Channel One

Imagine yourself as big as a building or as small as a marble. At The Channel One Network Online gives kids the chance to explore the real-life issues that confront them every day. From stories on smoking at school to the Rwandan refugee crisis, there are plenty of hard facts to go along with interesting storytelling and photos. Channel One's anchors report in-depth on such issues as the war on drugs, drunk driving and endangered animals. They even let kids have their say with polls on school uniforms and discussions on pollution and the environment. If you're up to date on current issues, you might want to give the pop quiz a try. Ready to learn more about the world in the 1990s? Then take your inquisitive mind to Channel One.

If you're up for the Quest, you have the chance to earn a scholarship worth $25,000 and money for your school and the coach who helps you. ThinkQuest is a contest that challenges you, a pal or two and a coach to create educational tools or resources that are accessible through the World Wide Web-you know, a Web site. How well your entry will help educate, excite and enhance the learning experience of other students determines whether it is a winner. Your team must submit a Proposal Concept by Jan. 31, 1997, describing the tools or materials it intends to build. So where do you sign up? Go to ThinkQuest to get the full details. When you're there, check out last year's winning entries like "Economics and Investment: A Stock Market Simulation," "From the Ground Up: A Guide to C + +" and "Design Paradise," about the inner workings of the island of Kauai, in Hawaii. They're awesome and they were created by kids like you. Good luck!

You're welcome at the Buckman School home page. Buckman is a cool public arts magnet school in Portland, Oregon. Get started in Room 100, where you can find out about the world's 18 different varieties of penguins, outer space from A-Z or the science of bubble making. You can even look under the microscope cam at a pencil tip, dried leaf or yellow jacket. Want to be part of the next experiment? Make your own suggestions about what they might put under the microscope next. >From there, check out all the other Buckman classrooms, from drama to science to visual arts. Don't forget your backpack!

When you know the answers to these questions, go to 4Kids Detective!. Here are the questions:

• The Cool School ate dinner at whose house?
• What are the features at Channel One?
• Who's eligible for ThinkQuest?