domingo, 27 de febrero de 2011

SCIENCE

February 23, 2011, 3:31 PM

At Risk? Investigating Dams

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

<b>NOT INACTIVE</b> Engineers now know that the Lake Isabella Dam lies on an active fault line. Below, a survey monument used to measure ground movement.

Michal Czerwonka for The New York TimesNOT INACTIVE Engineers now know that the Lake Isabella Dam is on an active fault line. Below, a survey monument used to measure ground movement. Go to related article »

Overview | What are dams and how do they work? What are some of the issues surrounding the construction and maintenance of dams? In this lesson, students explore the kinds of dams used in waterways around the world. They explore dam design, investigate the history of dams and investigate how dams affect wildlife and communities. Read more…

February 16, 2011, 3:25 PM

How Green Is My School? Conducting an Energy Audit

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Patrick Andrade for The New York TimesPhotovoltaic panels soak up the first rays of sunrise on the roof of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s new hyperefficient office building in Golden, Colo.Go to related article »

SCIENCE

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | How can new buildings be designed in ways that minimize their energy use? How can energy be used more efficiently in existing buildings? In this lesson, students learn about green building design, perform energy audits of their schools and then develop proposals for making their schools more energy efficient. Read more…

February 9, 2011, 3:11 PM

Sputnik Redux: Creating Science Fair Projects

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

The president took in winning science projects, like a solar car by Mikayla Nelson of Montana, in October at the White House.

Doug Mills/The New York TimesThe president took in winning science projects, like a solar car by Mikayla Nelson of Montana, in October at the White House.Go to related article »

Mind and Body: Investigating the Health and Science of Meditation

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Getty ImagesGo to related blog post »

HEALTH

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | What is meditation? How have scientists explored the effects of meditation on the mind and body? In this lesson, students participate in a guided meditation, then learn about meditation and current research showing how meditation affects the brain and body. They then annotate diagrams of the brain and body with the information they’ve learned about meditation’s effects. Read more…

January 28, 2011, 10:54 AM

100 Ways to Celebrate the 100th Day of School With The Times

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN, SHANNON DOYNE and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Seth Kugel, Joshua Bright and Robert Caplin for The New York TimesClockwise from top left, Doughnut Plant; the Guggenheim; Grounded Cafe; the Lower East Side.Go to related article, “A New York City Weekend for $100″ »

CURRENT EVENTS

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Depending on when you started the academic year — and how many snow days you’ve had so far — the 100th day of school should be coming up any day now.

To mark this milestone, we present 100 ideas, some for individual subject areas and others for a whole class or school to do together.

Add your own ideas in our comments section … or, if you take us up on any of ours, write in and tell us how it went!

General Ideas

1. List 100 things you’ve learned this year, whether academic or personal.

2. Create a timeline of your life that lists 100 events, beginning with your earliest memories.

3. Make and illustrate a list of 100 things you would like to accomplish in your lifetime.

4. What 100 places would you like to visit before you die?

5. Make predictions about what life will be like 100 years from now. Be specific!

6. Make yourself a 100-day to-do list. And stick to it!

7. Read the blog post 100 Things Restaurant Staffers Should Never Do. Then write a 100 Things List of what teachers, parents, friends, boyfriends or girlfriends, store clerks, neighbors or anyone else should never do.

8. On the flip side, write a 100 Things list of what the same group shouldalways do.

9. Come up with a 100-day challenge for yourself, doing the activity of your choice for 100 consecutive days. You might read for an hour each day, pursue a religious or spiritual practice, exercise, write in a journal, etc. Noah Scalin’s 365 project might inspire you: This blog features artists who have committed to doing everything from drawing a bird image to photographing a gnome to writing a haiku to decorating fingernails every day for 365 days.

10. Or, take a 100-hour challenge in which you don’t do something, whether it means going without Facebook, caffeine, television or gossip.

All Smiles: Studying the Science of Smiling and Related Behaviors

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Christian NortheastGo to related article »

SCIENCE

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | What is a smile, and what can scientists learn from studying smiling? In this lesson, students learn about the science of smiling and explore related research in cognitive science and evolutionary biology. They experiment with interpreting different types of smiles and then design experiments of their own to further explore how people use and respond to communicative expressions and gestures. Read more…

January 20, 2011, 3:22 PM

Reader Idea | Trees and Transcendentalists

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

Ideas From Readers

Submit your story about how you’ve taught with The Times.

Here is another in our Great Ideas From Readersseries.

If you’ve used The Times for teaching and learning and would like to see your idea in our blog, write inand tell us what you’ve done.

Teacher: Kathleen Harsy

School/Location: Riverside Brookfield High School, Riverside, Ill.

Grade or Level of Students: 11th graders

Idea: Showing the relevance of the Transcendentalists today by combining poetry, video and photography in a two-day lesson.

Why We Chose It: Trees, Transcendentalists, great American poets, Times video: what’s not to like? We admired how this teacher wove so many resources together — and how she explained, step by step, exactly what she did. (It didn’t hurt that she says our e-mailed lesson plans give her “easy access to inspirational ideas.”)
Read more…

January 19, 2011, 2:38 PM

The Pros and Cons of Genetic Data: Debating Personal DNA Testing

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Viktor KoenGo to related article »

SCIENCE

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | What is personal DNA testing and how does it work? Why are some doctors and health professionals concerned over the growing availability of these tests for consumers? In this lesson, students review current technologies for DNA testing. They explore the reliability of these tests and debate the medical and ethical issues surrounding personal genetic testing. Read more…

January 12, 2011, 3:23 PM

One Year Later: Studying Post-Earthquake Haiti

By JENNIFER CUTRARO and HOLLY EPSTEIN OJALVO

Last week, workers painted a fence at the Iron Market. The market had suffered from lack of maintenance even before last January’s earthquake.

