2-1 (11)
release dates: January 8-14
Mini Spy . . .
Mini Spy and Rookie Cookie are going bananas making
smoothies and banana splits! See if you can find:
• frog
• ruler
• word MINI • fish
• kite
• strawberry • bird
• letter A
• pencil
• basket
• saw
• cheese
• peanut
• snake
• snail
wedge
• golf club • man in the moon
• muffin
© 2011 Universal Uclick
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
Invasion of the Mutant Fruit
TM
Going Bananas
photo by Martine Perret, courtesy YN Photo
Have you ever looked for seeds in a
banana? You’re right. There are none.
You may notice tiny bits of what were
once seeds, but that’s all.
The banana we eat cannot grow on
its own. For thousands of years, people
have grown this important food from
parts of other banana plants.
The Mini Page talked with an
author of a book about bananas to learn
more about this weird, wonderful fruit.
Mutant fruit
Banana in danger
A smart person discovered people
could eat the fruit from the mutant
plant. This Stone Age farmer took a
cutting, or piece of the banana plant,
and replanted it to get more bananas.
The mother plant had long shoots,
or new growth, growing out from
under the plant. These shoots, which
looked like giant tulip bulbs, were
about as long as an adult’s leg.
These “daughter” shoots lasted
for years, so people were able to
carry them as they moved to new
places, even across the ocean. People
replanted these banana shoots at their
new homes, spreading the banana
through many tropical, or hot and
rainy, lands.
In the wild, mutations occur
naturally in plants that grow from
seeds. These changes can help the
plant survive disease or disasters.
But because edible banana plants
are all nearly identical copies of the
50,000-year-old mother plant, they
have no way to develop new defenses.
Several diseases are now
threatening to wipe out our favorite
banana varieties.
Meet Tom Cavanagh
photo by Phil Bray, courtesy
Warner Bros. Pictures
Tom Cavanagh stars as Ranger Smith in the
movie “Yogi Bear.” He has starred in several TV
shows, including “Ed.” He produced and directed
some episodes for that series. He has also starred
in movies, including “How to Eat Fried Worms”
and the TV movie “Christmas Dreams.” He has
appeared in several plays, including “Grease.”
Tom, 47, was born in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
He has four siblings. When he was 6 years old, he moved with his
family to Ghana, Africa, where his dad taught teachers how to
teach. His family later moved back to Canada.
Tom played ice hockey and basketball in college. He graduated
with degrees in biology, English and education. He speaks English
and French. He enjoys playing the guitar.
Tom supports a charity that buys mosquito nets to help protect
kids in Africa from getting malaria.
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
TM
TM
Rookie Cookie’s Recipe
Banana Bites
You’ll need:
• 1 medium-large banana
• 4 heaping tablespoons reduced-fat whipped topping
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 14 to 16 chocolate chips
What to do:
Scientists
look at a
banana
leaf
damaged
by
disease.
1. Slice banana into 14 to 16 rounds.
2. Mix together whipped topping and peanut butter until
well-blended.
3. Put a small dollop of mixture on top of each banana round.
4. Top with chocolate chip.
5. Chill in refrigerator for one hour before serving.
You will need an adult’s help with this recipe.
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
Hometown: Blue Bell, Pa.
The score was tied. The clock was racing. The pressure
was mounting. Rising to the occasion, top-ranked Maryland
star Katie O’Donnell once again flashed her All-America
field hockey skills.
First, she stopped a North Carolina attack with an
interception. Then she flipped the ball to teammate Megan
Frazer, who rifled in the winning goal, lifting the Terps to a 3-2, doubleovertime victory and their seventh national championship.
The Terps expect such moves from O’Donnell, the two-time National
Player of the Year and a four-time All-American.
“Special Katie” tallied 98 points this fall on 32 goals and 34 assists. The
explosive Terp, an elementary school education major, wrote the perfect
ending to her college career and now expects to keep competing for U.S.
national teams.
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
Top Banana
V.I.F. — Very Important Food
Favorite banana
Bananas are one of the main food
sources in the world. If disease were
to wipe out bananas, a lot of people
would starve. People in many countries
depend on bananas for their meals.
For example, in America, each
person eats an average of 25 pounds
of bananas each year. But in parts of
Africa, each person eats an average
of 900 pounds per year. (One pound
equals about three bananas.)
The banana you eat is probably a
Cavendish, the top banana in America
and Europe. It makes up 99 percent
of all bananas exported, or sent from
the country where they are grown.
However, people from other
countries believe different varieties
taste much better.
Banana diseases
Banana world
Supersport: Katie O’Donnell
Height: 5-2
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
photo by Pasqual Gorriz, courtesy UN
*A mutant is a
plant or animal
that changes
from others
of its species
because its
coding, or
genes, change.
Traveling fruit
photo by Scott Bauer, courtesy USDA
Bananas that grow in the wild are
inedible (in-ED-uh-buhl), or not
able to be eaten. This is because the
seeds are so hard and so big that it is
difficult to get any actual food from
the fruit.
But about 50,000 years ago,
experts say, a mutant* banana plant
appeared in what is probably now
Malaysia. This plant had no seeds.
People could
eat the fruit.
This girl is selling bananas
along a roadside in TimorLeste, in Southeast Asia.
Bananas do not ripen on the
plants. They stay green until
they are picked. Then the
starch in the bananas turns
to sugar, and bananas turn
yellow and sweet.
People in many countries
eat bananas in all stages.
They use green bananas in
meals much like we would
use potatoes. Sweet yellow
bananas are for dessert.
Although there is
only one species of
banana, there are
about 1,000 varieties.
Over thousands of years, people have
created or grown new types.
