The first floating windmill in the United States has started operations and is generating electricity. Anchored in the Gulf of Maine, it captures onshore breezes to drive wind machines that generate electric power. The prototype windmill can generate only 20 kilowatts of electricity, but the University of Maine researchers who developed it hope it will lead to a bigger 6-megawatt version later. As a class, talk about how wind power is a renewable energy source, and how it works. Use what you learn from the discussion to create a comic strip for the eEdition that stars a windmill as its main character. Have your character explain one benefit of wind power. Give your strip a fun title that will make people want to read it.

Floating Windmill

Made from a Meteorite

Super Skimming

‘Living Fossil’ Discovered

Ancient Plants Revived!

Iron beads made in Egypt more than 5,300 years ago turn out to have an older, more distant origin. They were made from a meteorite. The nine tube-like beads, excavated near the city of Cairo in the northern Africa country, have a large amount of nickel, as iron meteorites do. On top of that, a new study has found a crystal structure in the beads found only in iron meteorites. “It’s a gift from the gods,” said the archaeologist who headed the recent study. As a class, discuss how ancient peoples made tools and jewelry from materials they found in nature. Talk about how they might have chosen the meteorite material because they thought it was special. Then find a natural material in the eEdition or online that you would like to use to make special jewelry. Write a sentence explaining why you chose the material and draw a picture of your jewelry.

The Hula painted frog, declared extinct in 1996, has turned out to be very much alive. Since 2011, a total of 14 have been discovered in the Hula Valley wetlands of the Middle East nation of Israel. The frog was declared extinct after nearly 60 years in which none had been spotted. The frog, which has a distinctive black-and-white spotted belly, is “a living fossil,” one scientist observed, because it is the only

one of its kind and is related to amphibians that lived more than 15,000 years ago. Scientists now are look-ing for ways to bring these frogs back from the brink of extinction, once again. Endangered species often make news. As a class, find a story about one in the eEdition or online. Write a paragraph describing why it is endangered and what steps might be taken to protect it. Use evidence from what you read in your writing.

The eEdition allows readers to quickly skim article headlines in order to find the stories they want to read. To skim head-lines, use the single view option. Use the mouse to put the cursor or arrow over a headline. The headline will appear larger in a text box. To read the entire article, click on it. Go to the front page of the Local section of the eEdition. Follow the instructions above to skim the headlines. Choose one article to read by clicking on it. Why did the headline make you want to read the article? Write a new headline for the article.

Because of warming temperatures, an arctic glacier on Canada’s Ellesmere Island has been melting, exposing plants that had been trapped under ice near the Earth’s North Pole for more than 400 years. And some of the plants are still alive! Small green growths were observed on the black plants, so scientists ground up samples and sprinkled them over soil in petri dishes. Within months, they sprouted. Plants and natural habitats often make news. Find a story about one of them in the eEdition or online. Write the name of the plant or habitat down the side of a sheet of paper. Then write a poem about it, using each letter of its name to start each line.

Common Core/National Standards: Integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; producing clear and coherent writing appropriate to the task; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

Common Core/National Standards: Understanding and using prescribed technology tools for data collection and analysis; develop-ing critical standards based on aesthetic qualities and using them to explain choices in reading, writing, speaking and representing.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appro-priate to the task, purpose and audience; demonstrating understand-ing of figurative language, word relationships and word meaning.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speak-ing to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic.

When summer comes, people love to cool off in public swimming pools, but they are not always safe. More than half in a recent study were found to contain E. coli, a bacterium from the digestive tracts of humans and warm-blooded animals. Researchers also note that cases of recreational water illness have risen nationally. To keep people safe, medical authorities offer these tips for swimmers: Stay out of the water if you have a digestive illness; shower off with soap before entering the pool; and take bathroom breaks every 60 minutes. Illnesses caused by bacteria and other health issues often make news. Find a story in the eEdition about a health issue or illness. Write a summary of the story and detail whom the news will affect most.

Ill from the Pool

Dead Sea Scroll Pieces for Sale

To Be Continued …

Anti-Polio Volunteers in Peril

NATO to Help Libya

Nearly 70 years after discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Palestinian family who originally sold them to scholars and institutions is marketing the leftovers. Fragments the family says it has kept in a Swiss bank safety deposit box — many of them tiny and some blank — are being offered for sale to evangelical Christian collectors and American institutions. Israel’s government, however, has threat-ened to seize any pieces that hit the mar-ket. That Middle East nation’s antiquities authority holds most of the scrolls, which are the earliest copies of the Hebrew Bible ever found and the oldest written evidence of the roots of Judaism and Christianity. The scrolls were originally discovered in a cave by a shepherd. As a class, discuss whether private individuals should be allowed to buy and sell items of broad historical significance. Do some research and write an eEdition editorial giving your opinion on the proposed sale.

