By The Washington Post, adapted by Newsela staff
Near the town of Gryfino in the country of Poland, there is a strange forest called Krzywy Las. In Polish, that means crooked forest. That forest has 400 pine trees with unusually curved trunks. They take a sharp turn and then curve to form the shape of the letter J.
How these trees all grew with an identical curve is a mystery. People think the trees were planted sometime in the early 1930s. During World War II (1939-1945), Gryfino was invaded. The town was destroyed. The people who lived there had to leave the town, including those who planted the trees and knew the secrets of the forest.
Gary Coleman is a plant scientist at the University of Maryland. He doesn't know exactly what happened to these trees. However, he has a good idea about the science behind what caused their trunks to grow in such a weird way.
It has to do with how they respond to gravity, Coleman said. Gravity is a force, or a pull, between objects. Earth’s gravity is a force drawing objects to the center of Earth. A plant’s roots respond to gravity by growing downward. But a plant’s stem grows upward, away from the pull of gravity, toward sunlight. Even when a plant is on its side, its stem will make a hard turn and start growing vertically again. "Whenever the stem is horizontal to gravity, the plant has a mechanism through which it can reorient itself," he said.
Coleman thinks that sometime in the trees’ early lives, someone laid them on their sides. “It probably occurred when they were fairly young seedlings or maybe small trees, just a few feet tall," he said. Seedlings are young plants grown from seeds.
He recounts that he’s seen trees growing horizontally before. When he worked in the U.S. Forest Service, he came across trees in a Rocky Mountain area forest that were horizontal because of a small but strong storm. "There would be one or two acres where every tree was on its side but still alive,” he said. But after a few years, the trees will reorient themselves and start growing up again, Coleman said.
An environmental event like a strong, local storm could explain the crooked trees in Poland. Unlike animals, trees can’t physically move because of changes in their environment. But they have a lot of different ways that they can sense environmental cues. And they can adjust their growth to respond to these environmental factors, Coleman said.
Trees and most other plants can detect gravity using tiny structures in their cells. Cells are the basic building blocks of all living things. Cells are typically too small to see. These structures tell plants which way is up. They also store the plant’s food in the form of starch. These grains of starch are drawn by gravity toward the bottom of their cell. They tell the tree that this direction is down. The tree responds by growing roots down and stems up.
But imagine the tree somehow ended up in a horizontal position. The starch grains in the cells would shift. They’d settle against whichever part of the cell was now facing down. The tree then uses that information to reorient itself and will grow its shoots upward again. "It's actually the movement of these starch grains in these cells that triggers these responses," Coleman said. "If the stem is horizontal, these starch grains are heavy and they're pulled down in the cell by gravity."
But how did all 400 trees in the forest end up horizontal in the first place? Did people lay the trees on their sides or did a natural event like a storm or something else flatten them? Coleman said he’s not sure. That’s one question that we may never have the answer to.
By Marylou Tousignant, The Washington Post
Learning languages is challenging. There are thousands of strange new words to know, along with how to pronounce them and use them correctly in a sentence.
One of the trickier parts is figuring out the meaning of a language's idioms (pronounced IDD-ee-ums). An idiom is a phrase whose meaning is different from its individual words but is widely understood by native speakers of that language.
For example, if someone says, "Don't cry over spilled milk," they aren't talking about an actual puddle of milk. This idiom means that something is done with, and it's time to move on.
Many languages have idioms. Here's a funny one in Polish: Nie mój cyrk, nie moje malpy. It translates to "Not my circus, not my monkeys" — in other words, "not my problem."
Here are seven popular idioms in English and how they started.
“Off your rocker” is another way of saying someone is displaying crazy or odd behavior. In the 1890s, trolley cars were attached to overhead electrical wires with an arm and a wheel called a rocker. If a car disconnected, it was off its rocker and unable to work properly. The British version of this idiom is "off your trolley."
When someone “spills the beans,” they reveal a secret. In Ancient Greece, men voted in secret, using colored beans. If someone tipped over the vase holding the beans, the election results were no longer secret.