All but about 20 to 30 of those
1,000 varieties are edible. Inedible
varieties still grow in the wild with
big, hard seeds. The edible bananas
are all grown by people making
cuttings.
A boy sells bananas in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Saving on costs
By sticking to one banana variety,
companies save money. All the
bananas ripen at the same rate,
making shipping cheaper.
Different diseases
are attacking the
Cavendish in Asia.
Experts are worried
that this disease
could spread to Africa and Latin
America. If it does, we may no longer
be able to get our favorite banana.
These diseases are carried in dirt
and water, so they spread easily
from crop to crop. Just a couple
handfuls of contaminated dirt could
spread the disease to healthy fields.
A hurricane, for example, could blow
contaminated soil to other countries.
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
In the early 1900s, the top banana
was the Gros Michel (or Big Mike),
which people say was tastier than
the Cavendish. But disease spread
through banana plantations, almost
wiping it out.
It still grows in
people’s gardens, but
the disease organisms
are still in the soil of
the plantations. In the
1950s, this disease almost wiped out
the banana industry as well.
Companies switched to a resistant
Chinese variety, the Cavendish. Now
the Cavendish is facing the same plight.
It too could be nearly wiped out.
photo by Holly Wilmeth, courtesy USAID
Peeling Back the Mysteries
Any way you want them
A little more than 100 years
ago, most people didn’t even know
what a banana was. It grew only in
tropical areas, so it had to be shipped
thousands of miles to reach the U.S.
Boats were slow, so bananas rotted
before they got here.
In the late 1800s, United Fruit
(now called Chiquita) figured out how
to ship bananas in ice-filled ships.
But the company still needed to
explain this strange fruit to people.
So in 1944, it composed a jingle. The
first words told people ways to eat a
banana. Today, the song is the same,
but the words are about nutrition.
Workers harvest bananas
in Guatemala.
Because bananas are
at so much risk from
disease, many growers
spray large amounts of
harsh pesticides over
the plantations. Workers
often get sick, and the
pesticides contaminate the
groundwater.
The thick banana peel
does keep the pesticides
from reaching the fruit.
Bananas are safe to eat.
Oh, that old joke
Have you seen cartoons about
people slipping on banana peels?
Those cartoons are based on a real
problem a little over 100 years ago.
Planning for the future
As soon as bananas were available,
Because edible bananas have
people loved them. But they didn’t
not changed much since that first
know what to do with the peels, so
mutant plant, the same types of
they threw them on the ground. The
diseases threaten all varieties.
peels turned slippery and mushy, and
Bananas have very few built-in genes
people slipped on them and got hurt.
that can fight all these diseases.
St. Louis created a law making it
Scientists are trying to
illegal to throw a banana peel on the
create disease-resistant
ground.
plants. They are mixing
New York City let pigs loose in the
banana genes with
streets to eat the garbage. But the
resistant genes from
banana peels
other plants, such as radishes.
on top of all the
Scientists are also working to
Mini Page thanks Dan Koeppel,
other trash were
save banana varieties for the future. The
author of the adult-level book, “Banana:
too much for the
World leaders are saving seeds
The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the
pigs. New York
of important food crops in case of
World,” for help with this issue.
had to hire a
disaster. But they can’t save seeds
Look through your newspaper for ads
retired military
when there are no seeds to save.
and recipes featuring bananas or banana colonel to start
Instead, they must freeze the DNA,
foods such as banana smoothies.
its first garbage
or genetic material, from bananas,
pickup service!
Next week, The Mini Page is about the
just in case.
last tigers on Earth.
The Mini Page Staff
Betty Debnam - Founding Editor and Editor at Large Lisa Tarry - Managing Editor Lucy Lien - Associate Editor Wendy Daley - Artist
!
EW
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The Mini Page®
Book of States
The Mini Page’s popular series of issues about each state is collected
here in a 156-page softcover book. Conveniently spiral-bound for ease
of use, this invaluable resource contains A-to-Z facts about each state,
along with the District of Columbia. Illustrated with colorful photographs
and art, and complete with updated information, The Mini Page Book of
States will be a favorite in classrooms and homes for years to come.
TM
All the following jokes have something in common.
Can you guess the common theme or category?
Brian: Why do bananas have to use suntan
lotion?
Beth: Because bananas peel!
Bailey: Why did the policeman give the
banana a speeding ticket?
Beverly: Because he was caught peeling out
of the parking lot!
Bernard: What do you call two bananas?
Bill: A pair of slippers!
from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
Brown
Bassetews
N
e
Th nd’s
Hou
TM
try ’n
find
Bananas
Words that remind us of bananas are hidden in the block below. Some
words are hidden backward or diagonally. See if you can find: CAVENDISH,
CUTTING, DISEASES, EAT, FOOD, FRUIT, GENE, GREEN, GROW,
INEDIBLE, MEAL, MUTANT, NEW, PEEL, PICK, PLANT, RIPEN, SEED,
SHOOTS, SOIL, TROPICAL, YELLOW, VARIETIES, WILD.
I’m a
banana fan!
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from The Mini Page © 2011 Universal Uclick
Ready Resources
The Mini Page provides ideas for websites,
books or other resources that will help you learn
more about this week’s topics.
On the Web:
• http://urbanext.illinois.edu/food/sections/bananas/?page=0
• www.bananabook.org/kids
• www.fruitsandveggiesmatter.gov/month/banana.html
At the library:
• “Bananas!” by Jacqueline Farmer
• “The Biography of Bananas” by Rachel Eagen
• “Yes, We Have Bananas: Fruits From Shrubs & Vines
(Plants We Eat)” by Meredith Sayles Hughes
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