Classroom Ideas, Current Event Connection, Main

10 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 …

… under Hawaii’s starry skies, there is a fight over sacred ground.

 

… humans can only live about 115 years.

Nat Geo readers ponder human longevity in 2013. Graphic by Mesa Schumacher, National Geographic
Nat Geo readers ponder human longevity in 2013.
Graphic by Mesa Schumacher, National Geographic

 

… an interactive globe can show climate implications of electricity for all. (Great quiz here!)

All the images in this gallery come from NASA’s Earth-observing satellite Suomi NPP. You’re familiar with the Blue Marble. Well, here’s the Black Marble—a nighttime image showing the city lights of Asia. What is the brightly lit, heavily urbanized city-state north of Australia? What cities do the networks of the Indian subcontinent connect? Why do you think eastern China is more brightly lit than western China? Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC
NASA takes the prettiest pictures, doesn’t it? Here’s a beautiful nighttime image showing the city lights of Asia.
Image courtesy NASA Earth Observatory/NOAA NGDC

 

… why left-handers are so much rarer than right-handers.

  • Survey your class or school. How many lefties are there? More or less than the 10% average?

 

… how animals change their lifestyles due to human noise.

Bats are starting to listen for different noises when hunting. Photograph by Paul Zahl, National Geographic
Bats are starting to listen for different noises when hunting.
Photograph by Paul Zahl, National Geographic

 

… Pakistan’s national baseball team just wants you to know they exist, while Cuba’s powerhouse baseball culture flickers out.

  • Do you think baseball is still “America’s Pastime”?
  • Do you associate any country or region with a sport? (Jamaica with running? India with cricket?)

 

… paleontologists found one of the largest dinosaur footprints ever.

The largest dinosaur footprints yet discovered were unearthed in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. These rainy footprints were found in South Korea. Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic
The largest dinosaur footprints yet discovered were unearthed in Mongolia’s Gobi Desert. These rainy footprints were found in South Korea.
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic

 

… how to teach your child emotional agility.

A young boy stops to smell the flowers in Vienna's Garden for the Blind. Photograph by William Albert Allard, National Geographic
A young boy stops to smell the flowers in Vienna’s Garden for the Blind.
Photograph by William Albert Allard, National Geographic
  • What importance do you place on your child or student’s emotional agility—the ability to manage their thoughts and feelings?

 

… an Indian man’s mission to fix leaky taps has saved millions of gallons of water.

 

… the first full-fledged English-to-Yiddish dictionary in 50 years was published.

2 thoughts on “10 Things We Learned This Week!”

  1. Emotions always overcome us and our heart is an emotional fool!! Sometimes we just can’t even understand how to react can’t even express our feelings.. Sometimes I feel that everything is just a game of emotions.. A temporary emotion can give a permanent result.. Like in anger people can murder and than what’s the result imprisonment, hang on death it’s ever lasting.. We should always try to be practical than being emotional…

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  2. For me long life really does not matter.. Matters is how we are living… Life and death is not in our control so live life happily… Article about left hand ness was good but still we don’t know the reason about minority of lefties.. But it was very interesting to know that we decide our dominating hand in foetus.. I’m the only person in my family who is right handed remains are lefty. Don’t know!!! Why so??

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