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Greetings,

Happy Reading for Today.

<Karen>


DYSLEXIA AFFECTS ENGLISH- AND CHINESE-READING CHILDREN DIFFERENTLY
Dyslexia affects different parts of children's brains, depending on whether they are raised reading English or Chinese, reports Randolph Scmid for the Associated Press. This means that therapists may need to use different methods when assisting dyslexic children from different cultures. Millions of children are affected by dyslexia, which is a language-based learning disability that includes problems with reading, spelling, writing and pronouncing words. The divergence in children raised in diverse cultures might be due to a different in reading styles. Reading an alphabetical language, like English, requires different skills than reading Chinese, as it relies on sound representation (achieved by using symbols, not letters, to indicate words). Past research has suggested that the brain may use different networks of neurons in different languages, but this is the first research study to suggest a difference in the structural parts of the brain involved.


Encyclopedia Britannica is Now Free to Bloggers and Others
"Under a new program entitled Britannica WebShare the encyclopedia publisher is allowing
'people who publish with some regularity on the Internet, be they
bloggers, webmasters, or writers,' to read and link to the
encyclopedia's online articles."


THE AIR FORCE AND A WEBSITE MAKE MATH FUN
The Air Force Brain Booster Book is a collection of 52 activities loosely placed into three categories: puzzles, patterns or curios. The book focuses on problems that can be explored or solved using skills learned in grades K-12. Since humans seek to find patterns in the world, the book offers both students and teachers the chance to casually explore selected numerical or visual relationships. The Harvey Mudd College mathematics department has created a site (second link) with ideas and puzzles designed to change the way students think about math. It includes things like the math behind card shuffling, poker, fractals and music, and memorizing the first few digits in p using sentence mnemonics. The site was designed as a resource for enriching math courses and nurturing interest and talent in mathematics.


German Wikipedia to be published in book form?
"Wikipedia, the online encyclopaedia written by volunteers, is to be published in Germany as a book for people who prefer turning pages to clicking links, publishing multinational Random House said Tuesday. Editors will distil 50,000 of the most popular entries in the German version of Wikipedia into the 1,000-page volume to go on sale in September. When begun, Wikipedia was perceived as making books redundant, with no future for printed encyclopaedias."



MY CARBON FOOTPRINT IS BETTER THAN YOUR CARBON FOOTPRINT
National Environmental Education Week (April 13 - 19) has become the largest organized environmental education event in the United States. The week aims to increase the educational impact of Earth Day by providing environmentally-themed lessons and activities in K-12 classrooms, nature centers, zoos, museums and aquariums. In 2007, the combined efforts of nearly 1,450 schools and other educational institutions impacted over 3.5 million students. In celebration of the Carbon Footprints theme, the 2008 week has designed the Zerofootprint carbon calculator for students. The calculator encourages students, classrooms and entire schools to measure and manage their own carbon footprints while developing creative ways to curb their output and slow climate change. Footprints can be compared with those of students in other schools and boys versus girls.


Journals May Soon Use Plagiarism Software on their Authors
"CrossRef, a publishing industry association, and the software company iParadigms announced a deal this week to create CrossCheck, an antiplagiarism program for academic journals. The software uses the same technology as iParadigms' Turnitin, the program used by colleges to check student papers for copycat behavior."


PERFORMANCE ENHANCING DRUG USERS ADD NEW GROUPS TO THEIR RANKS
Most of the 1,400 respondents to an informal, non-scientific, online survey reported taking drugs to improve their concentration, reports John Bonifield for CNN. The drug of choice for the responders, the majority of whom work in biology, physics, medicine or education, was Ritalin. Stimulants like Ritalin or Adderall are approved to treat attention-deficient disorder, but scientists say they would have a noticeable effect on almost anyone. Busy professionals are not alone, as other surveys have found that one in four college students have taken prescription stimulants, with or without a doctor's orders. Meanwhile half the responders to this survey reported unpleasant side effects (headaches, anxiety and sleeping troubles), but 69 percent said the boost was worth the risk. In addition, a third of responders bought their drugs on the Internet, while the majority got them from a pharmacist, family member or friend. In all, this makes up "America's uncontrolled experiment in pharmacology," said Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania.


BOOKS: HISTORY : BOOKS: FUTURE OF BOOKS AND THE BOOK INDUSTRY:
The Future of Books Resides in Their Past
After 385 years, there it is: Galileo's handwritten correction, the black ink now faded to brown, dashed across the bottom margin of a page toward the book's end. You can find the tome in the University of Chicago Library. (Nota bene: Unless you are Galileo, it is not OK to write in the books.) Think of it as an "Oops!" that has lasted centuries.
What is amazing and inspiring about books is just that: their very physicality, the sheer thinginess of them, the fact that you can hold a book in your hands, thump a couple of knuckles on the cover, riffle the pages. You can use books as doorstops or paperweights or place mats. Indeed, to behold "The Assayer" in 2008, complete with Galileo's inky snit, is to realize anew the uncanny emotional power of the book.
Yet in an age in which computers are as common as cockroaches, in which the Internet is king, in which seemingly every crumb of information is being sucked up and digitized in a busy blur, does the book -- the tangible kind, not the virtual version -- have a future?

