President Obama in China

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Obama Pushes China on Currency, Human Rights." The article begins, "Describing ties with China as 'never more important to our collective future,' President Obama on Tuesday mixed praise for Chinese economic triumphs with gentle prodding on its currency, human rights and Tibet."

Consider the number of ways in which the President's foreign trip can be tied into teaching and learning within the classroom.

Challenge students to consider what it means to gently prod. Too often students, like adults, believe that it's important to emphatically support their opinions and discount the importance of listening to the opinions of others. What do students think is more important to high quality diplomacy, talking or listening? Why?

The article explains that Presidents Obama and Hu agreed on the establishment of a Clean Energy Research Center. What is the difference between clean energy and dirty energy? In comparison to China it's probably safe to say that the United States had had a thriving economy for decades. China's economy, on the other hand, is developing, albeit quickly. Does either nation have a greater responsibility towards protecting the environment? Why/why not? What's more important, the development of the largest possible economy at the present time or the safe-guarding of the environment? What are the complexities, if any, of building the strongest economy while protecting the environment to the maximum extent? (Consider the integration that could occur within this conversation between science, social studies, and perhaps other subject areas.)

Consider: The United States of America espouses the greatest commitment to human rights. We also support open communication. President Obama expressed commitment to these ideals while in China. The Chinese also have important values. Do students think that the Chinese would agree that their values demand hurting other people and neglecting the rights of individuals? (I hope not.) What meaningful value system would allow the violation of human rights? Challenge students to compare the values of the Chinese to the values of the West. Is it fair to state that while the Chinese support the peace and security of an entire people over that of single individuals the West possesses the opposite perspective?

This article contains a link to an "interactive" timeline describing pivotal moments in the recent relationship between the United States and China.

Physics and the Space Shuttle in a Day

What an amazing picture that was found on the front page of today's New York Times!! Today I happened to be substitute teaching in a physics class and I told the students that I had not studied physics since I was in high school. One of the students exclaimed, "That proves my point. You don't use physics as an adult!" I wish that I had thought of this comment then, but while one individual may not use physics very much as an adult, it's a very good thing that humankind has developed the scientific discipline of physics. Consider the many different benefits that have accrued to humankind because of space exploration. Consider the many different ways in which products once developed for the use of astronauts are now in use by common people. (If you doubt this, just do a bit of research!!)

By the way, if I was going to use this picture in a classroom, I might simply ask students to describe what they see. Challenge them to develop their descriptions as deeply as possible. In a physics class, such a discussion could prompt a consideration of the ways in which an understanding of physics has made this situation possible. In an English/language arts class, students could be asked to write their descriptions in essay format.

Rather than pointing students to this blog post, you could point them to the New York Times page, here.

Olympics 2016

Today is a big day for the entire sports world and the Olympic Games. The International Olympic Committee is selecting/has selected the host city of the 2016 Summer Games. Newspapers around the world are reporting on this event.

Questions for Younger Children

1. What is your favorite game? Why do you like to play this game?

2. If you had a choice between going into outer space or going to the bottom of the ocean where would you prefer to go? Why? (Adults, consider how this question connects to the news story in my mind.)

3. Have you ever been in a contest? What kind of a contest was it? Did you have fun? Why or why not?

4. If your mother was in a contest against another child's mother do you think that the other child should be allowed to decide the winner? Why or why not? Should you be allowed to decide the winner? Why or why not?

Discussion Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to discuss: Bid; I.O.C.; Decathlete; and, Encompasses.

2. If you could visit any one of the four cities that bid on the Olympics in the final round what city would you visit? Why!

3. If you were a part of the I.O.C. Voting on the location of the 2016 Olympics what three issues would you keep in mind as you voted?

4. If somebody from the Nineteenth Century came back alive today and saw how fast information travels around the globe what do you think that they would say if they had to talk for five minutes?

Iran enters Negotiations

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Iran Meets U.S. and Allies for Nuclear Talks in Geneva." The article begins, Critical talks over Iran’s nuclear ambitions began Thursday morning in the Geneva countryside, with Washington and its allies hoping to draw Iran into a serious negotiation that will open up the country to serious nuclear inspections, suspend Iran’s nuclear enrichment program and reassure its neighbors that its intentions are peaceful." But according to the article, Iran's atomic energy chief, Ali Akbar Salehi, said "We will not discuss about our rights (to enrich uranium)...But we are ready to discuss about nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.”

