Colleen Dunn teaches 10th-grade humanities at the Barrie School in Silver Spring, MD. Her ancient world history and literature students examined the origins of place names in England and pieced together their observations to retrace the path of the historical Viking invasion. Continue reading Educator Spotlight: Tracing the Footsteps of the Vikings
SCIENCE Princess Leia! Octavia Butler! RIPLEY! The International Astronomical Union has approved themes submitted by NASA’s New Horizons team for naming surface features on Pluto and its moons. Gallifrey! Spock! Mordor! (NASA) How did NASA set its horizons on our favorite dwarf planet? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas Note to teachers: You’ll definitely want … Continue reading Pluto: Name that Planet
Do your students know the names of the streets they take to get to school? Chances are, they may know some of the road names on their routes, but they may not know the history behind their names. This week, ask your students to take a closer look at the street signs they pass every day. Do they know the significance behind the names? The … Continue reading Weekly Warm-Up: The Street Fight for Martin Luther King, Jr.
SCIENCE The European Space Agency is asking people to choose a name for British astronaut Tim Peake’s next mission to the International Space Station. (BBC) Any name is going to have a hard time topping this. Discussion Ideas The European Space Agency (ESA) competition to name Tim Peake’s mission is open to citizens or residents of all ESA member states. (Take a look here for … Continue reading Astronaut Wants Our Help!
Our friend at Geographic Travels with Catholicgauze brought this Washington Post article to our attention in a recent post. It appears perpetrators in the recent Mumbai attacks used geographic tools including GPS and satellite imagery to plot and execute their scheme. GPS devices were employed to navigate through ocean waters from Pakistan to the East Coast of India, enabling the attackers to stay on course … Continue reading Washington Post Article: Gunmen used technology as a tactical tool: Mumbai attackers had GPS units, satellite maps.
