. Early on, he went to the United States Military Academy at West Point. He fought in the Mexican War. He also played a major role as an officer in the Army during the Civil War. It was General Grant who accepted the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee in 1865.

Grant was an excellent military man, but he was not that good a politician. Though he won the presidential elections twice, in 1868 and 1872, he was politically naive. Many people in his office took advantage of this. Grant’s tenure saw a lot of dishonest deals. Though he was not involved in any of this, he did nothing to stop them either.

After his tenure, Grant partnered in a financial institution that went bankrupt soon. To pay off his debt and take care of his family, Grant started writing about his life. It was then he realized that he had cancer in the gut. He really did race against death to finish his script. Grant died in 1885, soon after finishing the last page. But his words lived on. His memoir earned nearly 4,50,000 dollars!

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After Lincoln was shot dead, America was entrusted in the hands of Andrew Johnson. He became the 17th president of the United States and it was his responsibility to help the North and South work together again.

Much to the disappointment of the Republicans, Johnson continued the lenient policies towards the South that were initiated by Lincoln. He also sanctioned the readmission of those states that were separated from the Union with few provisions for reform or civil rights for freed slaves. Though free, they were largely uneducated and subject to exploitation and mistreatment.

Johnson and Congress agreed on very little. He opposed the granting of citizenship to former slaves. However, the African-Americans were granted citizenship as per the 14th Amendment of the 1866 Congress. Due to the many disagreements, the House of Representatives voted to impeach him in 1868.

This was the first such occurrence in the history of the US. Johnson was not found guilty; however, he ended his term after the trials.

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Abraham Lincoln needs no introduction; he is perhaps the most famous American president. He became the 16th president of the United States in 1861. In 1863, he issued the Emancipation Proclamation that declared the slaves within the Confederacy free forever.

America was torn apart when Lincoln took office. But he made sure that the country was reunited by the end of his term. He was elected as the president in 1860. Seven states had left the U.S. and had formed the Confederate States of America by the time he took office in 1861. Four more states- Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee- joined the Confederacy soon after. Lincoln said he would fight to save the Union and he did live up to his word.

The rift began when rebels fired on Port Sumter, a U.S. military base. The civil war lasted for almost four years. On January 1, 1863, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation. After a long and tragic civil war, Robert E. Lee the Confederate general, surrendered to U. S. General Ulysses S. Grant in 1865.

Lincoln played an influential role in building the Republican Party into a strong national organization. He also successfully brought in many Democrats to the cause of the Union.

Abraham Lincoln was born into a poor Kentucky family. His childhood was tough; he did not receive any formal education. But he taught himself to read and write. His hard work did not go in vain. As a young man, Lincoln became a successful lawyer and was elected to the Illinois state legislature and then to the U.S. House of Representatives.

Lincoln was shot on 14th April, 1865 by John Wilkes Booth, a staunch advocate of slavery. He died the following day.

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James Buchanan’s term as the president was marked by conflict between the Northern states and the Southern states.

Northerners wanted to stop slavery from spreading to new parts of the country, while some others known as abolitionists wanted to end slavery forever. Southerners were of the opinion that the new states and territories should be able to choose whether to allow slavery or not.

Buchanan’s term began when a historic case was filed by Dred Scott. Scott was an enslaved African-American man who sought freedom for himself, his wife, and two daughters. However, the court ruled that enslaved people were property and not citizens. The court said that slaves remained slaves anywhere.

Buchanan’s endorsement of the court’s decision created uproar amongst the Northerners. He also joined with Southern leaders in attempting to admit Kansas to the Union as a slave state. He thereby angered not only the Republicans but also many Northern Democrats. This became a very serious issue and the problem continued till the end of his tenure. Buchanan was succeeded by Abraham Lincoln.

Buchanan never married and remains the only bachelor president of the United States.

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In 1852, the members of the Democratic Party could not come to a common consensus regarding the presidential candidate and in the end, they chose Pierce. Franklin Pierce was the 14th president of the United States.

His tenure was marked with personal tragedies unmatched by any other American president.

Pierce was born in New Hampshire in 1804. He entered politics after completing his law degree. At the age of 24, he was elected to the New Hampshire legislature. He went on to become the Speaker in two years.

Pierce was relatively young when he was elected as the president. But this did not assure him much cheer. A few weeks before his inauguration, eleven-year old Bennie, his only surviving child, died in a railroad accident. His wife Jane Pierce never fully recovered from the shock of this tragic episode. She had never approved his candidacy either. Pierce began his term as a sad and tired man.

Pierce signed into law the Kansas-Nebraska Act; the Act said that settlers in Kansas and Nebraska could choose whether or not to allow slavery. This Act undid the antislavery part of the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The Democratic Party didn’t support his re-election at the end of his tenure.

