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Themes:
The Berlin Wall, Gold Rush +
Dear %%NAME%%,
Welcome to this month's issue of ProQuest Teachable Moments. This issue focuses on a myriad of topics, including the Cold War and the Berlin Wall, Klondike Gold Rush, the history of the Internet, calendars, clean air and water, changing seasons, and more.
Our monthly enewsletter delivers a set of hands-on learning activities that encourage students to conduct quality research and produce meaningful results to increase their knowledge and understanding of everything from basic math to literature to history and beyond. Keep in mind that these activities are not duplicated in our other monthly newsletters, which also contain ready-made lessons.
Have an idea or feedback concerning this newsletter? Send email to tim.mclain@il.proquest.com today.
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SIRS® Researcher
Clean Air & Water
Grades 6-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
August is National Water Quality Month and National Clean Air Month. Both of these themes focus on the need to preserve our environment from various type of pollution. Mostpollution can be prevented if business, government, and citizens cooperate.
Government must pass sensible and environmentally sensitive rules that include incentives as well as penalties and enforcement. Businesses must create new ways to control pollution and use them to their advantage with consumers, as weilll the hybrid car. Consumers must recycle, stop dumping and littering, and conserve energy.
Activity: Student groups in many schools are adopting streams, monitoring pollution levels, and studying how to change the causes of pollution. This new concern for the environment offers a good opportunity to debate environmental issues, especially now that President Bush has tipped the balance between environmental concern and business production.
Click "more issues" in the Pro vs. Con section of Leading Issues, and note the following issues:
- Conservation of natural resources
- Environmentalism
- Global warming
- Pollution
Leading Issues is the only learning resource focusing on issues that provides four examples of student projects that can be completed using its information and unique format. The mini-debate is an engaging activity that can be completed in a class period. There are both teacher and student guides to the rules and procedures that are tied to information that can be found on both sides of any of these environmental issues.
- Click Creating a Debate Outline at the bottom right of the "more issues" page.
- This will retrieve the student guide for printing and copying.
- Click Educators' Resources at the top of the Search page.
- Scroll down to Guide to Creating a Debate Outline – Teacher.
- Click and Open and Print.
- Select the most appropriate environmental issue for the mini-debate.
Find out more about SIRS Researcher and SIRS Leading Issues at our K-12 website.
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ExploreLearning® Gizmos
Weather & Climate Studies
Grades 6-12
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Math & Science Solution Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
The highest temperature ever recorded for the month of August occurred on August 12, 1933, at Greenland Ranch, Calif. (elevation –178 ft), where the temperature reached 127°F.
The lowest temperature ever recorded for the month of August occurred on August 25, 1910, in Bowen, Mont. (elevation 6,080 ft), where the temperature fell to 5°F.
Activity: Let's find out more about weather and the temperature using ExploreLearning Gizmos. Each Gizmo comes with both teaching guides and student activities.
- Login to ExploreLearning.
- Click the link Browse for Gizmos by Grade and Topic under Looking for a Gizmo.
- Click Grade 9-12 > Earth and space science.
- Click Atmosphere, weather, and climate.
- Start your weather related Gizmo experience with Min/Max Thermometer.
- Then try Seasons: Why do we have them, and Seasons around the World.
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Reading A-Z™
Natural Disasters
Grades 6-12
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Reading A-Z Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
One of the concerns of teachers who are affected by No Child Left Behind is that because of the heavy emphasis on reading and math, teachers do not have the time necessary to devote to social studies and science.
Reading A-Z leveled readers contain hundreds of fiction and non-fiction books. All of the non-fiction books help students to understand core curriculum content that correlates to state and national standards. So teachers and students can address reading development as well as learn standards-based academic content in Social Studies and Science.
Last week, the media focused on the 61st anniversary of Victory over Japan including the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Japan is a country that has experienced other catastrophic events, but these have been delivered by nature. This would be a good time to read about natural catastrophic events and compare them to the destruction caused by the man-made atomic bombs.
Here are some books that focus on Earth Science that can be used for student reports: The Force of Water; Earthquakes, Volcanoes, and Tsunamis; Severe Weather; Storm Chasers; Tsunamis; Plate Tectonics; and Volcanoes.
You can connect to each book by clicking the ALL BOOKS tab at www.readinga-z.com.
