News Video: Weekly Topics for Discussion
News Video for: 07/31/2023

Saguaro cacti suffering under Arizona's extreme heat

Arizona's saguaro cacti are leaning, losing arms and in some cases falling over during the state's record streak of extreme heat, said Tania Hernandez, a research scientist in Phoenix. Summer monsoon rains the cacti rely on have failed to arrive, testing the desert giants' ability to survive where high temperatures have remained above 110 degrees for about a month. "These plants are adapted to this heat, but at some point, the heat needs to cool down and the water needs to come," said Hernandez.

Class discussion: July was the hottest month ever recorded. Have you noticed the heat taking a toll on plants and animals where you live? Do you think scientists are correct when they say these record heat waves are the result of climate change? What can we do to help the plants and animals we depend on to adapt to a warming world? How is our own survival linked to the survival of other species? Have you ever asked older people what environmental changes they have noticed in their lifetimes?

News Video Archive


• South Korean protesters demand president’s ouster over martial law


• Trump’s proposed tariffs would raise costs


• Masked Neo-Nazis march in Columbus


• Salmon return to native habitat after dams are removed


• How AI is helping decode the oinks and grunts of pigs


• German airport tests cashew-based asphalt in green push


• AI robot painting making history with Sotheby's auction


• Cuba’s power grid collapses again


• Tropicana resort imploded in Las Vegas making way to A's stadium


• A huge cavern helps Tokyo prepare for a changing climate


• SpaceX launches rescue mission for 2 NASA astronauts stuck in space


• Shohei Ohtani: Greatest baseball game by the greatest player?


• Friday the 13th: The psychology behind the superstition


• Vance says school shootings are a 'fact of life’


• California startup makes waves with electric boat for water


• Trained dogs help save lives at Spanish beach


• WHO declares mpox outbreak a global health emergency


• 3 teens arrested in plot to attack Taylor Swift concert


• Biden and Harris greet freed Americans


• Large wildfire creates ‘fire tornado’ in California


• Mayor of Paris follows through on promise to swim in Seine


• Mass tourism protesters in Barcelona spray water at tourists


• How much is AI meddling in elections?


• New Yorkers react to proposed mask ban on subway


• Pope meets comedians


• Americans are taking notice of one of Earth's most popular sports: cricket


• Robotic 'Third Thumb' helps perform challenging tasks single-handedly


• Dangerous jobs: U.S. prisoners often work without basic protections


• Tiny Mexican taco stand gets a Michelin star


• Scores of starving pelicans found along California coast


• How bird flu could threaten cow cuddling


• How sun storms can affect electronics on Earth


• Seaweed microbots could one day treat cancer, researcher says


• Space isn't as colorful as photos make it seem


• Invaders from underground are coming in cicada-geddon


• Baltimore bridge collapse timeline


• Death toll rises and new details emerge from Moscow concert hall terror attack


• Would you eat this lab-grown 'beef rice'?


• Ocean temperature hit record high in February


• Thousands of Russians defy Putin with protest chants at Navalny’s funeral


• Snow lacking, French ski resort turns to new activities


• AI a hot topic at California music tech show


• How surging demand for krill is raising concerns over Antarctica's future


• Taylor Swift swarmed by conspiracy theories


• Bird flu devastates farms in California’s ‘Egg Basket’


• Dog helps Michigan police rescue owner from icy lake


• The weirdest and best of CES 2024


• Japan Airlines fireball: passenger videos record their miracle escape


• Brazil’s congress votes to limit Indigenous land claims


• Will floating farms grow as world warms?


• Polar bear sightings surge in small Canadian town due to lack of sea ice


• More hostages released during Israel-Hamas truce


• Test of giant rocketship goes better, but blows up again


• Iceland volcano: Thousands evacuated over eruption fears


• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions


• Bed bug invasion?


• Animals run faster from human voices than they do from lion roars


• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions


• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions


• ‘Einstein was wrong’ – new study of universe poses fundamental questions


• Average teen gets more than 200 cell phone notifications a day


• Space capsule brings NASA’s first asteroid samples to Earth


• New technology aims to put a whole new spin on space travel


• Rescuers search earthquake rubble in Morocco


• Thousands gather for 60th anniversary of March on Washington


• Russia's unmanned Luna-25 spacecraft smashes into the moon


• Why the Maui wildfires spread so devastatingly fast


• A Ukrainian orphan's journey to freedom


• Saguaro cacti suffering under Arizona's extreme heat


• Lionel Messi scores game-winning goal in his debut $1 million match


• No one died in alleged TikTok boat jump challenge


• U.S. military struggles to find qualified volunteers


• Golf merger with Saudis ignites outrage


• Paralyzed man walks again with help of a 'brain bridge'


• Advanced 3D model goes inside Titanic wreck


• The promise and peril of artificial intelligence


• 7th grader saves bus driver and classmates


• 'Wrong place' shootings in America


• Meet New York's first ever 'rat czar'


• China simulates striking Taiwan in military drills


• Crews practice rescues high above Las Vegas


• West Coast salmon industry braces for fishing ban



Common Core State Standard
L.CCS.1/2/3/4 Grades 6-12: Video of a current news event is presented for discussion to encourage student participation, but also inspire the use of evidence to support logical claims using the main ideas of the video. Students must analyze background information provided about a current event, draw out the main ideas and key details, and review different opinions on the issue. Then, students should present their own claims using facts and analysis for support.