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After the death of Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore became the president of the United States.

Fillmore had a hard childhood; he was born into a poor family in New York and his education did not last for more than a year. As a child, he had to work every day in the farms to earn a living. Later in his teenage, he went on to become a cloth maker. Though he had little formal schooling, he rose from poverty by diligent study to become a successful attorney.

He had served in the New York state government before being elected as Taylor’s vice president in 1848. He was also a U.S. Congressman for years.

As the vice president, Fillmore was largely ignored by Taylor. But, after the death of Taylor in July 1850, Fillmore became the president. Upon becoming the president, Fillmore supported laws to let California enter the Union as a free state. Fillmore ran unsuccessfully for president again in 1856.

He then gave up politics and died on March 8, 1874.

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Zachary Taylor was neither a politician, nor had he worked with the government. He didn’t even vote in the elections. But the public adored him. Wonder why? Zachary Taylor was a war hero. He was a general and national hero in the United States Army from the time of the Mexican-American War and the War of 1812. Taylor thought that it was a strange idea when his name came up for the presidential candidacy.

Taylor was a soldier at heart; he fought in the War of 1812 and in many battles against Indian tribes. But it was his success in battles against Mexico that gained him popularity and elevated him to the status of a hero. The Whigs saw a possibility in Taylor’s popularity and that is why he was nominated.

Taylor gained the nomination on the fourth ballot at the Whig Party convention in 1848. He defeated the Democratic candidate, Lewis Cass and went on to become the 12th president of America, something which he did not imagine, even in the wildest of dreams.

As the president, Taylor’s top priority was to preserve the Union. He was criticized for not making any progress on the most divisive issue in Congress, slavery. Taylor’s service was brief; he died sixteen months into his term. His vice-president Fillmore served the remainder of his term. Historians and scholars have ranked Taylor in the bottom quartile of U.S. presidents. This is of course partly due to his short term of office.

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James K. Polk was the 11th president of the United States. He was notable in many ways. Often called the ‘dark horse’, James K. Polk was the last strong president until the Civil War.

Polk entered politics as a young lawyer. He wanted Texas to be part of the Union. His views on Texas made him popular and paved his way to presidential candidacy. The annexation of Texas as a state however, resulted in a two-year war with Mexico.

November 7, 1844 was indeed a remarkable day in the history of the U.S. For the first time, the election for president was held on the same day across America. Needless to say, it was Polk’s day.

Polk was a strong leader and his tenure was marked by territorial gains as well as administrative innovations. The country expanded westward and a new department, the Department of the Interior, was created.

Polk established the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland. He also authorized the setting up of the Smithsonian Institution, a national foundation for all areas of science.

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John Tyler had to take over the position of the president in one of the most unexpected turn of events, after the death of Harrison. Tyler served as the vice president under Harrison. He is also the first vice president to succeed to the presidency after the death of his predecessor.

Born in Virginia, Tyler grew up believing that the Constitution was of supreme importance. He was popular as a U.S. Congressman, governor and senator, and this was the reason he was chosen to run for the position of the vice president. Though loved as vice president, no one expected Tyler to become the president of the country.

Being the president was not easy for Tyler. The first ever impeachment resolution against a president was introduced in the House of Representatives when Tyler vetoed a tariff bill. A committee headed by Representative John Quincy Adams reported that the president had misused the veto power. However, the resolution failed.

He was rejected by the Democrats and Whigs alike because he refused allegiance to the programme of party leader Andrew Jackson. After this, Tyler functioned as a political independent.

Letitia Christian Tyler, Tyler’s wife was the first president’s wife to die in the White House. She died in 1842. After Letitia’s death, he married again, thus becoming the first president to marry while in office. This happened in 1844.

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William Henry Harrison, the ninth president of America was famous for many things. He was 68 at the time of his swearing-in ceremony and the oldest president to be elected at the time. His campaign slogan, ‘Tippecanoe and Tyler Too’ is known as one of the most famous campaign slogans in American history.

William Henry Harrison served the shortest tenure as the president in the history of the United Stated and was the first to die in the office. Harrison could barely make it for a month; he died on the 32nd day of his tenure. Harrison was born in Virginia like many other American presidents. He wanted to become a doctor, but had to leave his studies halfway after his father’s death.

He later joined the army to earn a living. He became interested in politics during his time in the army. What brought him to the national limelight was the Indian campaign that he won while serving as the territorial commander.

This led to his contesting in the 1840 elections, taking office in March 1841. Despite the cold weather, Harrison gave a long speech outdoors. Within a month, he was affected with a cold that developed into pneumonia. He died on 4th April, 1841.

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