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National Children's Folksong Repository Project
Adults and Kids are invited to participate:
An historic electronic online archive of children's folk songs.
A public folklore project built by the citizens of the United States
and territories. Watch the streaming video.
Pick up the Phone and SING OR CHANT (SAY) YOUR SONG.
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FROM ROE TO FINGERLINGS, STUDENTS LEARN ECOLOGY, MATH AND CHEMISTRY
They arrived in a cooler and looked like tiny orange glass beads with 350 pairs of eyes, reports Marion Callahan for the Associated Press. Since the eggs of the striped trout arrived at Nazareth (Pa.) Area Middle School, the project has drawn the interest of students and teachers alike. Even the school's technology department became enthralled and set up a web camera to provide an online feed of the trouts' activities. The fish, raised from roe to fingerlings, provide the latest subject of study that allows for a mix of engaging lessons. When students monitor temperatures, check ammonia levels and derive formula for feeding, they learn ecology, chemistry and math simultaneously.

Microsoft Won't Raise Yahoo Bid; Doesn't Need Company
Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Steven Ballmer said the world's biggest software maker doesn't plan to raise its $44.6 billion offer for Yahoo! Inc.
Microsoft has said it will take the bid directly to Yahoo's shareholders.


GO FIGURE: A COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP RESULTS IN REMARKABLE SUCCESS
Hamilton County (Tenn.) is home to one of the nation's most widely touted school-reform success stories. Beginning in 2001, eight low-performing elementary schools began to show remarkable improvement after the Benwood Foundation and the Public Education Foundation formed a partnership with Hamilton County Schools. At the outset of what is known as the Benwood Initiative, district officials reconstituted the faculties of participating schools by requiring teachers to reapply for their jobs and hiring replacements for those that didn't make the cut. In addition, community officials established incentives (free graduate school tuition, mortgage loans and performance bonuses) to attract new talent. However, most of the teachers who reapplied for their jobs were hired back and less than 20 of the 300 teachers received bonuses in the first year of the incentive plan. When investigating the reasons for the startling successes, Education Sector found that the initiative focused on the ever more important reform strategy of helping teachers improve instruction. Education Sector's analysis of "value-added" teacher effectiveness data suggests that during the course of six years, existing teachers improved steadily. This made the initiative about way more than flashy incentives and reconstitution. For more information on the innovative partnership between a foundation, a local education fund and a school district that resulted in a true turnaround, check out the backgrounder on the Benwood Initiative .



Hilton Pond - Spring Greenery
As spring makes its way northward in the Northern Hemisphere, the
most delightful aspect for us is green-up--when once-naked trees and
shrubs acquire new spring foliage in every imaginable shade of green.
"This Week at Hilton Pond" our photo essay deals with spring
greenery via close-up views of some woody plants showing off their
new leaves. To view the installment for 8-14 April 2008, please visit
<<http://www.hiltonpond.org/ThisWeek080408.html>>
As always we include a tally of birds banded and recaptured during
the period--including the year's first Ruby-throated Hummingbirds.


NOVA: "Car of the Future"
http://www.pbs.org/nova/car
Tuesday, April 22 at 8 p.m.
Tom Magliozzi has a problem. The wacky co-host of NPR's Car Talk
needs to replace his beloved 1952 MG roadster. But in today's car
market, where should he turn? Is new technology about to transform
the way we drive? Tom and his brother Ray hit the road in NOVA's "Car
of the Future" for a lighthearted but shrewd take on America's
four-wheeled future. Join them as they mix their trademark slapstick
with serious nuts-and-bolts analysis of what it will take to make our
autos more energy-efficient.
Here's what you'll find on the companion Web site:
Watch the Program http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/program.html
"Car of the Future" will be available to view online starting April 23.
Beyond Technology http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/greene.html
Energy expert David Greene explains why we need smart government policies to spur change in our transportation system.
History's Innovative Autos http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/past.html
For a glimpse of how future cars may be powered, start by looking at the past.
My Car of the Future, Today http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/my.html
See a dozen alternative vehicles already on America's roads, and hear from the people behind them.
Model of Efficiency http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/efficiency.html
In this audio slide show, Amory Lovins offers his vision of an ultra-efficient "Hypercar."
Open Content http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/open/
More than 200 clips of footage, including expert interviews and scenics, are available for you to make your own video.
Open Production http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/car/production/
See how our audience got involved while we were producing the program.


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Admins, Parents & Teachers Learn How to Keep Your Child
Safe on the Interent -- Trouble Areas for Kids
Find out what your kids have put up online, their names,
address, pictures, what they think. This needs to be
supervised and you won't be able to keep up with
what is going on here. Chat Rooms, Blogs, Instant
Messaging, IRC, Newsgroups - they don't understand
that they have gone public and have lost their privacy.
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NASA Science News for April 21, 2008 Moondust and Duct Tape
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/21apr_ducttape.htm
Going to the Moon? Don't forget your duct tape. Thirty-six years ago when Apollo 17 astronauts found themselves a quarter million miles from home with a damaged moonbuggy, a roll of "good old fashioned American gray tape" saved the day.


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