Las Vegas Newspapers in Education

Mini Page Archive - October 2007: Issue 41 - 44
Ducks Are Heading South -- Issue 41 -- Oct. 6-12, 2007

This week's standards:

Students understand the characteristics and life cycles of organisms.

(Science: Life Science)

Students understand the interactions of animals and their environments.

(Science: Life Science)

Activities:

1. Draw a cartoon of a duck getting ready to pack up and migrate. Treat your duck as if it were a person. What would he/she take along?

2. Play a newspaper "waterbird watching" game with a friend. Have each person use a different colored marker. Then go through the newspaper together, looking for names of waterbirds. Circle each word or picture for a waterbird, such as a duck, swan, egret or heron. Pay special attention to ads for sporting goods stores and restaurants and to the sports pages. The person with the most birds circled wins the game.

3. Draw pictures of the different kinds of equipment and outdoor gear you might use if you were going to watch for migrating birds. For example, you might want binoculars or a camp chair. Now see if you can find your items in newspaper ads. Cut out the pictures from the ads and paste them next to your drawing. Add up the prices for the items you found.

4. How do these behaviors help migrating ducks: (a) flying along waterways, (b) flying in a V formation, (c) flying to a warmer climate, and (d) staying in a large group while flying?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about migrating birds nearest you. Use these questions to guide your research: What "flyways" are closest to the area where you live? What types of birds follow those flyways? What times of the year could you observe birds migrating? What wetlands areas are close to you? How far would you have to travel to observe migrating birds? Use your findings to discuss your potential migration-watching opportunities.

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

Tiny, Mighty Germs -- Issue 42 -- Oct. 13-19, 2007

This week's standards:

Students will comprehend concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention (Health:

Health Promotion and Disease Prevention)

Students will demonstrate the ability to practice health-enhancing behaviors and reduce health risks. (Health: Reducing Health Risks)

Activities:

1. Make a "Take Care of Your Cold" poster. Cut out words and pictures from the newspaper showing things that can make you feel better when you have a cold. Use them to create your poster.

2. Play a newspaper scavenger hunt game with a friend. Give three different colored markers to each player. Then go through the newspaper to find items that protect us from bacteria and viruses. Use a red marker to circle personal products to keep yourself germ-free. Use a blue marker to circle items that you use to keep eating and cooking utensils clean. Use a green marker to circle items that keep countertops and floors clean. Who has the most circles?

3. Look in your newspaper ads to find three different places you could go to get help if you had a bad cold. Why did you choose each place?

4. Is it a bacteria or a virus that (a) is made up of one cell, (b) lives only inside a host, (c) is often called the smallest form of life, (d) can live outside a host, and (e) can be used for good purposes?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn about outbreaks of serious diseases such as typhoid or avian flu. Use these questions to guide your research: How does the disease travel from one location to another? How is the disease transmitted between animals and people or between people? What medicines are used to fight the disease in humans? What precautions can be taken to prevent the disease from spreading? How dangerous is the disease? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.

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

A Mini Guide to Mummies -- Issue 43 -- Oct. 20-26

This week's standards:

Students understand the major characteristics of civilization and how civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia, Egypt and the Indus valley. (History)

Students explore and describe similarities and differences in the ways groups, societies and cultures address similar human needs and concerns. (Social Studies: Culture)

Activities:

1. Design a mummy costume. Draw a mummy on a piece of paper. Now draw a costume on the mummy. Write a sentence about the costume.

2. What would people put in a tomb today? Draw a picture of a pyramid. Then cut out words and pictures from the newspaper that show items people would put in a tomb to help a person in the afterlife. Think about food, entertainment items and clothing. Paste your words and pictures on the pyramid.

3. Select a famous person from the past. Write the person's name at the top of a piece of paper.

Now find items in the newspaper that show something about the person's life.

List your items on your paper.

4. Why were these items important to ancient Egyptians who made mummies: (a) amulets,

(b) natron, (c) linen and (d) a sarcophagus?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about other civilizations that used mummification. Use these questions to guide your research: What is the society? When did it exist? Where was it located? What techniques were used in mummification? Where were the mummies placed? What was buried with the mummies? Write a paragraph discussing your findings.

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

A Book's Look -- Issue 44 -- Oct. 27-Nov. 2

This week's standards:

Students know that the visual arts have both a history and specific relationships to various cultures. (Visual Arts)

Students use different media, techniques and processes to communicate ideas, experiences and stories. (Visual Arts)

Activities:

1. Design a different cover for one of your favorite books.

2.With a friend, look through the newspaper to find photos and drawings that would look good on a book cover. Cut out your favorite photo or drawing and paste it on a piece of paper. Now make up a title that goes with the art. Use the art and the title to create a new book cover.

3. Select a newspaper story that would make a good subject for a picture.

Draw three illustrations for the story; use colored markers for one illustration, watercolors for another and colored pencils for the third. Show your illustrations to family members and friends. Ask them to pick their favorite.

4. Which of the children's illustrators in today's Mini Page (a) wrote about scary things,

(b) created small books that were easy to hold, (c) first showed a black child in a normal setting, and (d) also illustrated magazine stories?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about the illustrator of a favorite book.

Use these questions to guide your research: When did the illustrator first become interested in art? What other jobs did the illustrator have? What is the illustrator's favorite art medium? What other books has the artist illustrated? Why does the artist enjoy illustrating children's books? Write a paragraph discussing your research.

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