Eliana Aponte for The New York TimesLast week, workers painted a fence at the Iron Market. The market had suffered from lack of maintenance even before last January’s earthquake.

CURRENT EVENTS

Teaching ideas based on New York Times content.

Overview | What can we learn from natural disasters like earthquakes, and from the quake that devastated Haiti in 2010? In this lesson, students review the Haiti earthquake, reflect on the changes that have occurred since then and develop personal responses. They engage in one or more projects in which they explore the implications of the disaster from the perspectives of science, engineering, health, history, arts and culture, and the media. Read more…

January 5, 2011, 12:38 PM

Reader Idea | Global Poverty and the Guinea Worm

By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

Ideas From Readers

Submit your story about how you’ve taught with The Times.

Here is another in our Great Ideas From Readersseries.

If you’ve used The Times for teaching and learning and would like to see your idea in our blog, write inand tell us what you’ve done.

Teacher: Heidi Schallenberg Sweeney

School/Location: Park Middle School, Scotch Plains, N.J.

Grade or Level of Students: Ages 11 to 13

Idea: Making students aware of the Guinea worm, a public health issue tied to global poverty

Why We Chose It: As Ms. Schallenberg Sweeney writes, it’s hard to get middle school students to care about distant conflicts or health crises, yet she created a unit on the Guinea worm that was interesting enough to keep her students’ attention on “a stifling hot day in June.” Imaginatively combining Times resources and teaching materials from the Peace Corps, the unit results in student-created public service announcements.
Read more…

En este día...

ON THIS DAY

February 27

On Feb. 27, 1991, President George H.W. Bush declared that "Kuwait is liberated, Iraq's army is defeated," and announced that the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.
Go to article »

On Feb. 27, 1886, Hugo Black, who served 34 years as a U.S. Supreme Court judge and was known as a champion of civil liberties, was born. Following his death on Sept. 25, 1971, his obituary appeared in The Times.

Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »

On This Date

1801	The District of Columbia was placed under the jurisdiction of Congress.
1807	Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born in Portland, Maine.
1902	Author John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Calif.
1951	The 22nd Amendment to the Constitution, limiting a president to two terms of office, was ratified.
1973	Members of the American Indian Movement occupied Wounded Knee, S.D., the site of the 1890 massacre of Sioux men, women and children. The occupation lasted until May.
1991	President George H.W. Bush announced the end of the Persian Gulf War, saying the allies would suspend combat operations at midnight.
1997	Divorce became legal in Ireland.
1997	Legislation banning most handguns in Britain went into effect.
2002	Alicia Keys won five Grammy Awards for her debut album, "Songs in A Minor."
2002	A mob of Muslims set fire to a train carrying hundreds of Hindu nationalists in Godhra, India; some 60 people died.
2008	Author and conservative commentator William F. Buckley Jr. died at age 82.
2009	President Barack Obama said he would end combat operations in Iraq within 18 months.

Current Birthdays

Actress Elizabeth Taylor turns 79 years old today.

AP Photo/Chris Pizzello

Singer Josh Groban turns 30 years old today.

AP Photo/Peter Kramer

1930	Joanne Woodward, Actress, turns 81
1934	Ralph Nader, Consumer advocate, turns 77
1937	Barbara Babcock, Actress, turns 74
1940	Howard Hesseman, Actor ("Head of the Class," "WKRP in Cincinnati"), turns 71
1949	Debra Monk, Actress, turns 62
1954	Neal Schon, Rock musician (Journey), turns 57
1960	Johnny Van Zant, Country singer, turns 51
1961	James Worthy, Basketball Hall of Famer, turns 50
1962	Adam Baldwin, Actor, turns 49
1962	Grant Show, Actor ("Melrose Place"), turns 49
1976	Tony Gonzalez, Football player, turns 35
1980	Chelsea Clinton, Daughter of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton, turns 31

Historic Birthdays

Hugo Black2/27/1886 - 9/25/1971American politician and Supreme Court associate justice.Go to obituary »

75	Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 2/27/1807 - 3/24/1882 American poet
81	Ellen Terry 2/27/1847 - 7/21/1928 English actress
101	Alice Hamilton 2/27/1869 - 9/22/1970 American pathologist who worked on industrial diseases
88	Lotte Lehmann 2/27/1888 - 8/26/1976 German lyric-dramatic soprano
80	David Sarnoff 2/27/1891 - 12/12/1971 Russian-bn. American C.E.O. of R.C.A. and N.B.C.
79	Marino Marini 2/27/1901 - 8/6/1980 Italian artist
66	John Steinbeck 2/27/1902 - 12/20/1968 American Nobel Prize-winning novelist
83	Peter De Vries 2/27/1910 - 9/28/1993 American editor and novelist
78	Lawrence Durrell 2/27/1912 - 11/7/1990 English novelist and poet
71	Irwin Shaw 2/27/1913 - 5/16/1984 American playwright, novelist and screenwriter