Notes:
1.native    2.be due to   3.track  4.take  over 5.pass through   6.hatch  7.larva  8.pupa

Just 20 years ago,the nine-spotted ladybug was common.Now, it and other native species are rare.You can help scientists who are trying to find out why.Take pictures of ladybugs,and send them to the Lost Ladybug Project. No one knows why the ladybugs are disappearing."It could be due to climate change, the introduction of outside bugs or other factors,"project leader John Losey said.

A Bug's Life
The project has received 1,000 photos since 2004 . They will be used to build a database to track where different species live.There are 5,000 ladybug species. The little bugs have a big job.They keep gardens and farms pest-free.But in some areas, foreign species are taking over."More than half of the photos sent in are of the Asian lady beetle,"says Losey.
The Lost Ladybug Project has found more rare bugs than scientists have collected in 20 years.
The life cycle of a ladybug takes about four weeks. A ladybug passes through three stages before it becomes an adult beetle.

Egg
A female ladybug lays hundreds of eggs.The tiny oval eggs are grouped together.

Larva
After a few days, the eggs hatch. The little bug is called a larva. It eats many  aphids and gets bigger.

Pupa
Over the next two to three weeks,the larva sheds its skin a few times.A new, hard skin grows.The ladybug turns into a pupa.

Adult
After about a week, a soft, wet ladybug comes out of the pupa.The elytra get hard and their color turns bright. It's time to fly!.

Notes:A
1.hit   2.deadly   3.shelter   4.survivor  5.give up

A powerful earthquake hit central Italy on the morning of April 6,2009.At least 279 people died, About 1,000 were hurt. It was the country's deadliest quake in nearly 30 years.
The earthquake hit about 70 miles northeast of Rome, Italy's capital.A small city called L'Aquila (lah-kwee-lah) was hit hardest. Nearly 30,000 people had to move to shelters. There were more than 400 aftershocks in the days after the big quake. Italian and foreign resue teams searched for survivors together. "We don't give up hope,"said Spanish rescue worker Christian Martinez..

Notes:
1.quintillion  2.available  3.demand 4.environmental..5.tough.  6.option

Earth has 326 quintillion gallons of  water.But less than 1% of it is available for people to drink or use. Most of the world's water is salty ocean water or frozen polar ice.
Everyone needs safe drinking water. About 1.1 billion people do not have it. "Every morning, my main worry is  water,"says one woman. She lives in New Delhi,India.

Don't Waste Water!
By 2050, there will be 9 billion people in the world. They will need water to drink, to grow crops and to make energy.
Some areas of the world are drying up. A drier planet and more demand means it is vital to use water wisely. Peter Gleick works for an environmental group in California. He says we need a bigger effort to save water."We're waking up,"he says. "But not fast enough."

One City That Changed Its Ways
Las Vegas, Nevada, gets less than four inches of rain per year. City leaders have passed tough water-use laws. Homeowners who waste water must pay large fines.
The laws are working. Las Vegas uses less water today than it did in 2002. Patricia Mulroy works for the Southern Nevada Water Authority. "Failure is not an option,"she says. The same is true everywhere in the world..

Notes:
1.spring up  2.pumpkin  .3.pepper   4.broccoli   5.community

School gardens are springing up across the country. Teachers use the gardens to give lessons in science, math and more.
Studies show that kids who work in outdoor gardens get higher scores on science tests. Teachers hope that by learning where their food comes from, kids will make healthier choices at mealtimes.

Here We Grow!
Students at Woodland Elementary West in Illinois plant seeds in the spring. They grow pumpkins, peppers and broccoli.The kids care for the garden until summer.They harvest, or collect the vegetables in the fall.
Third grader Teaghan Brennan likes that job the best."It's like a scavenger hunt,"she said. "You have to look at all athe vegetables to find the ones that are ready to be picked."

Seeds of Change
The school donates the crops to a food bank. Giving back to the community is an important lesson, says Woodland principal Ann Goldbach. Teaghan likes that her hard work helps others. "Everyone can make a difference,"she says..

