Welcome to this month's issue of ProQuest Teachable Moments. This issue focuses on a myriad of topics, including nuclear energy, the Cold War, earthquakes, and National Safety Month.
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.
Sixty years ago, in June of 1946, the United States began a series of tests at Bikini Islands in the Pacific. Among them was the first underwater test of the atomic bomb. This followed the first use of nuclear weapons on Japan that ended World War II. No nuclear weapons have ever been used again in wars but nuclear testing and the creation of the hydrogen bomb followed these experiments at Bikini Atoll.
The U.S. has used its knowledge of nuclear energy to build a series of 53 nuclear plants, most dating from the 80s. This emphasis on nuclear energy resulted from the oil crises during that decade. But, twenty years ago, in 1986, a Soviet nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the Ukraine exploded, releasing fatal radiation to the surrounding areas. The Chernobyl and another domestic accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania created enough doubt in the safety of nuclear power plants that new construction came to a halt.
Activity: Today we have another oil crisis and again the urgency of the 80s to develop alternative energy sources that include the expansion of nuclear power. Adding to this new urgency is the connection between the burning of oil and other fossil fuels and global warming. Should we resume building nuclear power plants? What new safety assurances are there, if any? What impact would new nuclear power plants have on oil consumption and the reliance on importing oil for countries that sponsor terrorism?
Leading Issues provides several issues that focus on nuclear energy for both peaceful and defense purposes. Click "more issues >>" in the Pro vs. Con section of the Researcher interface.
Note the relevant topics including:
Nuclear weapons
Weapons of mass destruction
Nuclear energy
Select one of the Leading Issues and connect it to the themes mentioned above. Notice that the list of Leading Issues includes teacher and student research guides to support a variety of activities. Each of these activity guides is unique because it integrates critical thinking and uses the Leading Issues format to present information to students. Teachers have additional support with guides for Writing a Mini-Research Paper, and Creating a Mini-Debate.
Writing a Research Paper (Student Guide)
Writing a Mini-Research Paper (Student and Teacher Guide)
Creating a PowerPoint Presentation (Student Guide)
Creating a Mini-Debate Outline (Student and Teacher Guide)
Find out more about SIRS Researcher and SIRS Leading Issues at our K-12 website.
Twenty years ago, in 1986, a Soviet nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant inUkraine exploded, releasing fatal radiation throughout the surrounding areas. The disaster at Chernobyl was important not just to the over 100,000 people eventually affected by the radiation, but for its overall impact on Soviet citizens. The initial explosion was ignored both locally and in Moscow.
Only when Scandinavian monitors noticed the high level of radiation did Soviet officials admit what had happened and begin evacuating residents from the affected areas. The United States has 53 nuclear plants, built mostly in the 1980s. The Chernobyl accident and the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania created fear and helped to halt construction. Today, with the new oil crisis, the search for alternative energy, including nuclear, has again become a priority.
Has new scientific knowledge helped make nuclear energy reactors safer? Just what goes on in the nuclear fission process?
Activity: ExploreLearning Gizmos help students understand more about nuclear energy both for peaceful and military purposes. Each of these technologies depends on scientific research and the understanding of scientific concepts. Here are a few of the Gizmos that will help students understand more about the production of nuclear energy:
June Is Perennial Gardening Month and Rose Month. Flower gardens provide the variety of colors, fragrances, shapes, and textures that inspire and bring pleasure to people of all ages. They also attract a multitude of beautiful insects and birds to provide additional interest and enjoyment beyond the plants and flowers themselves.
Reading about flowers, plants, and gardens is always interesting to most students. They enjoy learning more about them because of the universal appeal factors listed above. Here are a few books that can be read to celebrate the appeal and importance of gardens. Books are listed by Title--fiction or nonfiction--reading level.
Summer--nf--aa
Vegetables--nf--A
Where Plants Grow--nf--D
All Kinds of Farms--nf--E
A Seed Grows--nf--G
What Comes from Plants--nf--K
The Beekeeper--nf--O
About Trees--nf--P
June is National Safety Month. The start of summer vacation, travel, and outdoor recreation poses many safety risks for families as well as the anticipated good times. Teachers can help students learn more about this vital aspect of their summer vacations and also provide academic content to support Health and Physical Education state standards.