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eLibrary®
The Berlin Wall
Grades 6-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
Forty-five years ago, in August of 1961, East and West Berlin were divided by a barbed wire fence, which the Soviets soon replaced with a concrete partition –- the Berlin Wall.
The construction of the wall was just one of many incidents that marked the Cold War, the 40-year period of economic, political, and cultural tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that began after World War II and ended with the fall of communism.
The Berlin Wall would remain in place until 1989 when it was torn down –- the bricks, ironically, were sold in a capitalist venture. As other Eastern European countries deposed their communist governments in the late 1980s, the Soviet Empire and the Cold War came to an end.
Activity: Students can find out more about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall by using a ProQuest BookCart created specially for this purpose.
- Access the Teacher Edition @ http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/teacher
- Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
- Click SS--World History folder.
- Find "Berlin Wall" and click the Copy icon under the Actions column to the right.
- Click the Back to the BookCarts page link.
- Look for Berlin Wall in your Local tab collection.
The Berlin Wall BookCart is only one of the more than 400 that you can copy from the ProQuest collection. Learn more.
Each BookCart includes Essential Questions for critical thinking in the Description Box. These are only samples to help teacher create more of these questions. These Essential Questions challenge students to use BookCart resources creatively and to analyze, synthesize, and produce writing that integrates original thought.
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CultureGrams™
The Cold War & Germany
Grades 5-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
On August 13, 1961, the East and West sectors of Berlin were divided
by a barbed wire fence, which the Soviets soon replaced with a
concrete wall.
Ask students to read the History section of the CultureGrams World Edition Germany report.
Also, show students the picture entitled "Berlin Wall Crosses" from the CultureGrams Germany Photo Gallery. Using these as background, discuss in greater detail how the post–World War II division of Germany led to the creation of an East German socialist state and the construction of the Berlin Wall.
Ask the students to read the remainder of the CultureGrams report, making note of all instances where differences between Germans from the former East and the former West are discussed (e.g. in General Attitudes, tensions between people in the west and east exist; in Family, both parents are more likely to work in the east; in Economy, living standards in the east are lower, etc.)
Use this reading to underscore the concept of the Mauer im Kopf (the Wall in the Head) -- the idea that even though the Berlin Wall no longer exists, divisions remain between people in the west and east. Also introduce the controversial phenomenon known as Ostalgie, or nostalgia for the Ost (East).
In a brief essay, have students summarize the differences they found between east and west and respond to the following questions:
- What impact did the division between east and west have on German society, both in the past and now in the present?
- How would people have felt when the Wall fell and Germany was reunited?
- Why might people today think fondly of the former East Germany?
- Why would nostalgia for East Germany be controversial?
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BookCarts™ & QuizCarts™
Model 'Cart Collections
Grades: 3-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
eLibrary provides subscribers with a BookCart collection of more than 400 models that can be easily copied to the school district collection and to each individual school's local collection by librarians or teachers.
The new BookCart Editor in the Teacher Edition makes this easy to do. You can access the Teacher Edition of eLibrary or eLibrary Curriculum Edition and click the BookCart Admin link.
Note the three new Tabs: Local, District, and ProQuest Carts.
The ProQuest Carts tab is the protected model BookCart collection organized for teachers to use immediately after copying the ones they want. To copy one or more BookCarts:
- Click the Local tab.
- Click the Copy icon located on the right side under Actions.
- Repeat the process to copy another BookCart.
Once you copy the BookCart you want to the local collection, you can organize them for your personal or the department's needs:
- Click View/Add/Edit Folders link.
- Type the folder name and click the Add button.
- Repeat to make more folders then click the Local Carts tab to return to the main page.
- Click the Organize BookCarts link.
- Select the folder name from the drop down menu of folders.
- Click each BookCart that you want included in that folder.
- Click the Submit button.
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eLibrary® Science
Birth of Cyberspace
Grades 6-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
The Internet was born in August of 1969 as a Cold War military technology, a way for military computers to communicate over long distances even if portions of the network were inoperative or destroyed. Other institutions such as universities and hospitals began to exchange information via the Internet during the 1970s and 1980s.
With the arrival of the World Wide Web in the early 1990s, consumers and commercial businesses slowly began interacting with the Net. The number of users increased rapidly after the first appearance of graphical browser software. By early 1996, more than 25 million computers in over 160 countries were interconnected through the Internet, and the number continued to grow at a dramatic rate.
