© 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

release dates: August 1-7 31-1 (09)

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Will you be visiting Washington, D.C., this summer? Many families head to our nation’s capital for summer vacations.

Washington might not seem like a likely place to learn more about Earth’s oceans. But a new exhibit there takes us into the deep waters of the sea to find out what scientists are learning about this mysterious part of our world.

This week, The Mini Page explores the Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. This new exhibit is a project created by the museum and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).One ocean

Developers of the Sant Ocean Hall started out with one main idea: “The ocean is a global system essential to all life, including yours.”

If you look at a globe, you can see what they mean. Our planet really has just one large ocean, with different basins, or depressions in the surface of the Earth where water gathers.

The massive ocean makes our planet habitable — a place where we can live.

Ocean planetYou may not live near the ocean.

But even if the ocean is thousands of miles away, you still need it to live.

• All the water you drink or use for bathing or cooking was once a part of the ocean and will be a part of the ocean again.

• Take two deep breaths. You can thank the ocean for one of them. The ocean produces at least half of the oxygen we need to breathe.

• The ocean never stops moving. The circulation, or movement, of water around the planet affects our climate and changes our weather patterns.

A sea with no water?Visitors might be surprised to find

that there is only one tank of water in Sant Ocean Hall. (It holds living coral reefs and many other species.) The hall is in an old building, so it was not possible to build many large tanks for water.

Instead, the designers used computers, film and other moving images to make visitors feel like they’re underwater.

The Sant Ocean Hall features 674 specimens and models that help visitors learn more about how the ocean helps us and how we are affecting the ocean.

Sant Ocean Hall

What’s Up Under the Sea?

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photo by Chip Clark, Smithsonian Institution

A full-scale model of a North Atlantic right whale hangs in Sant Ocean Hall at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. At 45 feet, it is an exact replica of Phoenix, a real actual whale that exists in the wild today.

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

31-2 (09); release dates: August 1-7®

Scientists have decided on five critical, or important, issues affecting our oceans.Habitat transformation

Most people in the world live within 50 miles of a coastline. Humans have homes, hotels, factories, agriculture and places to have fun near these coastlines.

But all that building transforms, or changes, the ocean. For example, the Sant Ocean Hall displays show how we’ve pumped sand in to make bigger beach areas and changed the shape of the coastline.Not enough fish

People in the United States and all around the world love to eat fish. But we are taking fish out of the sea faster than they can reproduce. This means some species are disappearing.

In the exhibit, visitors can use an interactive display to figure out ways to better manage commercial, or business, fishing.

PollutionEach of us affects the ocean every

day. For instance, your family might put fertilizer or bug killer on the lawn. When it rains, those chemicals wash down the drain and run to a river. The river runs to the ocean, and the chemicals end up in the ocean. These chemicals might kill animals or change the oxygen level in the water.Climate change

At the Sant Ocean Hall, visitors can choose different ways to improve their own effects on the climate. They can also see how polar bears are affected as arctic ice melts, reducing the bears’ hunting grounds.

Water Around the WorldTo conserve

fish numbers, visitors might choose to limit the number of fishing boats that can work in one area, or restrict the methods fishermen can use for harvesting.Invasive species

Animals and plants that once lived in one area of the ocean are now being moved to other areas. For example, a ship might take on water for ballast* in a port in Europe and sail to the United States. When it gets to the East Coast, it unloads its ballast into the ocean — along with plants and animals that rode across the ocean in the ballast tanks.

This introduces new species to a balanced ecosystem. These “alien” newcomers may take over.*Ballast is something a ship takes on to make it heavier when it is not carrying cargo.

Words that remind us of the ocean are hidden in the block below. Some words are hidden backward or diagonally, and some letters are used twice. See if you can find: SANT, SMITHSONIAN, MUSEUM, GLOBAL, SPECIMEN, PHOENIX, HABITAT, FISH, INVASIVE, POLLUTION, CLIMATE, WEATHER, ATMOSPHERE, BALANCE, NEREUS, ACID, TRENCH, BALLAST, CHANGE, SEA, OXYGEN.

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O F A E S E R E H P S O M T A W X I T N A S B A L A N C E N E I Y S K E T A M I L C V J E A N B G H P O L L U T I O N M T E Z V E B A L L A S T H Q I H O T R E N C H L A B O L G C E H A B I T A T V C H A N G E R P S U E R E N M U S E U M P D I C A N A I N O S H T I M S

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

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The Mini Page thanks Michele Urie, Jill Johnson and Elizabeth Ban with Sant Ocean Hall, and NOAA for help with this issue.

