Literature, Literacy and Current Events

Cornell Lab launches National Student Challenge
Cornell Lab launches National Student Challenge

Dec. 7, 2018 - A fun way to see science in action is to install a bird feeder outside near a window and then sit back and watch. Well, there is not much sitting back in today's hectic world but where there is bird seed or suet, there will be birds so it won't take long. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has launched their 2018-2019 National Student Challenge to help students learn about and investigate wild bird feeding behaviors.

Word of the Day
suets: noun;types of bird food made from animal fat; Find it in blue in today's top story!

Writing Practice

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Writing Progress

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Featured Text Set (with Audio)

Students give voice to rare music first played at AuschwitzStudents give voice to rare music first played at Auschwitz
Dec. 4, 2018 - Fourteen student musicians enrolled in the University of Michigan recently made history.

Extra! Extra! Feature Article

Questions
  1. Why is Rosa Parks called the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement?
  2. What prepared Rosa for the action she took on Montgomery City Bus #2857 on Dec. 1, 1955?
  3. Why was the life Rosa led such a courageous one?

Douglas Brinkley, author of Rosa Parks: A Life, speaks at the Student News Net Symposium on Sept. 14, 2018..

Weekly VOCAB

Week of December 03

atmospheric: adjective; related to the atmosphere (layers of air surrounding a planet);
Will this winter be mild?

elaborate: adjective; detailed, complex;
Wreaths Across America: from Arlington to France

extraordinary: adjective; special, amazing, not ordinary, awesome;
NASA spacecraft to land on Mars today

topical: adjective; relevant, related to a current issue or topic;
CDC releases novel about disease detectives

Today In History

December 9

1962: Arizona's Petrified Forest National Monument, proclaimed on Dec. 8, 1906, was established as a national park.

1941: Beau Bridges, movie and television actor known for his roles in "Without Warning: The James Brady Story" [1991] and "The Fabulous Baker Boys" [1989] was born in Los Angeles, California just two days after the Pearl Harbor attack. His father was Lloyd Bridges, also an actor.

1912: Thomas Philip O'Neil II (Tip), Democratic congressman from Massachusetts from 1953-1987 and Speaker of the House from 1977-1987, was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts.


    

More from Student News Net

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Featured Unit

Chemical Elements "Off the Wall"

Studio glass art is a recent development but creating functional glass from silica sand is thousands of years old. Through this Student News Net video, tour the Chihuly Garden and Glass in Seattle, Washington to marvel at the beauty of glass and the chemical elements! Student News Net was there in 2017.

Read More: Seattle sights are simply stupendous

Pink diamonds are rare
Pink diamonds are rare

Sept. 3, 2013 (update: 2016) Over 90 percent of the world's pink diamonds come from The Argyle Diamond Mine in Western Australia. Pink Diamonds are very rare and very expensive, but all diamonds are tetrahedrons of carbon atoms.



In The News

Cornell Lab launches National Student Challenge
Cornell Lab launches National Student Challenge

Dec. 7, 2018 - A fun way to see science in action is to install a bird feeder outside near a window and then sit back and watch. Well, there is not much sitting back in today's hectic world but where there is bird seed or suet, there will be birds so it won't take long. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has launched their 2018-2019 National Student Challenge to help students learn about and investigate wild bird feeding behaviors.

   
Extra! Extra! Writing Practice Practice your writing skills by summarizing the information contained in the story at the left. What is the main point of the story? What are the key findings? Why is the story an important one? What are its implications? When finished, you can either print or email your document.
Extra! Extra! Writing Practice - Click Here
 
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