“Current Event Connection” posts will connect educators with news stories and relevant discussion ideas featuring content from the NG Education website.
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
ARTS Newly discovered 38,000-year-old cave art predates the French post-Impressionist art form. (Smithsonian) What else was going on in those French caves? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas The Smithsonian article describes carvings on newly discovered stones “prehistoric Pointillism.” What is Pointillism? Read through this great wonder-of-the-day from the good folks at Wonderopolis for some … Continue reading Prehistoric Pointillism?
WORLD A viral video showing tigers chasing a drone likely comes from a slaughter facility in China. (Nat Geo News) Find the dwindling habitat of Chinese tigers with our MapMaker Interactive layer. Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers Toolkit. Discussion Ideas Critics have suggested a recent video depicting a group of tigers taking down a drone may have … Continue reading What You Need to Know About Tiger Farms
This week we learned … … 5 things teachers can learn from Harry Potter. Learn how one teacher uses Harry Potter and other pop culture references in class. … five servings of fruit and veggies every day is good, but 10 is great. What would happen if we stopped eating meat altogether? … honeybees cover the Beatles. What are some ways you can … Continue reading 11 Things We Learned This Week
WORLD The Great Zimbabwe has long been one of Africa’s fiercest archaeological battlegrounds. How have current and former leaders used the monument as a symbol of power? (New York Times) Where is Great Zimbabwe? Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources, including today’s simple locator map. Discussion Ideas The great article from the New York Times discusses how political leaders have used … Continue reading How to Use a Monument to Build a Legacy
