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Themes:
Creationism & Biological Evolution,
Holidays, Einstein & More
Dear %%NAME%%,
Welcome to this month's issue of ProQuest Teachable Moments. This issue focuses on the holidays, literature, and cultural studies, as well as the Scopes Monkey Trial and today's creationism vs. evolution debate, Universal Human Rights Month, Stress Free Family Month, Winter Solstice, Einstein's Theory of Relativity, Pearl Harbor, and the United Nations.
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.
Reading A-Z
Seasons & Holidays
Grades K-6
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December is the month when many religious holidays are celebrated and we also have a change in seasons to winter. These themes provide students with a motivation to read and learn about both. Reading A-Z provides a collection of leveled readers that can help teachers make reading assignments that students will understand, learn from, and enjoy.
Activity: Here's a sampling of fiction and non-fiction titles that teachers can provide their students to read to learn more about these topics/themes, especially when students complete the worksheets included with each book:
- Earth Science: The Four Seasons; Winter; The Changing Seasons
- Cultures: Celebrating Food and Family; Holidays Around the World; We Make a Snowman
Learning Page, a Reading A-Z sister site, offers more than 3,200 free educational activity sheets for K-3.
Each month new themes are added to the collection. Learning Page activities to celebrate winter and the holidays can be found here.
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SIRS Leading Issues
Fresh Battles: Creationism & Biological Evolution
Grades 7-12
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This year, fresh battles between creationism and biological evolution are being fought in courtrooms across the U.S., but with a new and less religious approach to creationism--intelligent design. The battle centers on the First Amendment to the Constitution that provides for the separation of church and state government and in public schools. Today's battle pits intelligent design against the theory of evolution. Intelligent design posits that because the world and its creatures are so complex, some supernatural and "intelligent designer" must be responsible for their creation. Intelligent design uses empirical logic in its arguments but these arguments are not supported by any direct evidence as is evolution.
Activity: Students need to understand this ongoing battle between religion and science and how it impacts the rights guaranteed in the First Amendment to the Constitution. Here are some examples of essential and engaging questions that teachers can use to motivate effective mini-research activities:
- Should students be exposed to both of these ways to explain the world and its species in a public school science class?
- Or should intelligent design be considered as a philosophy and be discussed in social studies class?
- Does science need to include additional dimensions of investigation other than physical ones?
- Should intelligent design discussions be limited to religious institutions?
- Should scientists ask for equal time for evolution to be presented in the pulpit of religious institutions?
- Are evolution and intelligent design the opposite of each other?
Locate the Leading Issues section of the new SKS SIRS Researcher interface.
Scroll down and click the link "more issues."
Click "Evolution (Biology)."
Here are the pro and con Viewpoints on this issue:
Pro: Science uses observation, identification, description, and experimental investigation to explain the natural world. Since science is limited to natural explanations and not religious ones, schools should not include religious interpretations of nature in the curriculum.
Con: Many people still oppose the teaching of scientific evolution. Conservative groups are battling to change science textbooks to reflect gaps in Darwin's theory of evolution, while others want creationism included in the teaching of science.
Teachers should consider the variety of activities that can help students form and express their reasoned opinion on either side of the issue or somewhere in between: Formal research paper; mini-research report; PowerPoint presentation; and informal debate. Researcher presents teachers with curriculum guides that help them and students to express themselves through any of these four methods. Click "Educator's Resources" at the top of the page. Scroll down the resource list to the following new resources:
- Guide to Writing a Research Paper
- Guide to Writing a Mini-Research Paper - Student
- Guide to Writing a Mini-Research Paper - Teacher
- Guide to Creating a Debate Outline – Student (Informal)
- Guide to Creating a Debate Outline – Teacher (Informal)
- Guide to Creating a PowerPoint Presentation
Mini-research reports that are presented orally in two to three minutes (such as PowerPoint presentations) are an excellent way for students to share their reasoned conclusions. Students get practice in making presentations to other students. They also get an opportunity to learn from (or challenge) them. Presentation skills are an important part of language arts and social studies essential skills standards. Oral reports also help to discourage plagiarism.