Discussion Questions for Younger Children

1. Have you ever disagreed with somebody else who lives in your house? What was the disagreement about? What did you do to end the disagreement?

2. In your home, is there anything that you are allowed to do now that you would not have been allowed to do a year ago? What? Why do you think that you are allowed to do this now?

3. After you get into a fight with somebody do you think it's important to talk to them? Why or why not? What kinds of things should you say to one another? What do the words, "I'm sorry" mean?

4. Do you think that your mom or dad ever have disagreements with people? How do they work out their disagreements with other people? Is there anything that you can learn from this? If so, what?

Discussion Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to discuss: Bilateral; Unfettered; Ensuing; and, Derision.

2. What does it mean to enrich uranium? How does one go about doing this? To what kinds of purposes can enriched uranium be put? Where might you find answers to these questions?

3. Do you think that Iran should be allowed to enrich its own uranium and use it? Imagine that you were an advisor to the president of Iran, how would you respond to this question? How would you recommend resolving the tension between the two sides of this question?

4. According to this article, Iran will likely show up to the negotiations with a host of issues to discuss: "overhauling the United Nations; giving greater voice to non-Western countries; and universal nuclear disarmament." Why do you think that Iran will raise these other issues at the negotiations? Do you think that Iran is correctly concerned with these issues? Why or why not? How might these issues play into the over-all negotiations?

New Google Earth Layer Added

I've just added a new Google Earth news layer to my living textbook. It includes links to stories about the following topics:

• A new nuclear facility discovered in Iran
• G-20 to expand to, well, 20
• NBA ownership goes international
• The murder of a possible federal employee
• Charles Mason follower dies
• Suspected bomb maker indicted in New York City

To visit my Living Textbook to see this layer go here.

The Ref.

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Earning Her Stripes in College Football." The article states, "Thomas, 35, is big-time college football’s only female referee. She has grown accustomed to startling players and coaches on Saturdays but says it does not occur as often as one might think."

It continues, "Neither Thomas nor those who work with and supervise her believe it is odd that she has found her avocation amid big games and marching bands. She always loved sports and became the first athlete ever at Pascagoula High School to earn a letter five times in a sport, softball. She received a basketball scholarship to the University of Mobile, helped the team make the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament and earned academic All-American honors."

Questions for Younger Children

1. Do you think that there is anything that a boy can do that a girl should not do? Is there anything that a girl can do that a boy should not do? Explain!

2. Do you think it would be fun to be the only boy in a room full of girls or the only girl in a room full of boys? Why or why not? (Note: It's funny that you can ask young children some questions that you might not want to ask older students.)

3. What is your favorite sport? What do you like about this sport? Do you think that this is a hard sport to play? Why or why not?

4. Do you think that it might be fun to watch people playing a sport to make sure that they play by the rules? Why or why not?

Questions for Older Students

1. Vocabulary terms to discuss: Lilting; Avocation; Intrigued; and, "In Concert".

2. What do you think would be the hardest part about being a woman referee in college football? Why?

3. If you could ask Sarah Thomas one question, what would you ask her? How do you think that she might respond?

4. Why do you think that the New York Times would run an article about Sarah Thomas on the home page of its website? What does this say about the way that the New York Times thinks about news? What can we learn about the N.Y. Times' readership from the placement of this article? Explain!

Cuban Missile Crisis

As you might know, I develop core curriculum resources using Web 2.0 technology. This is a picture of a unit that I have developed on The Cuban Missile Crisis. Students use a Google Earth layer to investigate the crisis. This particular picture explains the Berlin Blockade. Students develop an understanding of the difference between the embargo of Cuba and the blockade of West Berlin. There are many things that they have to do throughout the unit, using technology. For example, they use the tools of Google Earth to draw a barrier around West Berlin. This hopefully helps them conceputalize the isolation that occurred. The large project for the unit asks students to imagine that they are the only person in the world who is friends with both Khrushchev and Kennedy. Using the information that they learn in the unit, they must develop a proposal for world peace. Students use the Google Earth ruler to compare the distances between the Soviet Union and Turkey and the United States and Cuba.

I'm certainly not planning on giving up on the current events questions that I've been writing on this blog. However, I'm also trying to find a way to let people know about the units that I'm developing.