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That's ixl .com. Good morning and welcome to Kid News.
I'm Kim. Today is Thursday, March 13, 2025.
5. And we begin with the Spotted Salamander stealing the spotlight from Punxsutawney Phil.
According to the Washington Post, the smooth -skinned, purplish -gray lizard with bright yellow dots has been predicting the start of Spring correctly for millions of years with its migration.
This adorable animal most people never see spends almost its entire life underground, only coming out at night to feed.
seed. That changes on the first warm rain of spring when spotted salamanders emerge in mass to migrate toward temporary ponds that dry up in summer.
Usually that happens in late February, but this year because of a cold winter, it was this past week.
According to amphibian expert Brian Grattwick, a scientist with the Smithsonian, it's just a wild party during the few days the salamanders slither out of hiding.
Like many other animals, he says, amphibians are threatened due to climate change, but there's a way you can help.
In your backyard, you can go with a shovel and dig a hole, and suddenly you've got an amphibian factory.
They'll find it, and they'll breed in it.
Also seen only at night, tonight's total lunar eclipse.
As we mentioned Monday, the Moon will be entirely within the Earth's shadow from tonight and to tomorrow with the maximum phase, or umbra, occurring for 65 minutes, beginning at 2 .29 Eastern tomorrow morning.
You can view it with a naked eye, but binoculars may help.
During totality, the moon will take on a deep red -orange hue, creating what's called a blood moon.
This happens when Earth's atmosphere filters out shorter wavelength blue light, projecting longer wavelength red and orange light.
light. According to NASA, it's as if all the world's sunrises and sunsets are projected onto the moon.
It may seem hard to keep the BEAT when your instruments are made of vegetables.
But an orchestra from Austria has defied the odds.
The 11 -piece ensemble from Vienna has earned a Guinness World Record for most concerts, 344 in all, by a vegetable orchestra, showing the world, you can make music out of nearly everything." According to their website, the group's choral contraptions include a carrot recorder, a leek violin, a cucumber phone, and a radish bass flute.
They are constantly inventing new instruments because vegetables can break or dry out while on stage, and scraps and leftovers become soup they serve the audience after concerts.
The creative entourage says they've been asked millions of times whether their vegetarians or vegan.
Their response? They are not.
In sports news, he's missing the Masters.
Tiger Woods announced he had surgery Tuesday morning in Florida to repair a ruptured Achilles tendon in his left leg and will therefore not make it to the tournament.
According to USA Today, Tiger has only missed the Masters once since 2018 and was training to compete this year when his injury surfaced.
No word on how long the golf legend will be off the green, but his doctors said in a statement, The surgery went smoothly and we expect a full recovery.
As if he weren't busy enough with the NBA, his own TV show and his Eat, Learn, Play foundation, Steph Curry has taken on yet another job.
The Hoops legend is joining his alma mater Davidson College as assistant general manager of basketball programs and, along with his wife Ayesha and other Davidson boosters, will create a fund to support the school's teams.
The move makes Steph the first active athlete to take an administrative role for an NCAA team, according to the Mercury News.
In a press relief, Steph said, "...
I want very talented, high -character student -athletes to have the same experience he had playing basketball and studying at Davidson." Still ahead, a video rental shop owner turns lemons into lemonade for his most loyal customer!
But first today's Kid News Quiz.
What's the name of the amphibian known to signal the start of spring?
The Spotted Salamander When is the maximum phase or umbra of the Eastern tomorrow morning, lasting for about 65 minutes?
What honor did the vegetable orchestra just earn?
A Guinness World Record for most concerts playing instruments made of veggies, what is Steph Curry's newest job?
Assistant These kid news kicker, how do you tell your most loyal customer you have to close your business?
That was the dilemma Idaho video rental store owner David Craining faced as his favorite shopper, 35 -year -old Christina Cavanaugh, had Down Syndrome and had been coming to the Pocatello store three times a week for 15 years to shop for movies with her mom.
Tony Cavanaugh said renting Disney DVDs was the highlight of her daughter's routine, the scene, which made what happened next so heartfelt.
About a week before the store closed, Mr. Craning moved about 200 DVDs into a corner of the quick stop he owned and created a miniature shop one of his employees nicknamed Christina's Corner.
There, Christina can continue to browse and rent her Disney favorites.
Her mom's response to the Washington Post, My gosh, he's been losing money but he came up with a plan just for my daughter?
who knew this guy's heart was so big?
Before we go, shoutouts for our teachers, Mrs. Batha's Bulls at Alberta Rider in Tigard, Oregon, Miss Duhoe's Knights at Kaiser in Costa Mesa, California, Mrs. Scott's Falcons at Rachel Carson in Sammamish, Washington, and Mama Marsteller's history hoppers at Steller Homeschool in Ashland, Massachusetts.
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