Activity: Teachers should preview the information that is available on this topic and create a list of subtopics to assign to students based on their vacation plans:
Click Topics tab
Click Physical Education and Sports > Safety
Click Recreational & Sports Activities
Assign a different subtopic for each student to research and summarize based on their personal interests and vacation plans. Assign a two- to three-minute oral report or PowerPoint presentation. Use some of the variety of graphical media in eLibrary for a PowerPoint report.
Teachers may also want to copy and use the ProQuest model BookCart, "Summer Vacation Safety." Using model BookCarts saves time and ensures relevancy while permitting students to choose a variety of multiple resources for their mini-research. To learn more about how to find and copy and use ProQuest model BookCarts, click here.
June Is Perennial Gardening Month. As we think about gardens and nature, we are reminded about the increasing threats to the environment being caused by the rapid increase in industrialization. This concern has gained international recognition from many of the major countries of the world in the drafting of the Kyoto Treaty.
In the past, the United States has decided not to ratify environmental treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol, though other countries with high greenhouse emissions, such as Brazil, China, and India, are signatories. As one of the largest and most industrialized nations in the world, the U.S., through the pollution its companies emit, has a wide-reaching effect on the global environment. Similarly, because of its wealth and economic influence, the United States can significantly hamper or help world-wide environmental clean-up plans.
Activity: Refer to the Extremes section of the Data Tables in the CultureGrams Online World Edition. Note that the United States is one of the top (if not the top) polluters in every section listed. Have your students talk about why the United States pollutes so much (you might look at major industries, the size of its economy and population, etc.). Compare the levels of pollution to countries with similar economies and/or population sizes.
Talk about whether the students think the United States' actions are fair to the rest of the world. Discuss how the United States might be able to reduce pollution (answers might include recycling, lower factory and car emissions, alternative sources of fuel, etc.) Who might oppose these changes and why?
Compare the benefits and costs of the United States signing an international treaty such as the Kyoto Protocol. Read the General Attitudes section of the U.S. CultureGram. Which characteristics might cause U.S. Americans to resist such international treaties?
Did you know that eLibrary BookCarts can now include QuizCarts? Teachers can create up to 10 multiple choice questions that can help to assess content learned from the Readings and Websites sections of each BookCart with a quiz. The quizzes help students explore multiple resources in the BookCart to find basic facts about the topic. This is the first step in understanding and learning. Teachers can use questions from their existing inventory of tests, thus making test preparation easier.QuizCart will automatically score and email the results back to the teacher.
Of course, the major purpose of a BookCart is not to quiz students to assign a grade. The purpose of a BookCart is to provide K-12 relevant resources for student inquiry-based assignments. These assignments are proven by scientific research to increase student essential skills in reading, writing, and critical thinking. These are the skills that are part of all state standards and most state annual assessments on student achievement.
Each BookCart includes examples of Essential Questions (EQ:s) for teachers. Teachers can use these models to create essential questions of their own that show students how to turn multiple sources into reasoned opinion. Whether yours or the BookCart's, essential questions are the pathway to improved skills in critical thinking and developingoriginal thought on real-world issues.
Here's a list of some model BookCarts that have QuizCarts and Essential Questions integrated for you to copy to your school account and explore the possibilities of this tool:
Cyber Bullying in Schools
Social Studies--Sociology
High School
Electricity and Magnetism
Science--Physical
Elementary
Rocks and the Rock Cycle
Science--Earth/Space
Middle School
Student Plagiarism & Technology
English Language Arts
High School
Tech and the Future of School Libraries
English Language Arts
High School
The Future of Oil
Science--Technology
High School
And now, BookCarting has been made easier with the development of the new BookCart Editor interface and tools that teachers and librarians will appreciate:
Create folders to store sets of BookCarts for easy retrieval and use
Use navigation tabs to find your personal, district, and copy some or all the more than 400 hundred ProQuest model BookCart collections
Take advantage of our revised search tools to quickly find BookCarts in your local or ProQuest collection
Twenty years ago, in 1986, a Soviet nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing fatal radiation to the surrounding areas. The disaster at Chernobyl was important, not just to the over 100,000 that would eventually be affected by the radiation, but for its overall impact on Soviet citizens. The initial explosion was ignored both locally and in Moscow. Only when Scandinavian monitors noticed the high level of radiation did Soviet officials admit what had happened and begin evacuating residents from the affected areas.
