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11 Things We Learned This Week

This week, we learned …

… how to build a paper airplane that flies more than 200 feet.

Use our activity to modify paper airplanes in order to fly them more slowly or faster.

 

… disabled communities are a thriving population of Second Life.

How are first-life national parks working to build disability-friendly trails?

 

… a newly discovered Dead Sea cave has unrolled (unscrolled?) new mysteries.

What are the Dead Sea Scrolls?

 

… what last year’s Global Teacher Prize recipient has done lately.

What is the Global Teacher Prize?

 

… Brazilian conservationists have developed a new digital tool to help chop poached wood from supply chains.

amazonia-human Zoom, zoom, zoom in on this beautiful map. Hydroelectric power plants are not the only human activity threatening indigenous cultures and biodiversity in the Amazon. Mining, logging, ranching, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction have also put unsustainable pressure on the delicate rain forests. Map by National Geographic
Zoom, zoom, zoom in on this beautiful map. Hydroelectric power plants are not the only human activity threatening indigenous cultures and biodiversity in the Amazon. Mining, logging, ranching, agriculture, and oil and gas extraction have also put unsustainable pressure on the delicate rain forests.
Map by National Geographic

Who is affected by deforestation in the Amazon?

 

… all about solar-powered entrepreneurship in Rwanda and a $500 billion plan to refreeze the Arctic.

Decades of scientific research has documented the phenomenon of Arctic shrinkage. Arctic shrinkage includes the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, warmer temperatures, and a loss of sea ice. Map by National Geographic
Decades of scientific research has documented the phenomenon of Arctic shrinkage. Arctic shrinkage includes the melting of the Greenland ice sheet, warmer temperatures, and a loss of sea ice.
Map by National Geographic

Why do we need to freeze the Arctic?

 

… the story of the “boy who started the Syrian War.”

Who is fighting whom in Syria?

 

… a Thai company makes zero-waste food packaging out of bamboo and cassava.

What other businesses are going from plastic to profit?

 

… scurvy is making an unwelcome return.

Eat some citrus. Photograph by Agricultural Research Service. Public domain
Eat some citrus.
Photograph by Agricultural Research Service. Public domain

How can you combat scurvy?

 

… how an unassuming bureaucrat saved school lunch, and it takes a lot of fish to feed a forest.

Photograph courtesy the Center for Ecoliteracy—click here to learn more about their "Rethinking School Lunch" framework.
Photograph courtesy the Center for Ecoliteracy

Make an impact in your school’s lunchroom.

 

… there are only six stories in the world.

Graphs by Andrew J. Reagan (emotional arcs) and Jen Christiansen (fractal charts); Sources: “The Emotional Arcs of Stories Are Dominated by Six Basic Shapes,” by Andrew J. Reagan et al., in EPJ Data Science, Vol. 5, No. 1, Article No. 31; December 2016 (arcs); “Quantifying Origin and Character of Long-Range Correlations in Narrative Texts,” by Stanislaw Drozdz et al., in Information Sciences, Vol. 331; February 20, 2016 (fractals)
Graphs by Andrew J. Reagan (emotional arcs) and Jen Christiansen (fractal charts); Sources: “The Emotional Arcs of Stories Are Dominated by Six Basic Shapes,” by Andrew J. Reagan et al., in EPJ Data Science, Vol. 5, No. 1, Article No. 31; December 2016 (arcs); “Quantifying Origin and Character of Long-Range Correlations in Narrative Texts,” by Stanislaw Drozdz et al., in Information Sciences, Vol. 331; February 20, 2016 (fractals)

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3 thoughts on “11 Things We Learned This Week”

  1. Unbelievable!!! Just a 14 years old boy led to all these conflicts in Syria… Half a million people have died.. We can just pray for Syrians people that Insha Allah everything will be fine… And thanks to Mehdi Hasan for showing Islam and democracy are compatible..
    It’s really a myth that Muslims can’t live with democracy in my country we are living..

    Reply

  2. I would really like to say one word for Horub MASHA ALLAH… living in such circumstances like being refugee and than achievement of such a great honor, really impressive and admirable.. Congratulations miss teacher I mean A Global Teach.. Allah bless you always… And Insha Allah you will get the best out of a child and will make him a responsible citizen..

    Reply

  3. Really so confusing second life is.. Completely virtual world!!! Is it good way to live or a bad one to escape from reality? Guys you belong to this world and if you are suffering from any kind of disability accept it’s God’s will.. Being in virtuality is never gonna help you in real life…
    Yeah it’s good to spend time there but to a limit…

    Reply

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