Plus, cereal for a cause the story behind a cereal box domino chain were in North Carolina with details. And secrets of a ventriloquist. Well introduce you to this puppeteer who is making history and hoping to inspire a new generation of storytellers make you proud of me this is nbc nightly news kids edition welcome back to kids edition. Im lester holt. Its great to be with you on a saturday morning we have an awesome lineup today, everything behind the science of those Sweet Cravings we all have, to a rare birth at one zoo in the u. S and later on, well have some fun with puppeteer and ventriloquist megan typhus you move your hand for each syllable youre saying, so if you want to say basketball, i would say basketball did she just take my voice . We begin with the weather. Parts of the country have been hit by extreme weather this week, rain, storms, and even tornadoes, and one young viewer had this question on his mind. Hi. My name is sam, and im 4 years old. And i want to talk about how wind blows from the air. All right, sam. Great question thank you for that the wind is something all of us experience around the world no matter where we live for more on the wind, we ask our good friend and meteorology dylan dreyer to explain. Wind is air in motion its produced by the uneven heating of the earths surface by the sun, which drives temperature changes. Wind is Pretty Amazing it can change the shape of the land, move the clouds, help fly a kite, and even cause airplanes to fly faster or slower. Wind can also generate Clean Electricity and help a sailboat across the ocean but sometimes the wind can be so strong and scary lemts talk more about it. The sun warms the earths surface. The atmosphere warms too some parts of the earth receive more direct rays from the sun and are usually warmer, such as the equator. Other places, like the north and south poles, receive indirect rays, so the weather there is typically colder warm air weighs less than cold air and rises. Then cool air moves in and replaces the rising warm air this movement of air is what makes the wind blow. So, what makes wind strong at times and weaker at others well, it all has to do with air pressure did you know we live at the bottom of the atmosphere and the weight of all the air above us is called air pressure when the air pressure changes, so does the strength of the wind wind always blows from High Pressure to lowpressure areas to cry and create a balance. The greater the difference in pressure, the greater the wind speed, especially when that pressure changes over a short distance sometimes the wind at the surface can be so strong that it becomes scary. There are many types of weather phenomena that produce high wind, for example, hurricanes and tornadoes or noreasters and severe thunderstorms these winds can be so strong they can knock down trees and cause damage, and sometimes power outages. By the way, did you know that the weather instrument used to measure wind speed is called an anemometer thats a fun word to say and guess what else . Wind can also play an Important Role in our lives. Wind is important and can supply one of the cheapest forms of clean energy in the world. Windmills can harness the power of the wind to create electricity. And best of all, the supply of wind is unlimited. All right dylan, great explanation as always thanks to much some of you might be eating your breakfast right now or you ate already. I get up early, so this time of the morning im usually in need of a snack did you know march 4th is National Snack day from pretzels to nuts to something sweet, who doesnt love a good snack . What makes some of us crave the sweet stuff . Our pal, dr. John torres, looks at the Science Behind a suite tooth. A suite tooth its not a specific tooth in your mouth it has nothing to do with your actual tooth it means youre a big fan of sweet foods and often crave them this is a combination of your body and brain telling you you want sugar, and whats trickier, the more you eat sweets, the more you end up craving them a lot of people have a sweet tooth, and that isnt necessarily a bad thing, but you want to be aware of it and not let it make all of your decisions. I have a big sweet tooth i have all my life here are tips i use. If im craving something sweet, i try reaching for fruits or yogurt instead of candy or ice cream. Also, be aware of where sugar hilds. One sneaky spot, drinks like juice and soda so, try to stick with water and milk most of the time. And eat and drink slowly this way, you can satisfy that sweet craving but consume a bit less sugar most importantly, moderation is key. This doesnt mean you can never have chocolate or cookies because wheres the fun in that . But you do want to be aware of how much sugar youre eating and make sure youre eating other foods to get the vitamins and proteins you need to stay healthy. On the opposite end of the spectrum, some people crave salty foods like potato chips. And the same tips work here. Try to reach