Notes:
1.be in danger 2.fungus  3.amphibian  4.extinct   5.ark  6.aboard   7.look forward to  

Panama's frogs are in danger! The country's forests were once filled with frogs. "Now, you hardly see them at all," scientist Edgardo Griffith said.
Scientists say a fungus is the problem. The fungus grows on frogs' skin and makes them sick. It is killing frogs and other amphibians in many countries. The Panamanian golden frog used to be a common sight in Panama. Now it is hard to find.

Help Is Here
Thanks to Griffith and his team, the golden frog is not extinct. The scientists collect and protect the animals. They are keeping some inside untill the fungus is not a problem outside.
Scientists in other countries are saving amphibians the same way. Together ,the programs are called the Amphibian Ark.

All Aboard the Ark!
Griffith is building a space for the animals. It already houses more than 600 amphibians.
Kevin Zippel is the director of the amphibian Ark programs. He is glad to help the animals. But he looks forward to returning them to the forest. "Then," he says, "I'll say it's a success.".

.

Notes:
1.amazing  2.leap   3.survive   4.frozen

Frogs are amazing amphibians. Here are  a few fun facts.
The Goliath frog is one of the world's biggest. It grows up to 15 inches long.
Some frogs can leap more than 20 times farther than the length of their body.
The Cuban tree frog is one of the world's smallest. It grows to only half an inch long.
One golden poison frog has enough poison to kill 20,000 mice.
The wood frog can survive for weeks with more than half its body frozen..

Notes:
1.unite  2.dramatic   3.signal  4.harm  5.habitat   6.release  7.representative  8.treaty  9.reduce  10.emission  11.blackout

For one hour on March 28 2009, cities across the globe will go dark. The World  Wildlife Fund (WWF) hopes that Earth Hour 2009  will unite people." We will be sending a dramatic signal to our leaders, " says Nick Soundt of the WWF ."We care about our planet."
Turning off lights saves power. Much of the power that humans use is produced in ways that harm habitats.Burning large amounts of coal, oil and natural gas releases harmful gases. These gases trap too much heat near Earth's surface. As the planet warms, habitats are put in danger.

A Big Meeting
In December, 192 nations will send representatives to Copenhagen, Denmark. They will take part in a meeting about climate change. They hope to create a treaty. The treaty will give steps to reduce the amount of harmful gas emissions . "This is the year we decide the future of the Earth,"says Andy Ridley. He is the head of Earth Hour.

What You Can Do
Earth Hour is not a blackout. From 8:30 to 9:30 p.m. traffic lights and other lights that keep yuou safe will stay on..

2009年小学生科普英语竞赛（低年级组）
共15篇文章.

Notes:
1.symphony  2.conductor  3.amazed  4.put together  5.milk  6.chore

It was an exciting night at the Detroit Symphony. A special guest was joining the orchestra. The conductor lifted both arms. Music began to play. The audience was amazed. Why?The conductor was a robot!
Its name is ASIMO. It is one of many robots being  built to do some jobs for humans.

Robot Nation
Japan has more robots than any other country. In one hospital, robots help out in the waiting room. They greet patients and give directions. "Robots won't ever be doctors,"says hospital worker Naoya Narita."But they can be guides."

Working Machines
Since the 1960s, robots have been doing jobs that are too boring or too dangerous for people. They put together cars. They milk cows. Unlike ASIMO,these machines do not look like humans.
Now, many robots are starting to look more like people. Trevor Blackwell built a dish-washing robot called Monty. It is as tall as a person. It has human-like hands.
Will the robots of the future look like machines or people? Either way,Blackwell is happy to let them do the chores."I'd rather have a robot do dishes,"he says. Wouldn't you?.

Notes:
1.event  2.form  3.be put to work  4.spacecraft   5.vehicle   6.carry out   7.electronic  8.recognize  9.orchestra

Read the time line below to find out about some of the big events in robot history.
1921 The word robot is first used.
1956 The world's first robot-building company is formed.
1961 A rotot is put to work in a General Motors car factory.
1997 A  NASA spacecraft lands on Mars. A rotot vehicle carries out experiments.
1999 Sony sells AIBO. It is an electronic dog.
2000 Honda makes ASIMO. It can recognize its owner's face.
2008 ASIMO conducts an orchestra..