The Chernobyl and the Three Mile Island accident in Pennsylvania provided the American public with enough evidence of the risk vs. benefits of a growing nuclear power industry that it brought the expansion to a halt. The U.S. now has 53 nuclear plants and that expansion in the 80s was primarily a result of the first oil crisis.
Today we have another oil crisis and again the urgency to develop alternative energy sources that include the expansion of nuclear power. Adding to this new urgency is the connection between the burning of oil and other fossil fuels and global warming.
Activity: Students have another opportunity to study our dependency on oil and its impact on financing terrorists and causing global warming.
eLibrary Science BookCarts have been created to help teachers organize mini-research activities on the topics of alternative energy, the Greenhouse Effect, the impact of permanent oil shortages and high prices, and the use of nuclear energy to fill the gap.
Here are some of the BookCarts that you can copy and use with your students:
Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, and Climate
Science--Life & Technology
Energy, Conservation, and the Environment
Science--Physical/Space
Biofuel, Corn, and Alternative Energy
Science--Life & Technology
The Future of Oil
Science--Technology
Nuclear Fusion--Energy of the Future?
Science--Physical /Technology
Each has Essential Questions (EQ:) integrated in the Description box to help guide students in how best to use the variety of learning resources in each BookCart. These essential questions help teachers to develop other and similar questions that engage students and require critical thinking and original thought to solve a problem or resolve and issue.
Sixty years ago, after the end of World War II, the war alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union broke down almost immediately. Despite wartime promises to withdraw his troops from Eastern European countries, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin retained a military presence and imposed pro-Soviet regimes in the countries the Soviet Union occupied.
As a result of Soviet actions, Britain's former Prime Minister, Winston Churchill, said in a 1946 speech in Missouri that an "iron curtain" had descended across the European continent, separating democratic governments in Western Europe from Communist governments in the East. Likewise, in North Korea and elsewhere, the presence of Soviet troops at war's end nurtured the development of Communist governments.
The Cold War emerged out of these circumstances, pitting the world's two remaining superpowers--the United States and the Soviet Union--in a protracted arms race as they struggled to win allegiance to their contrasting political ideologies. Despite Joseph Stalin's death in 1953, the Cold War persisted until the Soviet Union's ultimate collapse in the early 1990s.
Activity: Historical Newspapers provides many collections of articles for students to better understand the major topics of the Cold War since the famous "Iron Curtain" speech 60 years ago.
Here's a list of the best PHN topics that students can use to research a variety of topics on the "Rise of the Cold War" (c. 1950 - 1980):
Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech
Truman Doctrine
National Security Act
U.S.-Soviet Relations
Rise of the Superpowers
Nuclear Proliferation
Death of Stalin
Assign students a different subtopic from the Cold War era. There will be some duplication but that's not a problem if each student is given a different Essential Question to answer through mini-research with PHN. Essential Questions guide students to turn multiple sources of information into reasoned opinion, using critical thinking, and expressing original thought on real-world issues.
Answering these questions in research activities helps build 21st century skills and are included in those that are tested by the states. Here are some examples of essential question for critical thinking on the topic Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech. Teachers can also take examples from their textbook exercises and problems.
What does the symbolism of the phrase "Iron Curtain" mean?
Why did the Soviet Union and the United States become the central powers in the Cold War struggle?
How did the United States react to the Iron Curtain and what were some of the strategies?
Assign short oral reports of two to three minutes. Oral reports are an excellent way to build presentation skills and provide opportunities for other students to learn from the research of their peers. Oral reports can also help to curb plagiarism because students have to answer questions about their topic and the essential questions that guided it.
