Classroom Ideas, Current Event Connection, Main

11 Things We Learned This Week

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

This week, we learned …

… one rule followed by Mark Zuckerberg, Oprah Winfrey, and Bill Gates: 5 hours of “deliberate learning” a week.

Oprah Winfrey is just one of many successful business leaders who “sets aside at least an hour a day (or five hours a week) for activities that could be classified as deliberate practice or learning.” Photograph by Alan Light, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-2.0
Oprah Winfrey is just one of many successful business leaders who “set aside at least an hour a day (or five hours a week) for activities that could be classified as deliberate practice or learning.”
Photograph by Alan Light, courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-2.0
  • What are some examples of “deliberate learning”?
  • How much time do you spend practicing or learning a skill every week?

 

… the world’s oldest fossils were just discovered in Greenland.

 

… how to identify fake images online.

You, too, can take this beautiful image of Mont Saint-Michel, using this Photoshop tutorial offered by the artist. Photograph by Andrés Nieto Porras, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0
You, too, can take this beautiful image of Mont Saint-Michel, using this Photoshop tutorial offered by the artist.
Photograph by Andrés Nieto Porras, courtesy Flickr. CC-BY-SA-2.0

 

… how science can help you sort out your socks.

No mismatching on these socks! We never think of ancient Romano-Egyptians wearing socks, but here they are—one of the oldest surviving pair of socks, red wool beauties excavated from a Greek colony in Egypt and dating to about 250-420 CE. Photograph © Victoria and Albert Museum, London
No mismatching on these socks! We never think of ancient Romano-Egyptians wearing socks, but here they are—one of the oldest surviving pair in the world, red wool beauties excavated from a Greek colony in Egypt and dating to about 250-420 CE.
Photograph © Victoria and Albert Museum, London

 

… that edible batteries could make targeted drug-delivery safer.

 

… a plastic cup and a shop vac will rewrite the history of the universe, and a particle accelerator is bringing peace to the Middle East.

 

… how an underground ice wall is Japan’s “hail Mary” to prevent flooding at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.

 

… our food could soon come packaged in milk.

 

… the legend of the Choco Taco. (Come for the cultural geography, stay for the sweets.)

  • Have you ever eaten a Choco Taco? If so, what memories do you associate with it?
  • Can you think of other foods that have been adapted as immigrants move to an area with different food traditions? How about crawfish tacos?

 

… to listen to a remarkable song made from physics data (and make your own!) and a romantic language created from the air.

 

… why there are traffic jams.

2 thoughts on “11 Things We Learned This Week”

  1. This article How To find fake images online it’s not really helpful… It suggests about some websites and we already know about these sites.. The all thing is that use your own brain skills to find out what’s authentic and what’s fake????

    Reply

  2. Five hours rule!!!! Really a good idea…. For me Nat geo is a key for learning new things.. It’s really good to learn everyday something new.. Something interesting….

    Reply

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