Notes:
1.gather  2.inauguration  3. take the oath of office  4.challenge  5.a short span of time  6.ceremony  7.parade  8.ball  9.official  10.swear  11.pick oneself up   12.dust oneself off

January 20,2009, 2 million people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. THe day was cold, and they were outdoors. But they did not mind. They came to see history being made. Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States. He is the country"s first African-American President.

A  Long, Exciting Day
The Inauguration took place at the Capital. That is where Obama took the oath of office. In a speech, Obama spoke of hard times ahead. "The challenges we face are real," he said. " They will not be met easily or in a short span of time. But know this, America. They will be met."
The Obamas began the day at church. After the Inaugural cermony came the parade. In the evening, the Obamas danced at 10 Inaugural balls.
On Wednesday, the President got right to work. He signed his first official decisions. He also attended a swearing -in ceremony for his new top officials. In the afternoon, Obama met with his advisers and with U.S. military leaders.
It was a busy first day! But as the President said in his speech, he and all Americans have plenty of work to do. "Starting today," Obama said ,"we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off and begin again the work of remaking America.".

Notes:
1.board  2.square  3.piece  4.trap  5.grain

International chess has a board with 64 squares. Each player has 16 different pieces. They move their pieces to try to trap the other player's king.
Chess probably started in India. The story goes that a king asked a wise man to invent a board game. The wise man did ,and asked for one grain of rice for the first square, two for the second ,four for the third, and so on. In the end, it added up to 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains of rice! The king was very  angry and he killed the wise man.
International chess is a popular game all over the world. People like to play it because it needs a lot of thought and skill. It is good for people of all ages..

Notes:
1.invisible  2.bend  3.apart  4.object  5.metal  6.thread  7.turn away   8. vanish  9.poof  

Would you like to become invisible? Scientists have found a way to make things disappear.

The secret is light waves. Light moves in waves that can bend. That's why a straw in a glass of water seems to come apart. The light waves bend as they pass from air to water,.Scientists can bend light around an object. Then the object looks as if it"s not there. It looks invisible.

How do the scientists bend light? They make tiny metal threads. The threads bend light wavwes and turn them away. The scientists make a net from the threads.When they lay the net over a small object, the object seems to vanish.

So far, scientists can make only very small nets. They will try to make bigger nets.
What if they can make a net big enough to cover a person? Then, poof! You, too, could be invisible!.

Notes:
1.organized  2. punish  3.celebrate  4.musical

Yesterday when I woke up, I looked in a mirror. I looked very neat and organized. Not a hair was out of place. But today when I woke up, I knew I was going to have a bad hair day. My hair was standing up in all the wrong places. I thought  I would be unhappy all day and things would not go well. I work at home so I just hoped that my computer would work right and not have a bad hair day also.

My children were making so much noise that I could not work. I was getting angry. In fact, I was ready to pull my hair out. I told them to please be quiet or Iwould punish them. But they knew I would not harm a hair on their heads.

I worked all day and  finished my project. So I decided to celebrate, have some fun and let my hair down. I played some old recordings. and my chikdren and I danced around the room. The recordings are from my favborite musical, a  show called "Hair". It takes place during the 1960s when many young people wore their hair very long..

Notes:
1.organic  2.chemical  3.fertilizer  4.contaminate  5.compost  6.scrap  7.free-range  8.treat

Frank and Janet Riley have lived on an organic farm for fifteen years. Our Science Zone reporter spoke to Janet.

Reporter:Janet, you and Frank don't use chemical fretilizers to make your plants grow. Why is that?
Janet: Chemical fertilizers contaminate the soil. When animals eat the plants, the chemicals pass into their meat, milk and eggs.

Reporters: What do you use to make your plants grow?
Janet: We use natural compost to fertilize our plants. We make it from our fruit and vegetable scraps.

Reportero you keep your farm animals in cages?
Janet: No,we don't. Our animals are free-range. They move around freely. We think animals should be treated well. Food from healthy animals tastes better, and  we think it's healthier ,too..