One hundred years ago, in 1906, the most disastrous earthquake in America's history hit San Francisco. The earthquake, whose worst damage was caused by the fire that raged in its aftermath, killed over 1,000 people; 250,000 people were made homeless, and property damage was said to be $250 million, which would be equivalent to a similar number in billions today. Since that time several other earthquakes have occurred in California along the same San Andreas fault, and others are predicted to occur in the future.
What can we do about earthquakes from the standpoint of preventing them, reducing the destruction, and making emergency preparations?
ProQuest model BookCarts include these two that are appropriate for middle school or 9th grade earth/space science courses:
Earthquakes--Prediction and Precaution
Science--Earth/Space
Plate Tectonics
Science--Earth/Space
Each BookCart has Essential Question for critical thinking (EQ:) that teachers can use as models to create additional questions. These questions help show students how to select and use the BookCart resources to solve problems or resolve issues that require original thought and critical thinking.
The questions are indispensable in helping students develop the essential literacy skills that are tested by the state. Research assignments without essential questions tempt students to rephrase a few encyclopedia articles and bypass the required and literacy skills they must have.
Sixty years ago, in 1946, the first meeting of the UN General Assembly took place in London. Trygve Lie, a Norwegian diplomat, was elected the first Secretary General of the UN. The UN was formed to create a permanent way for the countries of the world to communicate, seek peaceful solutions to differences, support economic growth and prosperity, and avoid the nightmares of another world war.
A similar organization and concept was debated after World War I with the call for a League of Nations. This idea for world peace through cooperation was supported by President Wilson but ultimately it failed to receive the necessary Congressional and international support to become an entity.
Activity: Students will want to know more about the successes and failures of the United Nations especially now that it has fallen into disfavor with the Bush Administration and becomes a controversial topic in schools and newspaper editorials.
There are a variety of topics that can be assigned to students on the United Nations. Using an oral report or PowerPoint format provides the opportunity for student to learn from each other as well as develop essential presentation and language arts skills. Presentation and variety also provide protection against plagiarism, a common problem with research activities in schools today. Assign each student one perspective on the UN from the following search format:
Click the Topic Search tab
Type "United Nations" in the Search box
Click United Nations AND United Nations
Here are some engaging questions that student will need to be able to research and integrate into their subtopic assignment where possible:
What are some of the successes of the UN over the last 60 years and especially in the last decade?
What are some of the failures of the UN over the last 60 years and especially in the last decade?
Why has the UN failed to get the support of the Bush Administration?
What reforms are proposed by the United States that would make the UN more viable internationally?
What are the major obstacles to the reform of the UN?
Twenty years ago, in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger set off on the 25th U.S. shuttle mission, this one capping a year of unprecedented space exploration. The Challenger's scientific mission included studying Halley's comet and hosting the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, who planned to teach two science classes from the shuttle.
Instead, millions of Americans saw a national tragedy unfold on January 28, 1986, when the Challenger exploded just minutes after launch. All seven astronauts aboard were killed: Michael Smith, Francis Scobee, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, and Judith Resnik.
Activity: Click the 1980s icon > Science, Education and the Computer. Look for links to information about the Challenger explosion:
Space shuttle mission
Columbia
National Tragedy
Exploded shortly after takeoff
How did the explosion of the Challenger change the future of the space program? What new technologies would be necessary to avoid such a disaster in the future? What new policies evolved about space passengers such as Christa McAuliffe?
These are only a few of the sample essential questions that teachers can use to guide student mini-research projects on the Challenger disaster. Teachers are encouraged to create others or to use questions from their textbooks. Most important is that these questions integrate critical thinking skills and original thought into the research activity; otherwise students will copy/paste facts and create clones of each other's reports. Assigning students different and unique essential questions
helps solve the problem of plagiarism.
Oral reports also provide opportunities for students to develop essential presentation skills as they present to their peers rather than just to the teacher for a grade. Oral reports also let students learn from each other and challenge each other'sconclusions.
