Gibbons love to swing from tree to tree in the canopy of the rainforest on Hainan island (part of China). They rarely have to venture down to the rainforest floor. A few years ago (2014), a landslide destroyed a large area of the rainforest and the gibbons had a dangerous gap. The gibbons, a very rare primate, would still attempt the leap, not always being successful.Scientists came up with an idea. Create a rope bridge linking an estimated 50 ft. wide void. It has taken months to warm up to the new rope bridge but the Gibbons have begun using it! Instead of swinging along the ropes, the gibbons(often holding to another for assistance),walk across the rope. Others crossed the rope bridge,upside-down.

In recent years, the idea of animals living in captivity to entertain humans have come into questions. Some circuses have closed over the issue of having live performing animals. One circus in Germany has moved to hologram animals. Marine parks, too, have had to rethink the use of killer whales and dolphins living in captivity to entertain humans. A animatronic company has created a life-like dolphin which may be the answer to future marine parks. The 550 pound robot can move and make sounds of a real dolphin. With a battery, the 8 1/2 ft. long bottlenose dolphin robotic, can swim and do activities for up to 10 hours. The skin is made from silicone. Photograph from DailyMail

Paleontologists have unearthed the remains of four parrot-faced dinosaurs in Mongolia's Gobi Desert. With two fingers on each arm and a beak(no teeth), the very well preserved fossils of the Oksoko avarsan dinosaurs, about 6.5 ft long, are estimated to be about 68 million years old.

CNN.com

If you don't like heights, this bridge may NOT be for you. A world record suspension bridge has opened in the country of Portugal. The bridge spans the River Paiva(576 ft. below).It takes about 10 minutes to walk the 1692 ft. long Tibetan-style bridge. The previous record holder was the Kuonen Suspension Bridge, located in Switzerland(1621ft.long)

Scientists are studying what people ate in the past to people living today and how microbes in our body have caused obesity and allergies. The study studied people living in the Middle Ages. You may wonder, just how did they do this? To conduct the study, scientists researched two latrines dating back to the 15th century, found in the countries of Israel and Latvia. The waste materials found in the medieval toilets were used for the study and provided lots of information as to what microbes were in the waste remain of people who used the toilets hundreds of years ago.

Photograph from courthouse news.com

Do you still write by hand? A study at Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that if you write things down by hand(and not type on a computer device), you will remember the information much better. Hooked up to electrodes, to study the brains of the volunteers, it was found that the brain is much more engaged when the person is writing by hand instead of using a keyboard.Illustration from wpclipart.com

PAST NEWS STORIES

Click here:Past News Stories
"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to compromise."FDR "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."(Ben Franklin) "You must be the change you want to see in the world."(Mahatma Gandhi) "School is a building that has four walls-with tomorrow inside."(Lon Watters) "We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make."(Senator Ted Kennedy) "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." (Robert Byrne)
Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!

About Gail:

I have retired from teaching after 33 1/2 years in the classroom. Of that time, I taught Grade 6 Social Studies teacher for 31 1/2 years.I earned my BA in early secondary education with a concentration in social studies from SUNY Oneonta, New York, and my MST in social studies education from Binghamton University in New York. In 1988, I was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies. Additionally, in 1988, I was also awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award by the National Council for the Social Studies. I am the author of 8 books for teachers and over 30 books for children(Purple Turtle Series by Aadarsh Publishing). In 2019, my new series of three books, "Odd History" will be published by Red Chair Press.

My work has appeared in most children's publications including:
Appleseeds,Scholastic's Super Science,Scholastic's Science World,Highlights for Children,Jack and Jill,National Geographic World, Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Faces, Muse Magazine,Contact Kids, US Kids,Action Magazine(Scholastic),Girls' Life,Boys' Life,American Girl, Instructor,Creative Classroom,Middle Years,Time for Kids,Scholastic News,Scholastic News Zone, Time for Kids , Ask Magazine, Dig,Calliope, Cobblestone, FACES, Studies Weekly, Glo Adventurer, and more.

---