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More to Explorefrom The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

The Mini Page provides ideas for Web sites, books or other resources that will help you learn more about this week’s topics.

On the Web:http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/kidshttp://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/forfun/welcome.html

http://ocean.si.edu/ocean_hall/kids_and_families.html

Mini Spy . . .Mini Spy and her friends are visiting the ocean

exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. See if you can find: • heart • sailboat• number 7 • banana • strawberry • number 2• duck • umbrella • doughnut • bell• key • teapot • letter O • word MINI

® 31-3 (09); release dates: August 1-7

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Meet Ray RomanoRay Romano is the voice of Manny

in the movie “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” He is best known for acting in and producing his TV comedy series, “Everybody Loves Raymond.” He won three Emmy awards for that show.

He has acted in several movies, including “Mooseport.” He appears as a stand-up comic in clubs and on TV.

Ray has written books for kids, including “Raymie, Dickie, and The Bean: Why I Love and Hate My Brothers.”

Ray, 51, was born in New York City. He now lives in Los Angeles.

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

Rookie Cookie’s RecipePie Plate Tomato Pizza

You’ll need:• 1 prepared pie crust• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard• 1 cup grated Swiss cheese• 2 medium tomatoes, sliced• salt and pepper to taste• 6 slices pre-cooked baconWhat to do:1. Spread mustard on bottom of pie crust.2. Next, spread grated cheese on top of mustard.3. Top with a layer of sliced tomatoes.4. Salt and pepper tomatoes as desired.5. Bake in a 350-degree oven for 35 minutes, until slightly brown.

Crumble bacon slices on top of tomatoes. Makes 6 slices.You will need an adult’s help with this recipe. from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

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from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

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All the following jokes have something in common. Can you guess the common theme or category?

Oliver: Why was the ocean so mad?Otto: Because it has been crossed so many times!

Opal: How do oceans greet each other?Ophelia: They wave!

Octavia: Can you name a very particular body of water?

Odessa: The specific ocean!

from The Mini Page © 2009 Universal Press Syndicate

31-4 (09); release dates: August 1-7®

The Sant Ocean Hall at the National Museum of Natural History was created by the Smithsonian and NOAA, the National Oceanic (oh-she-ANN-ic) and Atmospheric (at-mus-FEER-ic) Administration.

NOAA is a government group that keeps track of changes in the Earth’s environment. It also helps predict changes in the weather. Workers at NOAA try to use the information they gather to help protect our planet’s resources.

The Mini Page talked with NOAA representatives and others to find out how the agency is learning more about Earth’s ocean.A mysterious frontier

Seventy-one percent, or almost three-quarters, of Earth’s surface is covered by oceans. That vast amount of water affects our atmosphere, or the layer of air that surrounds the planet.

NOAA works with scientists and other groups to find out how our oceans are changing and how that changes the atmosphere we need to live.

Some scientists believe that our climate is changing slowly. But some also think there is a balance point, and once the balance shifts, climate change will speed up.

Ocean challengesWhat can Nereus and other sea-

going vehicles tell us about what’s happening with our oceans?

In 2004, an ROV sponsored by NOAA discovered carbon dioxide in liquid form rising from the sea floor near the Mariana Trench. (Carbon dioxide is usually a gas, like oxygen.)

This area is a “natural laboratory” for measuring the ocean’s increasing acidity, or the amount of acid in the water. Increased acidity is caused by more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere, which comes from burning fossil fuels such as coal and gasoline. These higher acid levels affect coral reefs and other ocean species, such as fish.

Studying the Sea

New NereusNOAA and other ocean explorers

use ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) to search the waters. These machines don’t carry humans, but they allow humans to collect items and sample waters deep below the surface.

In May, a new vehicle called Nereus (rhymes with “serious”) was sent deep into the Pacific Ocean, near the island of Guam. It collected specimens from the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean. Nereus traveled almost 11,000 meters (6.8 miles) deep.

Nereus is a hybrid remotely operated vehicle (HROV), which means it can both fly through the water and hover above the sea floor.

Only two other vehicles have ever reached the bottom of the Mariana Trench. Nereus was able to examine the sea floor for more than 10 hours.

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The Mini Page StaffBetty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist

While in the Mariana Trench, Nereus placed a marker on the sea floor that had been signed by those aboard the surface ship.Nereus was a mythical Greek god who had a fish-tail and a man’s torso.

This healthy coral was sampled from deep ocean reefs.

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photo courtesy Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution