1. Whatever the Weather

Weather is always big news. It affects how we dress, how we travel and what we eat, and we can't really control it. Get into small groups in your class. Then, find a weather event in the newspaper that happened somewhere in the world. It can be a drought, a hurricane or even just a sunny day. Do some research and figure how common that type of weather is for its region, and what factors could have caused it, including previous weather conditions, proximity to bodies of water and jet streams. Share your results with the rest of the class.

Learning Standards: Investigating and describing what makes up weather and how it changes from day to day; engaging peers in constructive conversation about matters of interest or importance.

2. Oil Spill

All summer, Americans have been watching the effects of a huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Follow the news of the cleanup and recovery in this week's newspapers, or find the latest news on the Internet. Then, using newspapers, archived news stories and Internet resources, create a timeline of major events related to the oil spill. Be sure to include specifics, such as locations, dates, people and organizations. Then, make a prediction about what you think will happen next in the region.

Learning Standard: Acquiring information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other sources; organizing and presenting the information; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; describing positive and negative effects of humans on the environment;

3. Boldly Inventing

On September 8, 1966, the TV show "Star Trek" premiered. The show was about a group of space explorers who traveled the universe in a starship called the Enterprise. Since then, the fictional story, characters and technologies created on that show have been kept alive through other TV shows and movies. One popular facet of "Star Trek" was the cool gadgets the crew used, such as "communicators." Crew members carried them in their pockets, flipped them open and talked to their faraway friends -- without wires! Today's cell-phone users do this all the time, but in 1966, it was science fiction. Look through today's newspaper for inspiration for a new technology that could be useful, such as an oil-spill cleaner or a forest-fire stopper. Draw a picture of your invention and describe what it does and who could use it.

Learning Standard: Showing how common themes of science, mathematics and technology apply in real world contexts; reading and writing fluently, speaking confidently, listening and interacting appropriately, viewing critically and representing creatively.

4. California

On September 9, 1850, California became the 31st state in the United States. Since then, it has become the most populous state in the U.S. and is known as a center of farming, a vacation destination, the home of Hollywood and a leader in creating new technologies. Use the newspaper to check out what's happening in California now. Or find out using the Internet. Write a paragraph summing up, in your words, the big news out of the Golden State yesterday. Include at least three different events.

Learning Standards: Using the English language effectively; acquiring information from multiple sources.

5. September 11, 2010

It's been nine years since terrorists hijacked three civilian planes and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Virginia. Passengers in a fourth hijacked plane heard about the attacks and attempted to take back control before the plane could be used in such a way. It crashed in a field before it reached its intended target, which was thought to be the U.S. Capitol Building or the White House. As a class, read about events, memorials and discussions that are happening this week as a result of September 11, 2001. With the newspaper and Internet as resources, make a list of five things happening now that are a direct or indirect result of the September 11 attacks.

Learning Standard: Selecting conditions in various parts of the world and describe how they have been shaped by events from the past.