“To turn a blind eye” means that you ignore someone or something unpleasant. British admiral and war hero Horatio Nelson, who had lost sight in his right eye, claimed after an 1801 naval battle that he had not seen his commander's flag signal to retreat. "I have only one eye. I have a right to be blind sometimes," Nelson reportedly said. The British went on to victory.
When something is referred to as being “in the bag,” it means success is certain. The 1916 New York Giants were in the middle of what became a 26-game winning streak. Back then, a bag filled with baseballs was left on the field during games to replace balls hit into the stands. The Giants became convinced that, if they led in the ninth inning, removing that bag guaranteed victory because the win was "in the bag."
If someone “hits the hay,” that means they are going straight to bed! Our ancestors didn't have comfy foam mattresses. They slept on sacks stuffed with whatever they could find. Often it was straw or hay. Before bedtime, they might punch the sack to make it more comfortable. That also helped get rid of bugs that would otherwise spend the night with them.
A person who solves problems creatively is someone who “thinks outside the box.” This phrase gained popularity in the business world of the 1970s. It refers to a century-old puzzle in which nine dots must be connected using four straight lines, without your pen or pencil leaving the paper. It's easy ... once your mind leaves the box.
“To bark up the wrong tree” is to make the wrong choice. This idiom dates back 200 years. At the time people hunted with packs of dogs. Sometimes a wily raccoon or other animal would trick the dogs into thinking their prey was up a certain tree. The dogs would then circle its base and yap away. They were, literally, barking up the wrong tree.
What is an idiom?
What does the idiom 'spill the beans' mean?
What does the idiom 'hit the hay' mean?
What does the idiom 'barking up the wrong tree' mean?
Read the following paragraph from the article.
A person who solves problems creatively is someone who “thinks outside the box.” This phrase gained popularity in the business world of the 1970s. It refers to a century-old puzzle in which nine dots must be connected using four straight lines, without your pen or pencil leaving the paper. It's easy ... once your mind leaves the box.
HOW does this paragraph support the main idea of the article?
Select the answer choice that summarizes the section "Turn A Blind Eye.”
Read the article's Introduction [paragraphs 1-5], and the final section “Barking Up The Wrong Tree.”
What is one connection between these two sections?
The section “Spill The Beans” is organized mainly using cause and effect.
Why do you think the author chose to organize the information this way?
By Forbes, adapted by Newsela staff
Are you thinking about what kind of job you might want when you are done with school? It’s always a good idea to plan ahead. The best way to plan is to try to look into the future. Discover what the emerging trends are. Figure out how you can use your skills to build a fast-growing career.
Every month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows how many new jobs were created or lost. The data captures a moment in time. It shows us which jobs are likely to have a promising future.
The BLS has put together lists of the fastest-growing jobs and how much they pay.
The BLS predicts the total number of jobs in the United States will grow from 153.5 million to 165.4 million by 2030. That’s an increase of 11.9 million jobs.
Employment in the restaurant, bar, travel, hotel and entertainment industries is projected to increase at the fastest rate. During the coronavirus pandemic, workers in these fields were among the first to lose their jobs. Now the country is reopening. There is a huge need to fill these kinds of jobs. The bounceback has been so enormous that restaurants and other businesses can’t find enough workers. Many businesses have had to raise wages and offer incentives to attract workers.
Concerns about our health and safety will mean the health care and social assistance sector's will continue to grow. There will be more new jobs created in health care than in any other field. The rate of growth will not be as fast, however. Health care is expected to add 3.3 million jobs by 2030.
Some health care occupations are particularly fast-growing. These include nurse practitioners, physical therapist assistants and physician assistants.
A number of factors will create a steady need for health care providers. One is a rising demand for the care of an aging baby-boomer population. Another is the fact that people are living longer, and therefore need more care in old age. There is also continued growth in the number of patients with long-term conditions.
Technological advances in many fields are expected to keep growing fast. That means that both large and small businesses will have a growing need for tech workers.
According to the BLS, “Computer and mathematical occupations are expected to see fast employment growth.” In particular, strong demand is expected in the areas of information technology (IT) security and software development. This is partly due to more people working from home, which was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. The downside is that increased automation is expected to result in declining employment for office and administrative support roles.
