Mondays are hard! Here’s a recap of current events from the past week to share with your students and get some conversations flowing… so “How was everyone’s weekend?” isn’t met with blank stares.
The Pope Said Goodbye Yesterday Evening #AmericanHistory
Philip Chidel/Shutterstock
Pope francis went back to Rome last night. He was here for five days, and visited Washington DC, New York City, and Philadelphia. The 266th leader of the Catholic Church visited parks, churches, prisons, and homeless shelters to spread his blessing. He even posed for selfies with supporters along the way.
There Was a Supermoon Eclipse Last Night #Space
NASA/Aubrey Gemignani
Last night the earth was positioned right in-between the sun and the moon, casting a reddish shadow over the moon, a lunar eclipse. It was also the night of a supermoon, when the moon’s orbit takes it closer to the earth than any other time of the year, making it appear larger and brighter than usual. The last time both of these events happened simultaneously was in 1982, and it won’t occur again until 2033!
Our Tooth Enamel May Have Evolved From Scales #Archaeology
Photo via Christian Science Monitor- bit.ly/1gVyxM9
Traces of enamel, the white coating that makes our teeth hard, were found on the scales of ancient fish that lived 400 million years ago. Scientists were surprised that it was on the scales of the fish but not on their teeth. Now they realize there’s a lot more to learn about the evolution of our pearly-whites, and how enamel migrated into the mouths of vertebrates millions of years later.
President of China Visits the US #Technology
Kaliva/Shutterstock
The president of China, Xi Jinping, visited Seattle last week to meet with President Obama, and he announced that he would work closely with the United States to prevent cybercrime. Cybercrime is any type of illegal activity, like stealing or identity theft, done online. The US and China have argued over cyber security in the past, after American companies thought that Chinese hackers were coming into their sites illegally.
Mysterious Evidence of Stone Age Rituals Discovered in Sweden #WorldHistory
Image via Ancient Origins- bit.ly/1FmSozH
There’s a long history of superstition surrounding an old, uninhabited island off the coast of Sweden, called Bla Jungfrun. Locals don’t stay on the island after dark, and rumor has it that if you take a stone from the land, you’ll have bad luck for life. A team of archaeologists explored the island and discovered a mysterious hollow that was hand-carved out of the side of one cave, and a part of the stone that looked like it was used as an alter. They confirmed that elaborate rituals were performed there during the Stone Age, but aren’t sure what they were for.
