The World is Our Oyster
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids|April 2020
New Yorkers are resilient. As the song, “New York, New York” goes, if you can make it there, you can make it anywhere. There’s no better example of a tough, hard-working New Yorker than the mighty oyster.
By Barbara Lerman-Golomb
The World is Our Oyster

In the early 1600s, there were 220,000 acres of oyster reefs in what is now New York City. The waterways were pristine, teeming with diverse marine species— whales, otters, turtles, a huge variety of fish, and mollusks like oysters. Oysters were a plentiful food source for the Lenape, the original inhabitants of Mannahatta, which means “island of many hills.” The Lenape ate lots and lots of oysters. How do we know? Archeologists have discovered tremendous piles of oyster shells, which they call middens. Several hundred middens have been identified around New York City, which is a small fraction of how many there once were. Oyster shells are so hardy that some ancient piles are 12,000 years old.

Oysters are saltwater bivalve mollusks that live in habitats where fresh water meets seawater, such as an estuary like New York Harbor. A single oyster works hard, filtering about 50 gallons of water per day, helping to keep it clean. The original oyster population could filter all the​ water in New York Harbor in a few days.

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Animal Central
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

Animal Central

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3 mins  |
January 2021
31 Countries Biosphere
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

31 Countries Biosphere

The Trifinio Fraternidad Biosphere Reserve is located at a spot where El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras converge. A biosphere is the layer of planet Earth where life exists.

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2 mins  |
January 2021
THE LEGEND OF THE QUETZAL BIRD
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

THE LEGEND OF THE QUETZAL BIRD

A Mayan Tale retold by Pat Betteley illustrated by Amanda Shepherd

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4 mins  |
January 2021
Semana Santa GUATEMALA'S HOLY WEEK
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

Semana Santa GUATEMALA'S HOLY WEEK

What if Easter preparations meant dyeing sand, collecting pine needles, and staying up all night to work on an art project that you knew would be ruined the very next day? Well, welcome to Guatemala’s Semana Santa, or Holy Week.

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4 mins  |
January 2021
ME OH-MAYA!
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

ME OH-MAYA!

The Maya are groups of people who live in parts of Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala. Their ancestors created a great society. At its peak, from 600-900 C.E., the Maya civilization was more advanced than its neighbors in the Americas.

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3 mins  |
January 2021
Playing Games Honduras-style
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

Playing Games Honduras-style

Would you play the same games in Honduras that you do in the United States? You might. Children in Honduras enjoy many of the same games North Americans do. They go fishing and shoot baskets. They play sandlot baseball—called bate (BAH tay). They fly kites and ride bikes. Their parents may go horseback riding or play golf or tennis.

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3 mins  |
January 2021
LIVING A LONG LIFE IN THE Blue Zone
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

LIVING A LONG LIFE IN THE Blue Zone

Most people would like to live as long a life as possible. No one really knows why some people live longer than others, but did you know that where you live can play a big part in how many years you’ll be alive? If you live in a Blue Zone, chances are that you will live much longer than people in other parts of the world.

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2 mins  |
January 2021
ATTENTION WORLD: Belize Saves Their Coral Reef
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

ATTENTION WORLD: Belize Saves Their Coral Reef

Sea turtles float in clear waters, colorful corals hug the ocean floor, and aquatic animals glide among the mangrove roots. Welcome to the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System, the second-largest coral reef in the world (Australia’s Great Barrier Reef is number one). Several years ago, this reef was in crisis, heading toward destruction. But the people of Belize fought back to save their reef’s health.

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3 mins  |
January 2021
The Panama Canal
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

The Panama Canal

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2 mins  |
January 2021
This is Central America!
Faces - The Magazine of People, Places and Cultures for Kids

This is Central America!

It’s time to visit Central America. But first, it helps to know exactly where Central America is. Despite its name, it is the southernmost part of North America, which can seem a little confusing. It makes up most of the isthmus dividing the Pacific Ocean from the Caribbean Sea. An isthmus is a narrow strip of land that connects two larger landmasses and has water on both sides.

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4 mins  |
January 2021