Thanks to vaccination programs, the disease polio has been virtually eradicated just about everywhere. A major exception is the southern Asian nation of Pakistan, where volunteering to give oral anti-polio drops to children can be dangerous. That’s because the Taliban militant group has claimed that vaccination efforts are a cover for western spying, and some religious extremists claim that the anti-

polio campaign’s real aim is to sterilize the Muslim population. Volunteers actually have been attacked, so most are now accompanied by police escorts. Near Peshawar recently, two women who had asked not to be accompanied by security were shot — and one of them died. Pakistan is one of three countries in the world where polio is widespread, so 1,803 teams have been participating in door-to-door anti-polio work. As a class, read up on other effects of Taliban beliefs in Pakistan. Then find a story online and write an essay as if you were a Pakistani dealing with these beliefs.

Every once in a while it’s a good idea to review the features of your eEdition. For example, your eEdition gives you many ways to find stories and information you need. Open the different tool bars at the top of the page until you find the one that shows the different sections of the eEdition. Go to the first page of the enter-tainment or sports section. Read a story on the page that continues on another page. Then use the toolbar at the top of the page to find the rest of the story. When you find the rest of the story, read it and write a paragraph telling what it’s about. Then write how finding the rest of a story with the eEdition is different from finding it in a paper edition.

The NATO military alliance is sending a team of experts to Libya to assess how the alliance can help that African nation combat Islamic militants and deal with other threats. Libya’s government, which succeeded longtime dictator Muammar Qaddafi, asked for the assistance. NATO’s secretary general says any security assistance would aim to beef up Libya’s own security forces, and would not involve sending NATO troops. Islamic militants who follow the Muslim religion are often in the news in Africa or the Middle East. Find a story about them in the eEdition or online. Write a summary of why they are in the news, using evidence from what you have read.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; integrating information presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding of a topic.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view.

Common Core/National Standards: Using technology resources for problem-solving, self-directed learning and extended learning activi-ties; discussing the positive and negative impact of technologies such as computers on daily life.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; integrating informa-tion presented in different media or formats to develop understanding of a topic.

Marijuana use among African Americans is no more frequent than use among whites, but blacks are arrested for possession at a much higher rate, the American Civil Liberties Union reports. Analyzing federal crime data, the ACLU found that in 2010, marijuana arrest rates for blacks were 3.73 times higher than for whites. In some counties, the arrest rate was 10 to 30 times higher, and in two Alabama counties, 100 percent of those arrested for possession were black. The lead author of the ACLU study attributed the statistics to racial profiling. When people are treated unequally it makes news and can prompt protests. In the eEdition or online, find a story about a person or group being given unequal treatment. Write a summary of the story, detailing what treatment was unequal and how people are calling attention to it.

Race Disparity in Pot Busts

‘Cleopatra’ Lives On!

Oily

Free Burgers for a Hero

What Did You Say?

“Cleopatra,” a four-hour epic film with a headline-grabbing history, has been re-released by Fox to be shown in selected theaters. The 1963 movie drew worldwide attention at the time because it was the backdrop for the very public affair between its co-stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton — both of whom were married to others. Taylor and Burton were big stars like Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, and the press could not get enough of their romance (they later got married, divorced and married to each other a second time!). Celebrity news is very popular. As a class, talk about why people are so fascinated with celebrities and whether there should be limits on what is reported. Then think like a comedy writer and write a parody of a gossip column, making up funny or sensational news about celebrities you like. Base your parody on real qualities your favorite celebrities have.

The man who helped rescue three women who had been kidnapped and imprisoned for a decade in a Cleveland, Ohio house, has earned himself free burgers for life at more than a dozen restaurants, plus free food for one year at a McDonald’s restau-rant near his home. Charles Ramsey, 43, has been hailed as a hero for kicking in a neighbor’s door when he heard cries for help from inside, leading to one

woman’s escape (with her 6-year-old child) and the discovery of two others. He said he had been at home “eating my McDonald’s” when he heard the cry for help. In addition to food at McDonald’s, one of the restaurants offering him free burgers has named a sandwich the “Ramsey Burger.” Heroes or people who help others can be rewarded in many ways. In the eEdition, find a story about someone helping others. Then use the resources of the eEdition to brainstorm a reward that would fit the helpful person. Write a paragraph explaining your choice.

In view of the major problems facing the world’s economy, some are ridiculing the European Union for adopting a measure that would ban restaurants from serving olive oil in cruet pitchers or dipping bowls. So much ridicule, in fact, that the measure was rescinded. However, the quality and authenticity of olive oil is no laughing matter in the major olive-raising nations — Italy, Greece, Spain and Portugal. Olive oil is big business there. In the eEdition or online, find a story about a crop that is important to another country. Use what you find and other resources to write a summary of why the crop is important, what it is used for and what its main markets are for sales.

Because the eEdition is the electronic version of the newspaper, it can be used to learn how to pronounce new words. Using your mouse, hold down the left button and drag across a word to high-light it. On your computer, use the Edit drop-down menu and choose Speech and then Start Speaking. To hear an entire sentence, paragraph or story, highlight it before choosing the Speech option. Choose an article in the eEdition that interests you. Find a word that you don’t know how to pronounce. Using the steps above, listen to the word. Next, read the entire sentence and then the paragraph. Based on what you read, write down what you think the word means.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas.

Common Core/National Standards: Selecting appropriate strategies to construct meaning while reading, listening to, viewing or creating texts; using prescribed technology tools for data collection and analysis.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; integrating informa-tion presented in different media or formats to develop understanding of a topic.