Activity: Students will be eager to learn more about the history and the future of the Internet. After all, students of the "connected generation" probably use the Internet the most of any other group in our population.
ProQuest has created an eLibrary Science BookCart "Internet--History and Future" to help students to find excellent resources on this topic. BookCarts help save time for learning without depriving students of the opportunity to choose the best among the more than 30 resources available.
Teachers can copy this BookCart and more than 50 other Science BookCarts to jump start student research activities on a variety of science-related issues:
- Logon to eLibrary Science.
- Access the Teacher Edition @ http://science.bigchalk.com/teacher
- Click BookCart Admin.
- Click the ProQuest Carts tab.
- Click the Folder Science--Technology.
- Locate Internet--History and Future.
- Click the Copy icon under the Actions column at the right.
- This will copy the BookCart to your local collection. Note: "Copy of" added to the title.
- You can edit it to include your name, delete Copy of, etc.
Each BookCart includes Essential Question examples to guide student use of the resources. Teachers can and should add additional essential questions to ensure critical thinking during the research process. Teachers can get ideas for questions from their end of chapter activities in their science books.
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ProQuest® Historical Newspapers
Dividing East and West @ Germany
Grades 6-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
Students can use ProQuest Historical Newspapers to research and read more about the start of the Cold War and the construction of the Berlin Wall. Here are some samples of essential questions for critical thinking (teachers can create more or use some from their textbooks) that will guide student research:
- What were some of the objectives of the Soviets in building the Berlin Wall?
- Were these objectives accomplished?
- How did the residents of East Berlin view the Wall and what did they do about its presence?
- What forces brought about the tearing down of the Berlin Wall?
- What were some of the consequences of no Berlin Wall?
Use the following procedures to get the best results for this mini-research project:
- Type Berlin Wall in the Search box.
- Type Berlin Wall in the Document Title Box.
- Select Between 1/1/1961 and 1/1/1963.
- This will provide a variety of information about the beginnings of the Wall.
- Type Berlin Wall in the Search Box.
- Type Berlin Wall in the Document Title box.
- Select the Decade of the 1980s.
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eLibrary® Curriculum Edition
Gold Rush: American & Canadian Style
Grades 7-10
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
Take eLibrary and add two special collections -- History Study Center and ProQuest Learning: Literature -- plus hundreds of additional magazines, and you have eLibrary Curriculum Edition.
eLibrary Curriculum Edition is an educational solution that meets the needs of mainstream, disadvantaged, and AP or IB courses and students. Any of these special collections can be included in eLibrary BookCarts that especially target honors and other advanced students in History and English.
History Study Center
The lure of gold has always driven men to irrational and dangerous behavior in trying to "strike it rich." August marks the 110th anniversary of the discovery of gold in the Yukon Territory. This led to a prospecting frenzy similar to that of the California Gold Rush of 1848.
The Klondike Gold Rush centered along the Klondike River near Dawson City in the Yukon Territory, Canada. News of the discovery of gold reached the United States in July 1897, and soon afterwards hordes of prospectors arrived in San Francisco and Seattle, preparing to set off the Klondike stampede.
More than 25,000 people migrated to the Klondike area by 1898 to seek their fortunes. Today the landscape is marked with occasional ghost towns, abandoned by miners when their strikes played out. However, gold is still mined in the Yukon today.
Activity: Learn more about the Klondike Gold Rush.
- Click the History icon under Special Collections.
- Type "Klondike Gold Rush" in the Quick Search box and Go.
- Scroll down and locate the Klondike gold rush resources in each section.
- Open resources and browse for relevance.
- Click the Add this record to My Archive link at the top.
- Click View/Create My Archive to retrieve your collection of resources.
All research activities should be guided by Essential Questions for critical thinking. These questions motivate and guide students to analyze, organize, and synthesize from multiple resources in History Study Center. This results in original thought and writing/presentation that solves problems or resolves issues. Teachers can get ideas from the End of Chapter activities and questions in their text books.
- What type of person was the typical prospector?
- How successful was the typical prospector in finding gold? What followed when he did or didn't succeed?
- What were some of the hazards facing prospectors, and how did they cope?
