National Geographic Education Blog

15 Things We Learned This Week!

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What did you learn this week? Let us know in the comments or at education@ngs.org.

This week, we learned …

… urine, not chlorine, causes itchy eyes in pools. Dive in!

New Yorkers take a break from the summer heat in the pool at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, in 1951. Photograph by Howell Walker, National Geographic
New Yorkers take a break from the summer heat in the pool at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park, Queens, in 1951. Chlorine isn’t the worst thing you can find in pee, it turns out.
Photograph by Howell Walker, National Geographic

 

 

… how we talk about teachers, and why it might be worth it to pay them $100,000 … or more. Stay tuned to TeachingCenter for details.

 

 

… how “sushi” children defy Muslim divide.

Beautiful Muslim girls mug for the camera at Istiqlal Mosque, Jakarta, Indonesia, in this terrific image. Learn a little about Sunnis and Shiites here.
Photograph by Henrik Hansson, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0

 

… where the worst beaches in America are.

This issue with Dempster Beach, Illinois, isn’t lovely Lake Michigan. “This could be a very lovely beach if it weren’t for two things: obnoxious, nanny-state lifeguards and a high entrance fee,” says one local. Get the scoop on beaches here.
Photograph by Mark Ordonez, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0

 

 

… why onions make us cry.

 

 

… how Venice works, and how much we want tickets to the Ghetto production of The Merchant of Venice.

 

 

… 10 questions to ask before installing an education app, and how a geologist developed the perfect app for the window seat.

What in the world is going on here? If you had a window seat and the “Flyover Country” app, you could find out. Or, you could skim our nice encyclopedic entry on craters.
Formosat image © 2008 Dr. Cheng-Chien Liu, National Cheng-Kung University and Dr. An-Ming Wu, National Space Organization, Taiwan

 

 

… how to nap.

Some people don’t need help napping. And some do.
Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic

 

 

… IBM can forecast the weather down to a city block.

A little fall of rain can hardly keep visitors from the Art Institute of Chicago. Create your own weather map here.
Photograph by Melissa Farlow, National Geographic

 

 

… how Panama’s indigenous people are using drones to save the rain forest, and how the possible expansion of the Panama Canal will radically change world trade.

Why does the Panama Canal remain so important more than 100 years after it opened?
Illustration courtesy GroIntel. CC-BY-ND-NC-4.0

 

 

… having other teachers’ eyes means also having their ideas.

Brian Cushing, Tony Green, and Ronny Smith work together to challenge their students to be creative and design their own sustainable civilizations. Click here to get the lesson plan!
Photograph by Lisa Coffey-Mahoney

 

 

… Crete is coming clean about soap.

A Minoan youth scrubs down in a majorly reconstructed fresco at Knossos, Crete. More about the Minoans here—one of our favorite activities!
Photograph by Gordan Gahan, National Geographic

 

 

… how a childhood memory of LeBron helped a soldier through the Iraq War.

LeBron knows geography, as evidenced when he returned to Ohio after working in Florida: “In Northeast Ohio, nothing is given. Everything is earned. You work for what you have. I’m ready to accept the challenge. I’m coming home. Before anyone ever cared where I would play basketball, I was a kid from Northeast Ohio. It’s where I walked. It’s where I ran. It’s where I cried. It’s where I bled. It holds a special place in my heart. People there have seen me grow up. I sometimes feel like I’m their son. Their passion can be overwhelming. But it drives me. I want to give them hope when I can. I want to inspire them when I can. My relationship with Northeast Ohio is bigger than basketball. I didn’t realize that four years ago. I do now.”
Photograph by Keith Allison, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-2.0

 

 

… law students may have an expensive degree and nowhere to use it … or not.

 

 

… how to cook the world’s oldest curry, but unlike KFC in India, it doesn’t come with a USB charger.