for healthier options like peanuts or pretzels, and be mindful of how much salt youre actually eating whether its sweet or salty, for the most part, its all okay in moderation dr. John torres, thank you. Time for our pop quiz. This week were talking about geography. The question, new mexico is one of four states that meet at what is known as the four corners which of the following states is not one of the other three is it a, nevada, b, arizona, or c, colorado . Ill give you a few seconds to think about it okay. Times up. The answer is a, nevada. The four corners are new mexico, arizona, utah, and colorado. All of these states are part of a really beautiful part of the country with some amazing scenery. Turning now to this weeks inspiring kids series, one Elementary School in North Carolina is getting a lot of attention for a cereal box chain that went viral. And it was all for a great cause. Lets get details from our friend Laura Jarrett three, two, one reporter this video showing nearly 2,800 cereal boxes lined up and falling down like dominos at clemens Elementary School has captured a lot of attention. P. T. A. Farrow burn recorded an posted the video and its gone viral, more than 34 million views so far 69,000 comments reporter she got the idea from a friend, then she went to work mapping out the entire route throughout the school. And with the help of others, the display was built in five hours, no practice run needed it was really fun, and it was an experience ill remember forever. Reporter fourthgrader merritt had the job of starting the chain. Three, two, one i was nervous because i couldnt hear the intercom very well because we were outside but it was way better because all of my class was screaming the countdown, so i wasnt really nervous then. One like, if one box is going to fall down and mess the whole thing up or whats going to happen it went all the way through. Really fun. It was fun because after that we had recess. Reporter but it wasnt just for fun. There was a purpose behind this massive cereal box chain to donate to the food pantry to help people who are in need reporter thats right. Students along with the rest of the clemens Elementary Community collected cereal boxes and donated them to the local food pantry kindergartner jackson making a direct appeal to his church. I speak on the microphone and told everybody to donate cereal to the pantry, and everybody did. Reporter and donated they did. A whopping 400 boxes thanks to jacksons speech alone the clemens, North Carolina, food pantry overcome with joy. 2,700 boxes will take us through three months every family that comes for the next three months is guaranteed some breakfast reporter kids learning some important life lessons it was fun, like, because we get to help our community and have fun at the same time. That giving to people at different places that dont have enough money to, like, spend on food, is very, very helpful. I think all of the children through their excitement, theyre going to remember this and know what its like to give back reporter and the school is already making plans for the next one laura, thanks very much just ahead, orange crush were in oklahoma with details on this rare birth and secrets of a ventriloquist. Hey, kids im baby june bug. How this puppeteer found he were voice and made history. s t. Yes, the time has come for a fresh approach to dog food. Everyday, more dog people are deciding its time to quit the kibble and feed their dogs fresh food from the farmers dog. Made by vets and delivered right to your door precisely portioned for your dogs needs. Its an idea whose time has come. You can learn wunbelievable things on the internet unbelievably cool and unbelievably false. Remind your kids, just because its online doesnt mean its true. Keep an eye out for misinformation. The more you know. Welcome back to nbc nightly news kids edition. I hope youre having a great saturday we want to head to oklahoma now, where the recent birth of a bibby monkey is capturing the hearts of america. Lets get details from our friend harry mclaughlin. Say hell le v low to farrah, one of the newest members of the Oklahoma City zoo. Farrah is the first francois langer monkey born at the zoo in 26 years to mom, pam, and dad, rippley. Strictly on moms milk at this point, but she does try to eat sol ill foods, tries to steal what mom may be eating shes incredibly strong. She tries to explore a little more than her mom wants her to explore. Weve caught pam keeping her close to her shes very adventurous already, very brave just what makes francois langers unique for tarters, theyre born different colors to help them stand out. Their babies are born bright red or orange. Mom and dad are black fur with, like, some white sideburns, and farrah has a very bright redhead. Reporter typically, their fur changes from reddishorange to black in six months to a year did you know in the wild, francois langers can be found on cliffs outside of forests . And theyre