- Who else besides prospectors followed the rushto the Klondike and why?
- What happened after the gold ran out?
- Would you have been a prospector in the Klondike--why or why not?
- How did the prospectors entertain themselves after work?
ProQuest Learning: Literature
Among the many to take part in the Klondike Gold Rush was writer Jack London, whose books White Fang, The Call of the Wild, and To Build A Fire, a collection of short stories, were influenced by his northern experiences, and adventurer "Swiftwater" Bill Gates.
Another was folk lyricist Robert W. Service, whose cabin still stands in Dawson City. His short epics The Shooting of Dan McGrew and other works describe the fierce grandeur of the north and the survival ethic and gold fever of men and women in the frozen north. Service's best-known line is "There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold...", the opening line of The Cremation of Sam McGee.
Activity: Learn more about the authors and works inspired by the tumult of the Klondike Gold Rush. Click the Literature icon under Special Collection. Type the name of each Gold Rush author in the Quick Search box -- Jack Lond
on and Robert W. Service. Students should try to answer the following essential questions in their report:
- How did their works describe life in the Klondike?
- What was the most famous of their works and why?
- What type of themes did they choose for their stories and poems and why?
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ProQuest® Platinum
Calendars Across Time
Grades 6-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
The month of August was named in honor of Augustus Caesar and replaced the month of Sextilis in the Roman Calendar. Julius Caesar started the process by renaming the month of Quintilis as July, after himself. Originally the twelve months of the Roman calendar were named Ianuarius, Februarius, Martius, Aprilis, Maius, Iunius, Quintilis, Sextilis, September, October, November, and December.
Activity: There have been and still are differences in calendars used by millions of people in different societies around the world. Some of these are the Jewish calendar, the Chinese calendar, the Julian (Orthodox) calendar, and the Islamic calendar. Students will enjoy researching the similarities and differences in these calendars.
- Click the Advanced search tab.
- Type Chinese in the first box.
- Type calendar in the second AND box.
- Select Document title from the Citation and Abstract drop down option for both.
- Select at least two articles using the Marked list tool.
- Repeat the process for the Jewish calendar.
- Repeat the process for the Islamic calendar.
- Repeat the process for the Islamic calendar.
Compare and contrast the similarities and differences including basis for the calendar, holidays, problems, etc.
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SIRS® Decades
The Berlin Wall: Why?
Grades 7-12
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
The construction of the Berlin Wall 45 years ago was just one of many incidents that marked the Cold War, a period of economic, political, and cultural tensions between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. that began after World War II and ended with the fall of communism.
The Berlin Wall would remain in place until 1989 when it was torn down. The bricks, ironically, were sold in a capitalist venture. As other Eastern European countries deposed their communist governments in the late 1980s, the Soviet Empire and the Cold War came to an end.
Activity: Students can research and read more about the start of the Berlin Wall and then contrast it with the end of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War. Here are some samples of essential questions for critical thinking (teachers can create more or use some from their textbooks) that will guide student research:
- What were some of the objectives of the Soviets in building the Berlin Wall?
- Were these objectives accomplished?
- How did the residents of East Berlin view the Wall and what did they do about its presence?
- What forces brought about the tearing down of the Berlin Wall?
- What were some of the consequences of not having the Berlin Wall?
Use the following procedures to get the best results for this mini-research project:
- Type Berlin Wall in the Search box and click Search.
- Note the variety of primary source documents available.
- Note the links to related topics included with each resource.
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SIRS Discoverer®
Studying the Eye
Grades 2-7
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Training & Educator Resources
| Free 30-Day Trial
Several August observances focus on the health and problems of the eye, including Cataract Awareness Month, Children's Vision and Learning Month, and Eye Exam Month.
Vision may be the most important of our senses and students shouldlearn about how to maintain healthy vision or correct imperfect vision. Today, science is providing many cures that were unknown only a decade ago. Students will want to learn about these modern miracles that support healthy eyes and great vision.
Activity: Assign students to find information on such topics as cataracts, lasik surgery, contact lenses, color blindness, super sight, strabismus, and other eye related topics. Students can share their research with other students by creating two-minute oral reports on their assigned subtopics.
- Click the Health and Human Body icon.
- Click Parts of the Body > Eyes.
- Select two articles for each subtopic assigned.
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Your ProQuest K-12 Team
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