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eLibrary
Scopes Monkey Trial
Grades 7-12
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In 1925, a Tennessee courtroom played host to the Scopes Monkey Trial. The trial centered on a state law that required Biblical-based creationism to be taught in biology classes.
John T. Scopes challenged the law by teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in his classes and therefore was tried by the State of Tennessee as being in violation of the law. Creationism is a literal Biblical explanation of how the world, all living things, and human beings were created. The trial pitted the arguments of William Jennings Bryan, who supported creationism and Tennessee law, and Clarence Darrow, who defended John Scopes and the scientific proofs embodied in Darwin's theory of evolution.
Today, similar battles are being repeated in courtrooms in several states, but with a new and less religious approach to creationism--intelligent design. The battle centers on the First Amendment, which prescribes the separation of church and state government and in public schools. Today's battle pits intelligent design against the theory of evolution. Intelligent design posits that because the world and its creatures are so complex, some supernatural and "intelligent designer" must be responsible for their creation. Intelligent design uses empirical logic in its arguments and is not supported by any direct evidence. Evolution is supported by the direct evidence of millions of years of geological changes and millions of fossils that are linked to these eras through carbon-dating technology.
Activity: Here are some examples of essential and engaging questions that teachers can use to motivate effective mini-research activities:
- Why is the First Amendment to the Constitution necessary?
- Should students be exposed to both of these ways to explain the world and its species in a public school science class?
- Or should intelligent design be considered as a philosophy and be discussed in social studies class?
- Does science need to include supernatural dimensions of investigation in addition to natural dimensions?
- Should intelligent design discussions be limited to religious institutions?
- Should scientists ask for equal time for evolution to be presented in the pulpit of religious institutions?
- Are evolution and intelligent design the opposite of each other?
- Is intelligent design based on science or religion?
To help students and teachers research the issue of intelligent design, ProQuest has created two model BookCarts--"Evolution vs. Creationism in the Schools;" and "Intelligent Design and Evolution."
To copy these BookCarts use BookCart Editor in the Teacher Edition of eLibrary. Type "Evolution" in the Title box and "PQ BookCart" in the Author box, and click the search button.
You'll find a guide for copying these and other BookCarts to your local collection at this link.
The guide for using these BookCarts effectively including examples of essential and engaging questions for each topic assignment can be downloaded and printed at this link.
Standards-based BookCarts help students to focus on relevant and authoritative learning resources selected by teachers and librarians. The resources can be selected by reading levels appropriate for the students doing the mini-research.
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CultureGrams
Oral Literature
Grades 4-8
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Literature is still transmitted orally in many cultures. For example, in West African societies, the griot has the respected function of maintaining and reciting histories and genealogies. But the oral tradition is not limited to that region alone.
Activity: Using the CultureGrams World Edition, ask students to read "The Arts" sections of the Senegal and the Gambia reports to learn about the role of the griot. Then have them compare this oral tradition to that of other countries by assigning them "The Arts" sections of Azerbaijan, the Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Somalia, and Yemen.
- How is the oral tradition similar?
- Are there notable differences?
- Is there an oral tradition in our own culture?
- Have students find pieces of folklore to recite for the class. How is hearing a story different from reading it?
CultureGrams subscribers can access concise, reliable, and up-to-date country reports on 187 cultures of the world, along with a photo gallery, famous people biographies, and recipe collection.
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eLibrary BookCarts
Special Theory of Relativity
Grades: 4-12
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Exactly 100 years ago, renowned scientist Albert Einstein presented his special theory of relativity. Special relativity, proposed that distance and time are not absolute. The ticking rate of a clock depends on the motion of the observer of that clock; likewise for the length of a "yardstick."
Ten years later, in 1915, he presented his general theory of relativity. General relativity proposed that gravity, as well as motion, can affect the intervals of time and of space. The key idea of general relativity, called the equivalence principle, is that gravity pulling in one direction is completely equivalent to an acceleration in the opposite direction. An elevator accelerating upwards feels just like gravity pushing you into the floor.
