Homework - current events, Last Titanic Survivor Dead

Read the info. Answer the questions.

The last living survivor of the Titanic, ­Millvina Dean, has died at the age of 97 in England after catching pneumonia.

As a two-month-old baby, Dean was the youngest passenger on board the giant ship when it sank and killed 1500 people.

Her parents had decided to leave England for America, where her father had family in Kansas and hoped to open a tobacco shop.

Her father felt the crunch when the ship crashed into the iceberg on the night of 14 April 1912, and went up to investigate. He returned to their cabin telling his wife to dress the children and go up on deck.

Millvina, her mother, and brother were placed on a lifeboat. Only 706 people survived the crash.

Her father stayed on the Titanic and drowned when the giant ship finally went down.

Questions:
1) How many people died when the Titanic sank?
2) What was the name of the last survivor?
3) How old was she when she was on the ship?
4) How many people were able to get on lifeboats and survive?
5) Why do you think Millvina's father had to stay on the Titanic?

Info from the Guardian. Pic from bbc.news.co

homework - current events, class size

Read the Info. Answer the questions.

Info:

Chancellor Klein said that there will be more kids in each class next year because of money problems. 

Next year, every school will have 5% less money than they have this year. This means that schools might have to get rid of some teachers. They also won't be able to hire new teachers even if they get more students. This means that there will be more students per class next year. 

Klein said that class size will increase but not by much.

Questions:

1) What did Klein say about class size next year?

2) How munch less money will they have next year?

3) What will happen to the teachers next year?

Info from Gothannews

Homework - current events, First Hispanic on the Supreme Court

Washington - President Obama has chosen Sonia Sotomayor to become a Supreme Court judge. 

The Judges on the Supreme Court are the most powerful judges in the USA. These judges are the last judges you can appeal a case to. If they say you stay in jail, you may as well get used to that cell because even the most expensive lawyer won't be able to get you out.

If the Senate votes her in, Sonia Sotomayor will be the first Hispanic to ever be on the Supreme Court. She will also be the third woman to be on the Supreme Court. She is 54 years old and graduated from Princeton and Yale. She is originally from the South Bronx and grew up in the projects.

Questions:

1) What kind of judges are the Supreme Court judges?

2) Who will be the first Hispanic on the Supreme Court?

3) How old is Sonia Sotomayor?

4) Where is she from originally?

Info and pic from the NYTimes.com

Homework - current events, Missiles

 One day after a surprise nuclear test made other countries angry, North Korea test-fired two more short-range missiles. 

President Obama is especially angry because he is trying to get countries not to use nuclear weapons. 

Japan is also angry because North Korea is testing their missiles close to Japan's borders. Not to mention that Japan is the only country in the world that has ever been attacked with nuclear weapons so they really don't want to go through that again.

North Korea thinks that its weapons are nobody's business and are refusing to stop testing nuclear weapons.

Questions:

1) Which country is everybody mad at?

2) Why is Japan angry at North Korea?

3) What does North Korea think?

Info from NTTimes.com

homework- current events - bronx bomb

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The authorities said yesterday they had stopped a plan to wage jihad, or "holy war", against the United States by blowing up bombs outside synagogues  in New York and using a stinger missile to shoot down National Guard aircraft at a base in Newburgh about 60 miles north of the city.

Agents arrested four men late on Wednesday night as they planted what they thought were homemade bombs outside the two synagogues in the Bronx neighbourhood of New York City. The bombs had in fact been made by undercover FBI officers and were harmless.

Four men were allegedly involved in the Bronx plot. Three were due in court later yesterday to face conspiracy charges while a fourth was being treated for an undisclosed illness and would be brought before a judge later. 

If convicted, all four men, three Americans and one Haitian, could face life in prison, officials said. They added that three of the men were converts to Islam.

Questions:

1) How many men were arrested?

2) What were they arrested for?

3) What did these men try to do?

4) What kind of prison sentence will they get?

homework- swine flu prevention

Read the info. Answer the questions.

What can we do to prevent swine flu from spreading?

Just use your common sense:

1) Wash your hands all the time!!! The doctors say this is the best way to keep from getting or spreading this disease.

2) Use hand sanitizer!

3) If you are sick,  stay home!!!! 

4) Go to the doctor if you have these swine flu signs or symptoms:

a) Fever

b) cough

c) Sore Throat

d) Body aches 

e) headaches

f) nausea

g) Vomiting

h) Diarrhea

Questions:

1) What is the best way to stop swine flu from spreading?

2) Should you come to school if you are sick? Why or why not?

3) Name 4 signs of the swine flu.

Homework- current events -Obama's new rules

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Barack Obama is going to make US car makers give up on gas guzzlers and step up production of a more fuel-efficient vehicle fleet.

Obama will make the first limits on car exhaust and  raise fuel efficiency standards. The new exhaust target – an average 35.5 miles per gallon  by 2016 – will force US manufacturers to produce cars and trucks that are nearly 40% more efficient.

The new standards will reduce global warming pollution. Cars and trucks are responsible for about a quarter of America's greenhouse gas emissions.

