Articles for Grade 3

Winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee is never easy. However, this year's champion, Harini Logan, faced some unexpected twists and turns, including an unprecedented spell-off in the final round on June 2, 2022. But the poised 14-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, prevailed to take home the coveted title, trophy, and over $50,000 in cash and prizes....

Car manufacturers often create concept vehicles to showcase their technological prowess. However, most never get past the prototype stage because the designs are too far-fetched or expensive to make on a large scale. But on May 5, 2022, South Korean car manufacturer Hyundai announced plans to further develop the Elevate and Tiger X-1. The radical concept Ultimate Mobility Vehicles (UMVs) were unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019 and 2021, respectively....

Rafael Nadal has once again proved he is the "King of Clay." On June 5, 2022, the tennis phenom defeated Casper Rudd in three decisive sets to win a record-extending 14th French Open title. The 36-year-old is the oldest men's singles French Open champion and the first male tennis player to win 22 Grand Slam championships — the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic each hold 20 Grand Slam titles....

A four-month-old giraffe calf at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California, is finally standing tall thanks to a custom brace. Msituni, which means "in the forest" in Swahili, was born on Feb. 1, 2022, with her front legs bending improperly. The abnormality put a lot of pressure on the calf's joints and bones, making it hard for Msituni to nurse or walk around her enclosed habitat. Zoo officials worried that the calf would probably die if the condition was left untreated....

Christie's highly anticipated 20th-and 21st-century art auction on May 12, 2022, was a roaring success. Buyers from across the globe outbid each other to own the Impressionist and Modern paintings offered. However, the evening's highlight was a remarkably well-preserved fossil of a Deinonychus antirrhopus. The rare skeleton — the first of its kind ever sold at an auction — fetched an impressive $12.4 million (with fees) from an anonymous fan. It was more than double the auction house's estimated high of $6 million....

Americans are mourning the loss of innocent lives in yet another school shooting. On Tuesday, May 24, 2022, a gunman took the lives of nineteen children and two teachers, and wounded seventeen others, at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The tragic incident is the second deadliest school shooting in US history, behind the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, when twenty first-graders and six staff members were killed. It marks the seventh-deadliest shooting in the country since the Columbine High School massacre in 1999....

Those looking for an excuse to indulge in some delicious donuts will be thrilled to know that June 3, 2022, is National Donut Day. This makes it your civic duty to eat at least one — or even a dozen — of the sugary treats. The yummy holiday, observed annually on the first Friday of June, is credited to the Salvation Army....

Extreme weather caused by global warming is expected to increasingly challenge the yields of conventional crops like corn, wheat, and soy. Small-scale farmers — who lack the resources to adapt to climate change — will be particularly hard hit. Scientists believe that the only way to combat this is by introducing new, hardier crops to what they're currently growing. That's where Ethiopia's enset, or "false banana," plant comes in....

Water scarcity is one of the world's biggest challenges. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that one in three people globally do not have easy access to clean water. Desalinating ocean water could help. But the currently-available devices are too energy-intensive and expensive to deploy on a large scale. Now, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) researchers have developed a portable desalination machine that is both affordable and sustainable....