1. All-Star Brothers

For the first time ever, two brothers have been named All-Star quarterbacks in the National Football League in the same year. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts and his younger brother, Eli Manning of the New York Giants, have been chosen to play in the NFL's Pro Bowl All-Star game, which will take place February 8 in Honolulu, Hawaii. Peyton Manning, 32, will start for the American Football Conference, while Eli Manning, 28, will be a backup for the National Football Conference. As a class, talk about what it takes for brothers or sisters in a family to be successful in the same activities. Do you know any? Draw a comic strip for the newspaper showing brothers or sisters competing or being involved in one activity.

Learning Standards: Responding to a variety of written, visual and electronic texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; using the craft of the illustrator to convey ideas.

2. Yes Sir, Colonel Senator!

Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is not only one of the state's two members in the U.S. Senate, he is a military colonel in the nation's Air Force Reserves. Members of the Reserves have to do active duty every so often, and last month Graham found himself in uniform in Afghanistan for five days. The senator did his active duty in Kabul, the capital city of the nation where U.S. troops are working to break up terrorist training groups. Graham, a lawyer who is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, helped write military justice rules for the Afghanistan military while on duty. As a class, talk about all the different jobs that exist in the U.S. military. Find a story about military action in Afghanistan or Iraq and list different jobs that are involved in the news.

Learning Standards: Generating questions about issues that affect students or topics about which they are curious; engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance.

3. Help from Dino Dads

In the world of nature, some species of male birds hatch and guard the eggs of their young in place of females. So did three types of dinosaurs that lived 75 million years ago, scientists report. After studying fossils found with three fossilized nests of eggs, the scientists have concluded that the dinosaurs guarding and sitting on the eggs were males. The fossils were meat-eating theropods that lived in the U.S. state of Montana and the Asian country of Mongolia and may have been ancestors to the few modern birds whose eggs are hatched by males. As a class, talk about the different ways male and female creatures raise their young. With a partner, pick an animal from the newspaper and research how males and females work to raise their young. Report your findings to the class.

Learning Standards: Understanding the nature of scientific inquiry; designing and conducting simple investigations; gathering and synthesizing information.

4. Many New Asian Species

In many parts of the world scientists are studying animals and plants threatened with extinction. In Southeast Asia's Mekong region, they are discovering hundreds of species they didn't know existed! The World Wildlife Fund reported this month that scientists in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region have discovered more than 1,000 species they didn't know were living there. The discoveries made over the last 10 years include a spider as big as a dinner plate and a rat that was thought to have become extinct 11 million years ago, the scientists said last month. The species were all found in rain forests and wetlands along the Mekong River that flows through the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. Animals make news in many ways. With a partner, find a story or photo in the newspaper that involves an animal. Write a paragraph describing why the animal is in the news and why it is interesting to people. Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources and then evaluating, organizing and communicating it in various contexts; writing fluently for multiple purposes; describing positive and negative effects of humans on nature, wildlife and the environment.

5. A Saturn Ice Volcano?

For more than four years, the Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting around the planet Saturn, sending back information about the solar system's famous ringed planet. Now the U.S. orbiter has sent back information that suggests Saturn's largest moon may have active or recently active ice volcanoes. Images sent back by Cassini show markings on the moon Titan that could have been caused by chilled liquid flowing out of ice volcanoes. As a class or in groups, talk about the different reasons that scientists want to study space and solar system. Search the newspaper for stories about space missions. Then plan a mission of your own to explore one of the planets in the Earth's solar system. Review the planets in the system before choosing.

Learning Standard: Understanding the nature of scientific inquiry; explaining how we learn about the universe; engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance.