1. Helping White Rhinos

The white rhinoceros once was nearly extinct on the continent of Africa. And even today, fewer than 20,000 of the two-horned animals live in the wild in the southern African countries of South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda. But a wildlife center in the U.S. state of Ohio has had great success breeding and raising white rhinos in captivity. The Cumberland, Ohio, center known as the Wilds just reported that a white rhino calf born October 31 is the fourth generation of white rhinos born at the center. That may be more than at any other wildlife center in North America, officials said. White rhinos are the world's largest land animal after elephants and can weigh up to 6,000 pounds. As a class, talk about ways people can help endangered or threatened wildlife. Then find a photo of a wild animal in the newspaper. Draw a comic strip showing how people might help this animal.

Learning Standards: Describing positive and negative effects of humans on nature and wildlife; explaining ecosystem concepts and processes; using the craft of the illustrator to express ideas artistically.

2. Space Dust

How do stars form in space? Recent images taken by the U.S. Hubble Space Telescope may give scientists new clues. The images from the 19-year-old Hubble show dust clouds swirling in space in an area known as the Iris Nebula that is 1,400 light years away from Earth (a light-year is the distance light will travel in a year, or about six TRILLION miles). The area where the dust clouds have been found is known as a place where stars have formed, and astronomers hope the new images will help scientists figure out the ingredients needed to form baby stars. The Hubble Space Telescope orbits above the Earth's atmosphere 360 miles in space. As a class, find and read a story about exploring space in the newspaper. Write a paragraph explaining what is being explored and why it is important to scientists.

Learning Standards: Engaging peers in constructive conversation about topics of interest or importance; explaining how we learn about the universe; explaining how scientists decide what constitutes scientific knowledge.

3. More Soldiers

For eight years, U.S. soldiers have been fighting a war in Afghanistan in an effort to capture terrorists who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001. Now President Obama has decided to expand the effort by sending more than 30,000 additional soldiers to fight there. The President's decision will bring the total of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan to more than 100,000 and will affect military families in every state in the nation. As a class, talk about reasons nations go to war. Then talk about the feelings your family has about the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Write a letter to the editor of the newspaper telling President Obama what you think he should do next in these wars.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from multiple sources and then organizing and analyzing it; explaining how a particular public issue became a problem or issue of concern; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

4. RecycleMania

All over the world, people are turning to recycling to reduce trash and save energy. Kids, families, schools and businesses have all gotten the recycling "bug," and are looking for ways to get more people involved. One way to increase interest is a nationwide contest called RecycleMania. In this event, students and teachers at colleges and universities compete to see who can reduce, reuse and recycle the most waste at colleges during a 10-week period. This year's competition starts January 17 and runs through March 27. Last year, 4.7 million students and 1.1 million teachers from 510 colleges and universities recycled or composted more than 69.4 million pounds of waste during the 10-week RecycleMania. With a partner, find items in the newspaper that can be recycled. Use what you find to design a poster explaining why it is important to recycle.

Learning Standards: Responding to a variety of texts by making connections to students' personal lives and the lives of others; describing positive and negative effects of humans on the environment; representing creatively.

5. Jimmy Fund Kids

Every year, big companies do all they can to make money and be successful. Many also do a lot to help kids or charity groups. This year, more than 500 Burger King restaurants in 10 states took part in the 10th annual fundraising campaign called A Chance for Kids. As a result, more than $839,000 was raised to support children's cancer research at the Jimmy Fund clinic of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, Massachusetts. The effort by company and franchise-owned Burger Kings brought the total raised for cancer research by the company to $8.5 million over 10 years. The restaurants raised the funds by offering a prize contest to customers who agreed to donate $1 to the Jimmy Fund, which has been raising funds to help children with cancer since 1948. Prizes ranged from vacations to airline tickets to free theme-park visits to menu items. As a class, talk about groups or businesses that help kids and families. Then draw an editorial cartoon showing the benefit of helping others during the holiday season.

Learning Standards: Identifying and explaining how people demonstrate good character and personal virtue; acquiring information from multiple sources; writing fluently for multiple purposes.