In November of 1919, at the age of 40, Einstein became an overnight celebrity, thanks to a solar eclipse. An experiment during that solar eclipse confirmed that light rays from distant stars were deflected by the gravity of the sun in just the amount he had predicted in his theory of gravity, general relativity. General relativity was the first major new theory of gravity since Isaac Newton's more than 250 years earlier.
Activity: Einstein's theories would open up a new era in science that has affected our ideas about the universe, and about the nano-world inside the atom. Science teachers should take this time to create engaging mini-research activities spawned by Einstein's theories and examine how they impact scientific research today. ProQuest has created more than 100 BookCarts suitable for elementary, middle school, and high school research activities. Each BookCart listed is authored by "PQ BookCart." Use this name in the Author field when doing a search for the specific titles. Here's a list of BookCart titles related to Earth/Space and Physical Science and the work of Einstein:
Elementary BookCarts
Electricity and Magnetism
Solar System and Astronomy--LexileElem
Space Exploration
Middle School BookCarts
Atoms and Subatomic Particles
Mars and Space Exploration
Newton's Laws of Force and Motion
Black Holes in Space
Big Bang--Birth of the Universe
High School BookCarts
Einstein Centennial Celebration
Quantum and Particle Physics Research
Nanotechnology Revolution
Solar System and the Universe
Space Exploration
ST03--International Space Station
You’ll find a guide for copying these and other BookCarts to your local collection at this link.
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eLibrary Elementary
Winter Solstice
Grades 4-8
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December 21 marks the winter solstice, the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. In the Southern Hemisphere, it's just the opposite--the summer solstice, the beginning of summer, and the longest day of the year. The solstices mark the beginning of winter and summer, and vernal and autumnal equinox mark the beginning of spring and autumn when days and nights are of equal length.
Activity: The arrival of the winter solstice creates an engaging mini-research activity where students can find out more about the seasons and how the earth's and sun's position in space determines them. Assign students an oral report with a poster, a model, or, if equipped, a multimedia presentation of one of the four seasonal beginnings and the position of the sun and earth relative to the Northern and Southern hemisphere.
- Click the Topics tab at the top.
- Type "solstice" in the Search box.
- You will get links to three subtopic results for students to use.
- Students should open the links and select at least two sources for My List to support their report.
- Or some students should type "equinox" in the Search box.
- You will get four subtopic results for these students to use.
- Students should select two resources from one of these subtopics for My List.
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ExploreLearning Gizmos
Winter Science Themes
Grades 5-10
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The year 2005 marks the centennial of Einstein's theory of relativity and the start of a new era in science and discovery of the universe around us and the universe within the atom. December also marks the start of the winter solstice--the beginning of winter and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Both of these topics are of interest to students, and ExploreLearning has Gizmos to help students understand the science behind these two separate but engaging events.
Activity: Open the following Gizmos that relate to these topics and open the Exploration Guide for step-by-step procedures to use these Gizmos effectively:
You can find links to these, and our full collection of hands-on Gizmos at ExploreLearning.com.
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Historical Newspapers
Conflicts: Past & Present
Grades 7-10
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The year 2005 celebrated the 65th anniversary of many of the events that preceded the end of World War II. But December 7, 1941--"A date that will live in infamy," as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt remarked--was the start of World War II for the United States. This month marks the 64th anniversary of this surprise attack, which many compare to the terrorist attack and destruction of the World Trade Center in New York City.
Read about this event from the perspective of people who witnessed it. ProQuest Historical Newspapers provides that opportunity for all students. ProQuest editors have collected the best primary resources for hundreds of standards-based topics and organized them using the Topics Search and Timeline feature. This saves time for teachers and students versus general searching and ensures excellent relevance.
Activity: Compare and contrast the Pearl Harbor attack and United States entry into World War II with the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center and the subsequent entry of the United States and other countries into the War on Terrorism. How are they alike and how are they different?
- Click the Topics tab.
- Click World War II (c. 1939 - 1945) > Pearl Harbor.
- Select two articles for My List.
- Click the Topics tab.
- Click The Turn of the Millennia and Beyond (c. 1999 - 2005) > September 11th Terrorist Attacks.
- Select two articles for My List.