June Is Perennial Gardening and Rose Month. Students in K-8 love to see plants grow and help plant and maintain gardens. Many elementary schools have experimental gardens both inside and outside the schools. Here's a great time for these students to not only experience the excitement of gardens with their colors, aromas, and variety of shapes, but also to learn more about the biology of plants.
Activity: Click the icon for Science > Plants, Trees, Flowers & Fungi. Note the variety of topics/subtopics:
diseases
evolution
reproduction & growth
specific types
Assign each student a different topic (you'll have some repetition). Each topic can have a variety of issues posed so that students research a different perspective of the topic. For example: Reproduction & Growth: Pollination; Genetically Modified Plants; Growing Plants without Soil; and Composting.
Assign a two-minute oral report which could include a PowerPoint presentation. These oral reports give students extra motivation to create interesting reports so they'll work harder and learn more. Oral reports also give students excellent experience in developing essential presentation skills. These skills are part of all state standards.
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Sixty years ago, in June of 1946, the United States began a series of tests at Bikini Islands in the Pacific. Among them was the first underwater test of the atomic bomb. This followed the first use of nuclear weapons on Japan that ended World War II. No nuclear weapons have ever been used again in wars but nuclear testing and the creation of the hydrogen bomb followed these experiments at Bikini Atoll.
June Is Perennial Gardening Month and Rose Month. Flower gardens provide the variety of colors, fragrances, shapes, and textures that inspire and bring pleasure to people of all ages. They also attract a multitude of beautiful insects and birds to provide additional interest and enjoyment beyond the plants and flowers themselves.
June is National Safety Month. The start of summer vacation, travel, and outdoor recreation poses many safety risks for families as well as the anticipated good times. Teachers can help students learn more about this vital aspect of their summer vacations and also provide academic content to support Health and Physical Education state standards.
June Is Perennial Gardening Month. As we think about gardens and nature, we are reminded about the increasing threats to the environment being caused by the rapid increase in industrialization. This concern has gained international recognition from many of the major countries of the world in the drafting of the Kyoto
Twenty years ago, in 1986, a Soviet nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in Ukraine exploded, releasing fatal radiation to the surrounding areas. The disaster at Chernobyl was important, not just to the over 100,000 that would eventually be affected by the radiation, but for its overall impact on Soviet citizens. The initial explosion was ignored both locally and in Moscow. Only when Scandinavian monitors noticed the high level of radiation did Soviet officials admit what had happened and begin evacuating residents from the affected areas.
Sixty years ago, after the end of World War II, the war alliance between the United States and the Soviet Union broke down almost immediately. Despite wartime promises to withdraw his troops from Eastern European countries, Soviet leader Joseph Stalin retained a military presence and imposed pro-Soviet regimes in the countries the Soviet Union occupied.
One hundred years ago, in 1906, the most disastrous earthquake in America's history hit San Francisco. The earthquake, whose worst damage was caused by the fire that raged in its aftermath, killed over 1,000 people; 250,000 people were made homeless, and property damage was said to be $250 million, which would be equivalent to a similar number in billions today. Since that time several other earthquakes have occurred in California along the same San Andreas fault, and others are predicted to occur in the future.
Sixty years ago, in 1946, the first meeting of the UN General Assembly took place in London. Trygve Lie, a Norwegian diplomat, was elected the first Secretary General of the UN. The UN was formed to create a permanent way for the countries of the world to communicate, seek peaceful solutions to differences, support economic growth and prosperity, and avoid the nightmares of another world war.
Twenty years ago, in 1986, the space shuttle Challenger set off on the 25th U.S. shuttle mission, this one capping a year of unprecedented space exploration. The Challenger's scientific mission included studying Halley's comet and hosting the first teacher in space, Christa McAuliffe, who planned to teach two science classes from the shuttle.
June Is Perennial Gardening and Rose Month. Students in K-8 love to see plants grow and help plant and maintain gardens. Many elementary schools have experimental gardens both inside and outside the schools. Here's a great time for these students to not only experience the excitement of gardens with their colors, aromas, and variety of shapes, but also to learn more about the biology of plants.