also known as francois leaf monkeys because of their primary diet their die set made up of mostly leaves. They have a special stomach that helps them process all those leaves we give them a lot of trees to help with that reporter sadly, theyre considered an endanderred species in the wild. Theres about 2,000 left. About 50 of their population has decreased over the decades this is due to hunting, habitat loss their forests are broken into fragments, which makes it harder to forage and eat and Stay Together as a troop. Reporter thankfully, there are ongoing conservation efforts to help save them. China and vietnam, and both are actually setting aside special land, special forests to preserve their home country and their home range and then to kind of protect the monkeys. Reporter as for farrah, shell continue to test new things, while ultimately sticking close to mom for the next year or so, marking an important milestone for the species and the Oklahoma City zoo. This is the first time that weve actually paired francois langers, my team, so were really excited i think they are a very understudied primate species, so theres not a lot known about them we like learning about them, contributing to the species as a whole. Thanks what cutie well, march marks womens history month, a time to celebrate the achievements made by females and theres one young woman using her voice and creativity to pave the way for future storytellers, making history and hoping to inspire kids to reach for the stars. I just wanna make you i just wanna make you proud proud of me just wanna make you proud of me in a world of makebelieve, megan piphus is bringing her imagination to life. Proud of me, me, me love of when she was 10. When i was 10 years old, i had just changed to a new Elementary School and had to make new friends, i was super shy. I went to a puppetry conference with a few members from my church i was exposed to women ventri ventriloquists, and i saw myself being able to open up just like them and make something come alive in that moment so, i went home, i told my parents i wanted to become a ventriloquist. Youre the valedictorian. That means youre the first to go and she did just that we were working on making a gift for grandmas birthday. In 2021, megan piphus made history becoming sesame streets first fulltime female black puppeteer. I still dont know what i want to do yet my goal is just to inspire girls to achieve whatever dream they have no matter their background, their zip code, or no matter the color of their skin and theres no stopping her achievements megan just released a childrens album hoping to inspire all kids to dream big i just wanna make you proud of me make you proud of me joining us now is megan piphus megan, great to have you on. Thank you so much for having me i didnt catch the name of your friend. Im baby june bug june bug. I like that name i like your outfit, by the way thank you it was something i thought you was going to wear. Mine is in the cleaners basis blackandblue today its great to have you on. Explain, you are a puppeteer and a ventriloquist. For kids watching, can you explain the difference yeah. It means she a little crazy. She gots lots of voices. As a puppeteer, i can move pucketts like june bug, but as a ventriloquist, i can talk without moving my lips talk without moving your lips thats right. When i talk with june bug. I sound like this and of course my eyes immediately going toward june bug. Thats right. During the conversation it brings the character even more so to life because you believe hes real. Im a real boy. I want to get into this how do you do it first to start it off, we have one of our kid questions. Okay. Hi, megan how do you talk with your mouth closed how do you talk with your mouth closed yeah. Mes moms do it i can teach you how there are only certain letters of the alphabet you have to close your mouth for like b. A you dont im saying a right now and my lips arent moving you can push out the same amount of air, aa, and it looks like youre not moving your lips for b, i replace that let we are another let that are sounds similar. B, b say that in a sentence. You wanted to say basketball, replace the b with a d basketball. Thats right. And that applies for basically every letter that would normally require our lips together thats right. Theres about seven letters we replace the letters with you started this at a really early age. I know you practiced a lot i want to play another question from one of our viewers. Okay. Hello were both from japan. How do you practice to be a puppeteer . Bye we love nbc nightly news kids edition and this was my point a lot of work went into where you are today. Tell me how much work. What kind of things have you had to do . I met june bug when i was 12 years old, but ive been a puppeteer since i was 10 years old, so around your age is when i started. You can practice by taking your own hand you want to do it with me . Yeah, yeah. Take your hand, and we want to