Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Mini Page Archive - October 2009: Issues 40 - 43

Exploring Our Place in Space -- Issue 40 -- Oct. 3-9, 2009

This week's standard:

Students understand science and technology. (Science: Science and Technology)

Activities:

1. Use newspaper words about space and the planets to make a space collage.

2. Circle newspaper ads for telescopes and other scientific equipment. How many could be used to study space?

3. Interview family members and friends. Ask them what they would like NASA to study. What do they think about life on other planets?

4. Which NASA equipment will study (a) sun storms, (b) the moon, (c) brown dwarfs, and (d) the edge of our solar system?

5. Pretend you are a scientist from another world. Your space telescope has discovered Earth. Write a report telling your people what this new planet is like.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Banking on the Fed -- Issue 41 -- Oct. 10-16, 2009

This week's standard:

Money is useful primarily because it can be used to buy goods and services. (Economics: Role of Money)

Activities:

1. Make your own dollar bill. Draw your face in the middle. Design the rest of the bill.

2. Circle three things you can afford in newspaper ads. Circle three things that cost too much.

3. Find different ways people can spend money in the newspaper, such as go to a movie, rent a car, buy a new jacket, etc.

4. Circle newspaper ads for local banks. What do the banks say in their ads?

5. Interview family members and friends. Ask them if they prefer to use cash, checks or cards. Why? Write a paragraph discussing what you learn from the interviews.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

Vanishing Animals -- Issue 42 -- Oct. 17-23, 2009

This week's standard:

Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments. (Science: Life Science)

Activities:

1. Write "We Need the Bee" on a piece of paper. Paste newspaper words and pictures on the paper that show why bees are important.

2. Circle products in newspaper ads that say they are "environmentally safe" or "environmentally friendly."

3. Which animals have been affected by (a) pesticides, (b) mites, (c) fungi, and (d) climate change?

4. Collect news stories about climate change in a notebook. Look for stories about how animals are affected by it.

5. Write a short story about why the bees are disappearing from their hives. Make your story funny or scary or mysterious.

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)

A Halloween Scare -- Issue 43 -- Oct. 24-30, 2009

This week's standard:

Students understand how stories and artistic creations influence behavior of people living in a particular culture. (Social Studies: Culture)

Activities:

1. Paste Halloween pictures from the newspaper on a piece of paper. Draw a Halloween scene around them.

2. Look in the TV section for shows about something scary. Circle one you would like to see.

3. Circle different ways to send messages to people in the newspaper. Put a star by the two you think are the most efficient.

4. How did these things make "The War of the Worlds" broadcast possible: (a) few TVs, (b) war in Europe, and (c) interest in science and technology?

5. Ask friends to tell you about the scariest movie they've ever seen. What made it so scary?

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)