1. Smart Cars

The Detroit Auto Show is happening this week. The show is a place where automakers show off their latest designs and ideas. One big trend in recent years has been hybrid cars -- cars that use gasoline and another power source together so that the cars are more fuel-efficient and less harmful to the environment. Read about hybrid cars or another product that is designed to be more eco-friendly in today's newspaper. In a paragraph, explain how the product is expected to work and how it will help the environment.

Learning Standards: Analyzing how humans and the environment interact; writing fluently for multiple purposes.

2. Inventions

Politician, publisher, writer and inventor Benjamin Franklin was born January 17, 1706. He's credited with inventing a heat-efficient stove, bifocal eyeglasses and the lightning rod, among other things. Look through the newspaper and find a mention of an invention. It can be something brand new or something that's been around for a while. Create a chart or timeline showing the process of it being invented. Include any earlier inventions that helped lead to it.

Learning Standards: Acquiring information from books, maps, newspapers, data sets and other resources; organizing and presenting the information; interpreting the meaning and significance of the information; using a variety of electronic technologies to assist in accessing and managing the information.

3. Discovering the Past

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of an 8,000-year-old building in Tel Aviv, a city in the Middle Eastern country of Israel. It surprised the archaeologists, because they didn't think there were permanent structures in the area that long ago. They also found ancient tools and hippopotamus bones.

In the newspaper or online, find another article about scientists, historians or archaeologists making a discovery about the past. Write a paragraph about what the discovery taught the researchers and what impact it has had.

Learning Standards: Understanding narratives about major eras of world history by identifying the people involved, describing the setting and sequencing the events; comprehending the past.

4. Safety

A new government study suggests that characters in children's movies are becoming better role models, at least when it comes to safety. More kids in movies are wearing seatbelts, crossing the street at crosswalks and wearing bike helmets. In groups, find five examples of unsafe behavior mentioned in the news this week in the newspaper or online. Create a poster that promotes safe alternatives to each behavior. Share your poster with the class.

Learning Standard: Integrating listening, viewing, speaking, reading and writing skills for multiple purposes and in varied contexts; representing creatively.

5. Adversity

Irish author Christopher Nolan won the Whitbread Book of the Year award on January 19, 1988. Nolan wasn't able to walk, talk or use his hands because of an accident at birth, so he used a rod attached to his forehead to type. His award-winning novel, "Under the Eye of the Clock," was an autobiographical account of his life written in the third person. It was Nolan's second book. His first was a collection of poetry and short stories that was published when he was just 15. Find another story in the newspaper or online about someone overcoming great adversity or disadvantage to achieve something impressive. Write a short biography of the person.

Learning Standard: Writing fluently for multiple purposes to produce compositions, such as personal narratives, persuasive essays, lab reports, and poetry.