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ProQuest Platinum
United Nations
Grades 7-12
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The United Nations was founded in 1945. As 2005 ends, we have an opportunity to examine the successes and the failures of the UN. December is also Universal Human Rights Month.
- What are some the human rights that the UN has sought to improve in the countries of the world?
- What are some of the successes of the UN on human rights issues?
- What are some of the notable failures of the UN on human rights issues?
- How can the UN be improved to make it more effective in increasing the human rights of all the countries and people of the world?
Activity: Use the essential questions presented above as examples of engaging student interest in researching the United Nations record on human rights.
- Click the Advanced search tab.
- Type "United Nations" in the Search box, click Document Text in the box next to it.
- Type "human rights violations in the second Search box and click Document Text again.
- Type "rights" in the third Search box and click Document Title.
- Click the link for Add a Row and then type UN in the box and click Document Title.
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SIRS Decades
Scopes Monkey Trial
Grades 7-10
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Eighty years ago, John T. Scopes challenged a Tennessee state law by teaching Darwin's theory of evolution in his classes and therefore was tried by the state as being in violation of the law. Creationism is a literal Biblical explanation of how the world, all living things, and human beings were created. The trial pitted the arguments of William Jennings Bryan, who supported creationism and Tennessee law, and Clarence Darrow, who defended John Scopes and the scientific proofs embodied in Darwin's theory of evolution.
Today, similar battles are being repeated in many courtrooms in many states, but with a new and less religious approach to creationism--intelligent design. The battle centers on the First Amendment, which prescribes the separation of church and state government and in public schools. Today's battle pits intelligent design against the theory of evolution. Intelligent design posits that because the world and its creatures are so complex, some supernatural and "intelligent designer" must be responsible for their creation. Intelligent design uses empirical logic in its arguments and is not supported by any direct evidence. Evolution is supported by thousands of fossil records and lab experiments and is the key to understanding modern biology.
Activity: Here are some examples of essential and engaging questions that teachers use by to motivate effective mini-research activities:
Why is the First Amendment necessary? Should students be exposed to both of these ways to explain the world and its species in a public school science class? Or should intelligent design be considered as a philosophy and be discussed in social studies class? Does science need to include additional dimensions of investigation other than physical ones? Should intelligent design discussions be limited to religious institutions? Should scientists ask for equal time for evolution to be presented in the pulpit of religious institutions? Are evolution and intelligent design the opposite of each other?
Read about the Scopes Trial back in 1925 to create student understanding of how today's intelligent design trials are similar and yet different to illustrate the ongoing controversy between science and religion as an explanation of life on earth.
- Click the 1920s icon at the top.
- Click "Scopes Trial" in the Topics column on the left side.
- Click the links in the "So What" section to get a current perspective.
- Select at least three resources to make your point about one of the essential questions above.
Of course, oral reports provide an opportunity for students to share perspectives, learn presentation skills that are emphasized in state standards, and also help to curb plagiarism.
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SIRS Discover & WebFind
Stress Free Family Month
Grades 4-7
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December is Stress Free Family Month. The holidays and the change to winter weather can often create stressful situations for all family members. Students will benefit from learning more about the different kinds of stress and how they can help manage stress in themselves and, hopefully, their family members.
Activity: Click the Subject headings option and then type "stress" in the Search box. You'll get a listing of the following subjects:
Cold stress (Biology)
Critical incident stress debriefing
Emotional stress
Heat stress (Biology)
Job stress
Mental stress
Physiological stress
Post-traumatic stress disorder in children
Stress (Physiology) in adolescence
Stress (Physiology) in children
Stress (Psychology)
Stress (Psychology) in adolescence
Stress (Psychology) in children
Stress disorder, Post-traumatic
Stress in adolescence
Stress in children
Stress management for children
Stress management for teenagers
Traumatic stress syndrome
Assign each student a different subject from this list. Each student should find two articles and summarize the most significant points for a two-minute oral
presentation.
Oral presentations provide students with valuable experiences in developing standards-based essential skills and overall confidence in presenting their ideas to others. Oral reports can also help other students to learn more about the overall topic.
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Cordially,
Your ProQuest K-12 Team
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