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CultureGrams & World Conflicts Today Updates
Happy New Year! Have you seen the newest CultureGrams text—the Faroe Islands? The islands have been part of the Kingdom of Denmark for centuries and are made up of an archipelago of 18 separate islands. Log in to read more about the culture and people of this tiny North Atlantic nation.
We've also added to our interview gallery. Click the "Interviews" link to read about the lives of individuals from around the world. They'll tell you about their typical day, about their families and homes, and about their aspirations and worries—all in their own words.
New to CultureGrams? Need a refresher? Spend an hour with our trainers, online, free of charge. Sign up here. Our archived content release notes can always be found here.
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Talking Points:
Obama's 2010 Afghanistan Policy
Students across the country likely listened to President Obama's long anticipated speech last month centering on the war in Afghanistan. In this speech, Obama announced both the addition of 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan and a beginning withdrawal date of July 2011.
The speech is likely generating discussion and debate in many classrooms in the new year. Here are some points to consider from World Conflicts Today, updated and staffed by our CultureGrams team:
- A military approach—no matter what the troop levels—can only do so much to stop suicide bombers without hurting innocent civilians. Read more in the Afghanistan Recent Events section called "Counter-insurgency."
- There is no problem-free way to enlarge the Afghan army in preparation for a U.S. pullout. A draft runs the risk of eroding support for Afghanistan’s central government, while volunteer recruitment campaigns would likely accentuate ethnic disparities in the army’s composition. Read more in the Afghanistan Obstacles section called "Military conundrum."
- Increased cooperation with Pakistan to root out the Taliban in that country could backfire, giving rise to a Pakistani government sympathetic to the Taliban. Read more in the Afghanistan Obstacles section called "Pakistani leadership."
Don't get World Conflicts Today from ProQuest? Start the new decade with this in-depth research resource from the editors of CultureGrams. Watch a very short, 2-minute descriptive video, get full details, then sign up for a free trial.
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Enroll & Save: Vendor of Choice Program
At ProQuest, we know that many of our customers are facing budget cuts (ProQuest CEO message). With each passing month, it's becoming more difficult to afford all of the online research resources you would like to provide to your students.
In response, we've put a program in place to help you during these hard times. ProQuest's new Vendor of Choice program has already helped schools just like yours save thousands of dollars. Find out more and enroll today.
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Regional Quiz
How much do you know about the region of
South America?
Test your knowledge with these tidbits from CultureGrams:
- Which South American country contains the world's largest tropical rainforest?
- Which country's people have traditionally eaten more beef per capita than any other?
- How many countries in South America do not list Spanish as an official language?
- Which South American country has two capitals?
- In 2006, which country elected its first female president, Michelle Bachelet?
- Which country's population is concentrated along South America's Atlantic coast, leaving about 80 percent of the country covered with pristine tropical rainforest?
- What is the most ethnically homogeneous country in South America, partially due to its virtual isolation?
- Charles Darwin developed his theories of evolution working on which Ecuadorian islands?
- Which two countries share the world's highest navigable body of water, Lake Titicaca?
- Nearly 50 percent of Guyana's population is made up of descendents of emigrants from this country.
Answers: 1) Brazil. 2) Argentina. 3) Four (Brazil, Guyana, French Guiana [a French territory], and Suriname). 4) Bolivia (La Paz and Sucre). 5) Chile. 6) Suriname. 7) Paraguay. 8) The Galapagos Islands. 9) Peru and Bolivia. 10) India.
Did you know...
- When a Uruguayan person dies, relatives meet in the funeral home prior to the burial. Some of them escort the coffin to the cemetery. After the funeral ceremony, the deceased is buried in a cemetery or, more commonly, placed in an above-ground niche or mausoleum. Between three and five years later, the coffin is exhumed and the bones are placed in an urn, which is returned to the tomb.
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World Holidays
Holidays provide a great way to introduce students to the culture and history of a country. Observe a world holiday in your classroom by asking students to research the holiday's origins or learn more about a particular aspect of the country.
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Focus on a U.S. State: Minnesota
Minnesota is known as the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, but there are as many as 12,000 lakes in the state. Giant glaciers (sheets of ice) covered the state thousands of years ago. They ground down the earth and formed lake beds. When the glaciers melted, these lake beds filled with water.
In total, Minnesota's lakes have 90,000 miles (144,841 kilometers) of shoreline. This is more than the shorelines of California, Florida, and Hawaii combined! Some Minnesotans describe their climate as "shovel and swat," because they have to shovel snow in the winter and swat mosquitoes in the summer. The northeast gets the most snowfall, with an average of 70 inches (178 centimeters) per year. In the summer, the mosquitoes are so large that they are sometimes jokingly called the "state birds."
Here are some more interesting facts about Ontario:
- Minnesota comes from the Dakota word meaning "sky-tinted water," a reference to the Minnesota River.
- The Mall of America in Bloomington is the size of 78 football fields and has five hundred stores, an aquarium, and an amusement park inside the mall.
- About two million Minnesota pine trees become Christmas trees each year.
- International Falls is considered the coldest place in the continental United States with an average annual temperature of 36°F (2°C).
- Minnesotans have one of the longest life expectancies, second only to Hawaiians, in the nation.
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Social Studies Grant Feed: Grant Wrangler & ProQuest
Learn how to publish this information on your website
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CultureGrams Photo Gallery Pick
Isla del Sol, Lake Titicaca, Bolivia, 2006
Bolivian Child: A young girl sits on the shore of the Island of the Sun. Less than half of all Bolivian children complete their primary education, and less than one-third go on to secondary school. Rural children especially struggle to finish school because of challenges like long travel distances to schools and family labor needs.
Access our complete, updated CultureGrams Photo Gallery.
BONUS: Spotlights & Challenge Quests
In 1924, France hosted the first Winter Olympics, then called "The International Winter Sports Week." Sixteen nations sent athletes to compete.
SIRS Discover wants you and your students to learn more about the 2010 Winter Olympics, and about the Canadian city in which the Winter Games are held,
in this month's Spotlight of the Month: XXI Winter Olympics.
On January 11, 1935, Amelia Earhart became the first person to accomplish a solo flight across the Pacific Ocean.
SIRS asks:
Earhart departed from Honolulu, Hawaii, and landed in what California city?
Top 3 Websites
Each month, our SIRS team scours the Internet for top-quality websites for schools and students. Dive into this month's selections: Dogs, Cigarette Anatomy, Galaxy Games. (More)
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Enter to win a title from Linworth Books & ProQuest
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