What did you learn this week? Let us know in the comments or at education@ngs.org.
This week, we learned …
… an Alaskan village voted to relocate due to global warming, and Harley-Davidson is paying $12 million in fines over carbon emissions.
- Where do you think dislocated villagers should resettle? Who should pay for their relocation fees?
- Should vehicle manufacturers be fined over emissions, and/or should vehicle owners be fined?
- Key Resource: Activity: Use this activity to understand the role the ocean plays in global warming.
… what a star looks like before and after going nova.
From “The awakening of a classical nova from hibernation.” Przemek Mróz, Andrzej Udalski, Paweł Pietrukowicz, Michał K. Szymański, Igor Soszyński, Łukasz Wyrzykowski, Radosław Poleski, Szymon Kozłowski, Jan Skowron, Krzysztof Ulaczyk, Dorota Skowron & Michał Pawlak. Nature (2016) doi:10.1038/nature19066
- What is a nova?
- Will our star (the sun) ever go nova like this?
- Key Resource: Map: Zoom in on this amazing high-resolution map to see novas, the galaxies they’re a part of, and even the superclusters of galaxies that make up our universe.
… David’s imperfections could bring him crashing to Earth, but the richest families in Michelangelo’s Florence … are still the richest families in Florence.
Photograph by Starkoss, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-4.0
- Do you think the sculpture should be moved or physically supported to prevent further damage?
- How do you think Renaissance families were able to maintain their family fortunes for hundreds of years?
- Key Resource: Study Guide: Why are Michelangelo works so valuable? In what other media did he create art?
… it’s going to cost $8.2 billion to fix water quality in the Great Barrier Reef.
- What methods would you support to improve water quality in the Great Barrier Reef?
- Who do you think should pay for water-quality improvements to the Great Barrier Reef?
- Key Resource: Activity: Find out why sugar’s not so sweet for the Great Barrier Reef.
… why there are so many ties in swimming.
Photograph by Madchester, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-SA-3.0
- What are some other individual sports that might result in unbreakable ties?
- What clothes or other non-physical components do swimmers use to put themselves at an advantage?
- Key Resource: Photo: Why do you think there are so few ties in open-water races such as triathlons?
… there is an epic quest for Lewis and Clark’s poop.
Photograph courtesy National Park Service
- Who were Lewis and Clark, and their Corps of Discovery?
- How do you think the story of Lewis and Clark might be told differently by Native American historians? (It might be called the “Sacagawea Trail”, for one …)
- Key Resource: Lesson: Learn how the Corps of Discovery allowed the homelands of thousands of Native Americans to become part of the United States.
… the Mediterranean is showing its age with the oldest ocean crust in the world.
Map courtesy NOAA
- Why is ocean crust so much younger than continental crust?
- Why do you think the Mediterranean crust is younger than the oceanic crust of the Pacific or Atlantic basins?
- Key Resource: Encyclopedic Entry: Learn all about our crusty old planet with a gallery, fast facts, and rock-solid information.
… the man who created Bigfoot regrets it.
- Why do you think so many people believe in Bigfoot? Do you?
- Can you name some other mythical modern monsters—Loch Ness? the Yeti?
- Key Resource: Map: Navigate your way around the world of mysterious beasts with our Cryptid Cartogram!
… in the Olympics of the future, genetic engineering will make performance-enhancing drugs seem like child’s play.
- What is genetic engineering?
- Do you think future sports officials should allow genetic engineering among athletes?
- Key Resource: Study Guide: How do genetics already influence how an athlete performs?
… a blind man uses echolocation to navigate city traffic by bike.
Photograph by Wayne Lawrence, National Geographic
- What is echolocation?
- How might you react if you saw—and heard—this man walking down the street or riding his bike through the city?
- Key Resource: Article: This month’s terrific National Geographic magazine cover article addresses “the end of blindness.”
… a 10-minute history of the English language.
- List some common English words you use in class: learn, attention, work, curious. When do you think they entered the English language? Where do you think they came from?
- Key Resource: the Oxford English Dictionary: Use the OED to guide your answers. (Look for the word’s etymology and earliest uses.)
It’s really not easy to handle money.. The families who have maintained their records in Italy, chaina and in US for centuries must be proud to secure their wealth.. But I really think what’s the benefit to collect so much wealth,, we keep ourselves busy in earning money and one day we just leave this world without taking anything.. So enjoy the life!!!!!
It’s really hard for people of villages of Alaska.. It’s not easy to move to mainland they don’t have enough money to eat how will they pay for federal settlement?? And for some people it’s matter of emotions leaving their birth place is not easy.. Well we should secure our nature and reduce the hazard of global warming … Allah help those people….