There will also be a large need for people to interpret data. Data helps business leaders make smart, informed decisions. There is a demand for new products, such as the Internet of Things, and for analyzing and interpreting large datasets. This is expected to contribute to fast employment growth for statisticians, information security analysts and data scientists.
In the years ahead, we are likely to see a major wave of retirements. This will open up opportunities for younger workers. By 2030, the youngest of the baby boomers will have reached 65 years old. Many will retire or leave the workforce.
Other trends will also create all sorts of new job opportunities. For example, there is a move toward environmentally friendly industries and products. Another trend is the massive adoption of pets during the pandemic. There is also a large need for mental health support.
Here are the jobs the U.S. Labor Department and BLS project will be the fastest-growing over the next 10 years. The typical yearly pay is also reported.
Wind turbine service technicians: $56,230
Nurse practitioners: $111,680
Solar energy installers: $46,470
Statisticians: $92,270
Physical therapist assistants: $59,770
Information security analysts: $103,590
Home health and personal care aides: $27,080
Medical and health services managers: $104,280
Data scientists and mathematical science occupations: $98,230
Physician assistants: $115,390
Epidemiologists: $74,560
Speech-language pathologists: $80,480
Animal trainers: $31,520
Computer numerically controlled tool programmers: $57,740
Operations research analysts: $86,200
Health specialties teachers, postsecondary: $99,090
Forest fire inspectors and prevention specialists: $42,150
Interpreters and translators: $52,330
Athletic trainers: $49,860
Respiratory therapists: $62,810
Substance abuse, behavioral disorder and mental health counselors: $47,660
Food preparation and serving related workers, all other: $27,080
Nursing instructors and teachers: $75,470
Woodworkers: $33,630
Software developers and software quality assurance analysts and testers: $110,140
What does the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) do every month?
Which industry is expected to add the most new jobs by 2030?
What is one reason there will be new job opportunities in the future?
Which job on the list has the highest typical yearly pay?
Read the section “What Jobs Offer The Fastest Growth”?
Which sentence from the section shows why there is a demand for health care providers?
Read the section “New Job Trends.”
Which sentence from the section supports the conclusion that an aging workers will create new job openings?
Read the sentences.
1. The data captures a moment in time.
2. Concerns about our health and safety will mean the health care and social assistance sectors will continue to grow.
3. That means that both large and small businesses will have a growing need for tech workers.
4. The downside is that increased automation is expected to result in declining employment for office and administrative support roles.
Which two sentences are main ideas of the article?
Read the paragraph from the article.
According to the BLS, “Computer and mathematical occupations are expected to see fast employment growth.” In particular, strong demand is expected in the areas of information technology (IT) security and software development. This is partly due to more people working from home, which was spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic. The downside is that increased automation is expected to result in declining employment for office and administrative support roles.
Which statement summarizes the paragraph?
What is the main mystery about the Krzywy Las forest?
What does Gary Coleman think caused the trees in Krzywy Las to grow with curved trunks?
How do trees detect which way is up?
Read the section “Grains Of Starch.”
Select the sentence that shows how cells provide information to a tree.
Read the paragraph from the section “Gravity.”
He recounts that he’s seen trees growing horizontally before. When he worked in the U.S. Forest Service, he came across trees in a Rocky Mountain area forest that were horizontal because of a small but strong storm. "There would be one or two acres where every tree was on its side but still alive,” he said. But after a few years, the trees will reorient themselves and start growing up again, Coleman said.
What is an accurate explanation of what this paragraph means?
Read the paragraph from the section “Grains Of Starch.”
An environmental event like a strong, local storm could explain the crooked trees in Poland. Unlike animals, trees can’t physically move because of changes in their environment. But they have a lot of different ways that they can sense environmental cues. And they can adjust their growth to respond to these environmental factors, Coleman said.
Which word from the paragraph helps the reader understand the meaning of “cues”?
Read the sentence from the introduction [paragraphs 1-3].
They take a sharp turn and then curve to form a shape resembling the letter J.
What is the meaning of “resembling” as used in the sentence?