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April 2010
National Library Week & More
Welcome to the new issue of ProQuest Teachable Moments. This month, you'll find 21st-century, standards-linked research lesson plans focusing on
Earth Day, census interviews, Financial Literacy Month, Apollo 13 anniversary, natural disasters, National Poetry Month, J. D. Salinger, antitrust cases, environmental consequences of conflict,
and more. (Lesson archives.)
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Open Product Access | National Library Week
(4.12 - 4.18 Only)
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SIRS Discoverer
Apollo 13 Moon Mission
April marks the 40th anniversary of the launch and recovery of Apollo 13. NASA considers the mission successful because the astronauts on board were able to survive these major hazards and return the command module safely back to Earth.
Assign researchers to answer one or more of our essential questions: Why do we use unmanned vehicles and robots to explore the moon today? What are some other countries that have sent probes to the surface of the moon? What are some things that we have learned about the moon that will benefit us in the future?
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eLibrary
Tsunamis & Tidal Waves
The threat of lethal tsunami waves from the recent 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile forced more than 1.5 million people to higher ground in countries on the other side of the Pacific Ocean, but in the end, small waves left only minor damage.
The people living along the Chilean coast were not so lucky. A 10-foot-high tidal wave unleashed by the quake resulted in widespread devastation and death in numerous towns on the coast, such as Dichato and Concepcion.
ProQuest has created a BookCart learning activity for students to research this timely topic: Tsunamis and Tidal Waves.
What causes tsunamis and tidal waves and why are some more dangerous than others?
How can scientists predict and protect against them? (See graphic.)
Answer these questions using eLibrary.
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eLibrary Science
Hubble Space Telescope 20th Anniversary
The HST, named after the famous American astronomer Edwin Hubble, was launched into orbit by the space shuttle Discovery in April 1990. Although it was not the first space telescope, Hubble is one of the largest and most versatile, and is well known as both a vital research tool and a public relations boon for astronomy.
ProQuest has created a BookCart lesson to help students learn more about "Exploring Origins of our Universe" via Hubble.
SIRS Decades
The Federal Reserve Bank
April is Financial Literacy Month. Many Americans have little knowledge or understanding of how monetary policy works via the Federal Reserve. During the recent recession, the Federal Reserve acted as the lender of last resource to help stabilize the banking industry that was in crisis.
Assign students to address the Document Based Question (DBQ) correlated to the topic of the Federal Reserve: "Describe the economic problems the Federal Reserve Act, which established a central banking system in the United States, sought to address and summarize its major provisions."
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SIRS Issues Researcher
Consumer Financial Protection
How much government banking regulation is necessary to protect consumers? How much responsibility for reform should fall on more enlightened consumers?
Assign students to use SIRS Issues Researcher as a source in writing reports of at least 150 words that cites at least three resources and addresses the essential question for the SIRS Leading Issue entitled "Mortgage and Lending Issues:" Will more regulation stop predatory lending practices?
Make students aware of the 21st Century research tool—Notes Organizer (see icon next to Research Guides) that is available in this and all issues. This unique tool helps students to organize their thoughts along with the information that they access on this issue. (Learn more in our new training video.)
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ProQuest Platinum
Appreciating the Poetic Genre
April is National Poetry Month. The annual celebration was established by the Academy of American Poets as a month-long, national celebration of poetry.
Students: Select a type of poetic style from this month's listing. Select a poet who uses this style, write a brief biography, select the most well-known poem, critique it, and then write an short original poem in that style.
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eLibrary Elementary
Saving Our Planet
The 40th anniversary of Earth Day is April 2010. Earth Day is dedicated to preserving and advancing our environmental and ecological systems, including plants, animals, the oceans, the land, and the atmosphere. Many of these separate issues are involved and affected by global warming and climate change.
ProQuest has created a BookCart lesson to help students learn more about "Global Warming and Climate Change."
eLibrary Curriculum Edition
The Art of Poetic Expression
ProQuest BookCarts are an excellent tool to guide your students to learn more about poets, poetry, and motivate them to write it as well. ProQuest has created several learning activity models that you may want to copy and use with your students in the study of poetry.
Each of these BookCarts is a complete one-stop learning activity that you can customize for your students. This saves classroom time for more teaching and learning because traditional Internet searching (comparison) consumes time in locating relevant information and then evaluating its credibility.
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Grants for Educators @ Grant Wrangler
Learn how to publish this information on your website(s)
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Free Online Training Opportunities
Our ProQuest product trainers are standing by to help you get the most out of your subscription. Tap into this month's free training schedules (by class or date) then register for a course. (Get dates via email: sign up here.)
Enter to win a book from Linworth Books & ProQuest
300+ enduring social issues, new interface @ SIRS Issues Researcher
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Haiti & Chile: CultureGrams in Focus
CultureGrams is here to help students learn more about Haiti and Chile.
What challenges continue to face its peoples as they begin rebuilding efforts after the recent earthquakes?
View our full 2010 country reports (PDF open access) then watch a short slideshow of
"Haiti Before the Quake."
CultureGrams
Census Interview Comparisons
The U.S. Census Bureau conducts a census of the country's population every 10 years. The next census is currently underway. How would the questions and answers of a census in another country be different from our U.S. Census?
Have your students to write down their answers to a series of questions as listed in this month's activity. Then, to help students gain a greater understanding of life abroad, they can then compare their answers to the answers from someone in another part of the world.
Using the CultureGrams Interviews feature, ask each student to access one interview for a person under age 18. As students read the interview, have them take note of similarities and differences between the interviewee's answers and their own answers.
Have them summarize their findings in a short essay or a list of similarities and differences. What similarities surprised them? What differences surprised them?
World Conflicts Today
Environmental Consequences of Conflict
April 22nd is Earth Day, when people all over the world celebrate our planet and try to raise awareness about various environmental hazards it faces. Conflicts pose one such hazard.
Coca growing—that funds much of the fighting in Colombia—has caused deforestation, which in turn contributes to global warming.
Another consequence of destroying the rain forest is a reduction in biodiversity. Have students read more details about the environmental costs of the Colombian conflict in the "Regional environmental consequences" section of our Regional Implications category. (More.)
Explore more timely, history-related themes inside Retroview and History Happenings, ProQuest's hands-on social studies email newsletters.
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?
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Trust Busters
April is the tenth anniversary of the largest recent antitrust action in history. United States v. Microsoft was a civil action filed against Microsoft Corporation utilizing the Sherman Antitrust Act on May 18, 1998, by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and 20 U.S. states.
The plaintiffs alleged that Microsoft abused monopoly power on Intel-based personal computers in its handling of operating system sales and web browser sales. The issue central to the case was whether Microsoft was allowed to bundle its flagship Internet Explorer (IE) web browser software with its Microsoft Windows operating system.
How did antitrust laws such a Sherman AntiTrust Act come into being and why? How effective were they during their initiation in the Progressive Era? Assign students to write a report of at least 150 words, citing at least three resources. Student reports should address the examples of essential questions for critical thinking in this month's activity.
What industries and which business leaders were the target of antitrust legislation? What abuses by these businesses provided the incentive for antitrust reforms? How did these businesses act to create monopolies? How did the legislation break up existing monopolies and attempt to prevent them from forming in the future?
Top 3 Websites
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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