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Spring Updates:
New Country Reports & Conflict Updates
Just in time for spring! We recently added World Edition reports (get a trial to use links) for two of the coldest places on earth—Greenland and Antarctica. Did you know that the world's lowest known temperature was recorded at the Vostok Research Center in Antarctica? (-128.6°F (-89°C) in 1983!)
We've also added five new Kids Edition reports—Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Myanmar, and Venezuela.
Stop by the Myanmar report to learn more about freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi and her struggle to bring democracy to Myanmar. Or check out the Czech Republic report to read about the famous Czech glass blowers.
All ten World Conflicts Today reports (login) have undergone their major annual overhaul. Not only have the Recent Events and Timeline sections been brought up to date with the latest happenings, but every other section (Overview, History sections, Implications, Obstacles, etc.) has been revised to reflect the latest thinking on each conflict. Slideshows, which provide a visually rich overview of the history of each conflict, have also been updated, and dozens of new photographs have been added throughout the site.
Additionally, easy-to-spot links now appear for customers who subscribe to both World Conflicts Today and CultureGrams. These links take users from a conflict to its relevant CultureGrams reports and vice versa while making each product more visible on the other's landing page. World Conflicts Today and CultureGrams have always complemented each other—now making the connection between the products is even easier.
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Open Product Access | National Library Week
(4.12 - 4.18 Only)
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Teaching Idea:
Comparing Living Conditions Worldwide
This month, encourage your students in grades K-5 to use photos and statistical graphs and tables from CultureGrams to compare living conditions among Burundi, India, Malawi, and the United States.
You'll need about 40 minutes to prepare for this activity, and 1 hour and 30 minutes of class time. To prepare, access your CultureGrams Online Edition and tap into Concepts and Terminology, Comparison Tables, Comparison Graphs, and the Photo Gallery.
First, explain the concept of life expectancy to the students. An overview is provided on the CultureGrams Concepts and Terminology page. Emphasize that life expectancy figures indicate the overall health of a population and whether the people have access to nutritious food, clean water, health care, and proper sanitation.
Next, have students access the Kids Edition Comparison Tables in the Graphs and Tables section. Instruct the student to select Malawi, Burundi, and India, as well as the United States (or their home country if not the United States) for the countries. For the categories, have students select "Life expectancy (male)," "Life expectancy (female)," "Doctors," and "Probability of not surviving to age 40."
Alternatively, have students access the Kids Edition Comparison Graphs. Instruct the students to select the same countries and generate graphs for life expectancy and the other statistics under the "Health" category.
Lead a discussion on what these figures reveal. Which country has the highest life expectancy? Which has the lowest? What factors could cause people in Burundi to die nearly 30 years earlier than in the United States? Why do people in the United States have such a low probability of dying before they reach age 40?
Finally, have students access the CultureGrams Photo Gallery with photos of Malawi (Cooking Nsima, Preparing Goat Stew, Carrying Water), Burundi (Collecting Water, Water Source, Heavy Rains), and India (Shower Sink, Steps of the Ganges River, River Washing) that relate to health and living conditions in those countries.
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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
Middle East?
Test your knowledge with these tidbits from CultureGrams:
- True or false: Arabic (the language spoken in much of the Middle East) is written from right to left, instead of from left to right as in English.
- The ancient city of Petra, carved out of solid stone, is located in this country.
- What is the official language of Iran?
- Which country's name means "Land of the Pure"?
- The Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world) were located in which present-day country?
- Which country is made up of a peninsula that juts north into the Arabian Gulf?
- The United Arab Emirates was officially declared a nation in which year?
- Which Israeli city is considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike?
- Only 45 percent of which country's population has citizenship from the country?
- Muslims are required to make a pilgrimage (called a hajj) to which Saudi Arabian city at least once in their lives?
Answers: 1) True. 2) Jordan. 3) Persian, or Farsi. 4) Pakistan. 5) Iraq. 6) Qatar. 7) 1971. 8) Jerusalem. 9) Kuwait. 10) Makkah, or Mecca.
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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: Oregon
One of three Pacific Coast states, Oregon covers 98,386 square miles (254,819 sq km). Its diverse landscape includes rain forests, mountains, deserts, valleys, rivers, canyons, waterfalls, plains, and plateaus. Much of western Oregon is mountainous.
Between the Coast Ranges and the Cascade Mountains in the western part of the state lies the Willamette Valley. More than half of the state's population and most of its major cities are located in this valley. Oregon has basically two climates. In the western part of the state, ocean breezes help create a mild climate by cooling the land in the summer and warming it in the winter.
The eastern side of the state is very dry. Some areas receive only about 8 inches (20 cm) of rain a year. Summers in eastern Oregon are hot and winters are cold. Summer temperatures along the coast average about 60°F (16°C) and winter temperatures average around 45°F (7°C). Western Oregon also receives a lot of rain, between 50 and 130 inches (1–3 m) a year!
Here are some more interesting facts about Oregon:
- The largest meteorite in the United States was discovered in Oregon in 1902. It weighed about 40,000 pounds.
- Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state.
- In Oregon, there are no self-serve gas stations. The law states an attendant must pump your gas for you.
- At 1,943 feet (592) deep, Crater Lake is the deepest lake in the United States.
- Since the 1960s, Oregon has been a leader in protecting the environment.
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Social Studies Financial Support: Grant Wrangler & ProQuest
Learn how to publish this information on your website
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CultureGrams Photo Gallery Pick
Tripoli, Lebanon, March 2005
Tripoli: An important port city in ancient times, Tripoli is Lebanon's second largest city today and houses a large Sunni Muslim population. Homes and apartment buildings built on the hillsides offer a view of the Mediterranean Sea. Laundry is hung to dry outside windows or on rooftops. Political posters are also displayed.
Access our complete, updated CultureGrams Photo Gallery.
BONUS: Spotlights & Challenge Quests
National Poetry Month, by honoring all aspects of poetic activity, aspires to generate interest in and excitement about poetry and all of its traditions and forms.
SIRS Knowledge Source commemorates notable poets from all corners of the world with a wealth of articles and Web sites
in this month's Spotlight of the Month.
In 2008, California voters passed Proposition 2, which bans farmers from confining calves, pregnant pigs, and egg-laying hens in tiny cages.
SIRS asks:
By what year must California farmers comply with Proposition 2?
Top 3 Websites @ ProQuest
Each month, our SIRS team scours the Internet for top-quality websites for classrooms and libraries. Dive into this month's selections: Earth Day, Poetry, Holocaust Survivors.
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Enter to win a title from Linworth Books & ProQuest
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