mimic how we move so, open the mouth like this you dont want to open the entire mouth how you doing, june bug like that drop your bottom thumb like this if you move your whole mouth, you puppet will look like this very slight slight opening of your bottom thumb, and you move your hand for each syllable youre saying. So for basketball, i would say basketball did your hand just take my voice . So, do it again i want to see the movement of june bug basketball. Okay. I like to play basketball you like to play basketball im not very good im not very good as a ventriloquist. You landed your dream job on sesame street. What was that like i mean, thats got to be the allstar for a ventriloquist yeah. I never imagined that i would get to sesame street. I grew up watching it as a child, and i even had a sesame streetthemed Birthday Party when i was 3 years old i submitted an application to the Jim Henson Company in 2017 i wasnt expecting to hear back, but in 2020, the producers had time to go through old submission from the Jim Henson Company, and one of the producers saw my application and reached out and asked if id be interested in working with sesame street. So, i trained and i learned and joined the cast in 2021. Is it a pretty Small Community of people who do what you do assumer Small Community you think so . Yeah. It is, but its a very supportive community, so its immediately after i joined sesame street i was surrounded by the greats who were willing to teach me and to learn so, also, i practice by learning from others. You just released a new childrens album tell me about that mr. Lester, i have a question sure. Do you have any snacks . Do we have oh, my goodness do we have any snacks . Our snack person is off today. June bug, i can get you snacks you take a break okay. Ill take a break. She didnt feed me before we got here well get you some snacks im sorry, lester thats okay i should feed him next time tell me about this album. I released a childrens music album last year. So, beyond being a pum tear, im a creator. So i love creating stories and songs. I released an album coproduced with Bootsy Collins and sara baptist, and we brought the music to life with puppets the puppets sing . Thats right. June bug sings make me proud. You have a wonderful singing voice. Thank you i enjoy singing. Doing more music this year june bug and i are working on an album but the soul children of chicago, a choir thats been around for over 40 years i remember them i used to live in chicago. This is obviously a very important project for me thats right. Its very important to me to use music and puppets to inspire kids to pursue their wildest and most unique dreams im a fulltime pum ppeteer. Weve lot gotten a lot of response one more question. Im jocelyn from michigan my question is, what would you say to black girls like me tryi trying to get into puppeteering or getting into the arts terrific question wel first, im excited that youre interested in pup etdry it took me many years to find my path i found first what made me come alive, and that was telling stories and singing songs. I used puppetry as a mode to do that i tried working i was an ad sales intern at nbc. Were you . I was i worked in Public Relations i worked in dance, musical theater. I did lots of different jobs in the arts until i found what made me come alive. And i learned that was making children laugh and smile by doing puppetry every time ive been around a puppeteer or ventriloquist, they walk in the room with a puppet, people smile right away. Its this ultimate, you know, social moment of breaking any tension in the room. Whats that like to have that ability . Its like awakening someones imagination. It doesnt matter if youre 2 years old or 80 years old. Theres a part of your mind that wants to believe that something that doesnt exist right now can happen, and thats the the essence of hope is believing in something that can happen that doesnt exist right now. When i bring june bug to life, im bringing something inanimate to life. It really makes i think the soul and the heart smile and laugh to see something thats not real. You two have certainly brightened our day here at nbc nightly news kids edition. Great to have you on thanks so much hope to see you again. Yes thanks, lester and june bug. Im still down here so much fun. Thats going to do it for us parents, just a reminder, if your child has a question about any top nick the news, email a video to us. You can also follow us on instagram nightlykids and a program note catch a new episode of nbc nightly news kids edition every thursday on nbcnews. Com and youtube and streaming on the weekends on nbc news now. Remember to take care of yourself and each other. Have a great weekend good morning. It is saturday, march 2nd, 2024. This is a live look outside. Interstate 80 in the sierra this morning. The chp forced to shut it down yesterday evening into this morning. Almost looks like a, the slopes there. Thank you so much for starting yo