Questions:

1) What new rule is Barack Obama making?

2) How much more efficient will cars and trucks be?

3) How much of America's greenhouse gas emissions are cars and trucks responsible for?

Homework- current events - AP Dies of Swine Flu

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions:

A Queens Assistant Principal died of Swine flu this Sunday. His name was Mitchell Wiener and he was the Assistant Principal of IS 238 in Queens. IS 238 is now closed down. Eleven  schools have been closed down in NYC. 

Health officials say that we should not be too worried because the regular flu kills 1000 people in NYC every year. Health officials say that Mr. Wiener had health problems before he got the swine flu and that's why he died. Most swine flu cases are mild. 

People in Japan are so worried about the swine flu that the government closed 1000 schools.

Questions:

1) What was the name of the Assistant Principal?

2) Where was he Assistant Principal?

3) How many schools closed in Japan? 

Info from NYTimes.com

Homework - Current Events, Less Mexicans Coming Over Border

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Mexico - The Mexican government says that 25% less people immigrated to the USA last year. This is unusual because the number of Mexicans who go to the USA has increased every year since the 1990's.

The Mexican government said that people were not going to the USA because the job market is so bad.

There have been less arrests along the USA/Mexico border because there are less attempts at crossing the border illegally.

Questions:

1) How much did Mexican immigration decline last year?

2) Why are Mexicans not crossing the border like they used to?

3) Why have there been less border arrests?

Info and pic from the NYTimes.

Due Mon 5/18

Homework - Current Events, Social Security Running Out of $

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration reported Tuesday that the condition of Medicare and Social Security has gone down because the economy is so bad.

The Medicare fund that pays hospital bills for older Americans is expected to run out of money in 2017, two years sooner than they thought it would run out. The Social Security trust fund will be gone in 2037, four years earlier than they thought the money would run out.

Spending on Social Security and Medicare was more than $1 trillion last year. That is about one-third of the whole federal budget.

Questions:

1) Which two programs are running out of money?

2) When will Medicare run out of money?

3) When will Social Security run out of money?

4) How much did America spend on Social Security and Medicare last year?

Info taken from NYTimes.com - top stories 

homework - Current Events, Afgan Girl Gassed

Read the Info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:
MUHMUD RAQI, Afghanistan – At least 84 Afghan schoolgirls were admitted to a hospital Tuesday for headaches and vomiting in the third poison attack on a girls school in as many weeks, officials and doctors said.

The students were lining up outside their school in northeastern Afghanistan on Tuesday morning when a strange odor filled the school yard, and one girl collapsed, said the school's principal, who was herself in a hospital bed gasping for breath as she described the event.

"We took her inside and splashed water on her face," said Mossena, who like many Afghans goes by one name. Then other girls started passing out in the yard and they sent all the students home.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) How many Afgan girls went to the hospital?

3) Why did they go to the hospital?

4) How many poison attacks on girls' schools have there been so far?

Info and pix taken from Yahoo News. Story by Amir Shah and Heidi Vogt of the AP.

Due 5/13/09

Soldiers killed in Iraq

American Soldiers Killed in Iraq since 2003:

The above table gives the amount of soldiers killed in Iraq. Use the table to answer the following questions:

1) How many soldiers were killed in March of 2003?

2) What is the total amount of soldiers that were killed in 2005?

3) Which year had the highest number of deaths?

4) How many soldiers died in April of 2009?

Table taken from icasualties.org 

Due Tues 5/12/09

homework - Fire in Santa Barbara, CA

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Firefighters struggled early Friday to get ahead of a raging wildfire that was moving dangerously close to heavily populated areas in this city.

Neighborhoods of multimillion dollar mansions stood like ghost towns, bathed in the orange glow cast by the nearby blaze.

The fire's increasing strength prompted officials to order 6,000 more people to evacuate late Thursday,  Sheriff Bill Brown said. That pushed the total number of evacuated residents to at least 18,000.

1) When did this fire take place?
2) How many people were evacuated on Thursday?
3) What is the total number of evacuated residents?
4) Which city is the fire getting close to?

Info and pix taken from Yahoo News (AP) - reporter = Raquel Dillon

homework - Mexican Students Go Back To School

Read the info. Answer the questions. 

Mexican children are returning to school today after two weeks of staying home. The Mexican government closed the schools two weeks ago because it was worried that swine flu would spread quickly in the schools. 

During the two weeks, parents and teachers have cleaned and disinfected the schools so that they would be safe for the children when they went back. 

Swine flu killed 42 people in Mexico and made 1500 people sick. The Mexican government feels that the danger is past and the schools are now safe. 

Parents are still worried but glad that their kids can go back to school.

Questions:

1) When are Mexican students going back to school?

2) What did the parents and teachers do to the schools when they were closed?

3) How many people did swine flu kill?

4) How many people got sick?

Info from AP. Pic from time.com.

Due Friday 5/8/09

Homework - Tech News - iphone vs Curve

Read the info. Look at the pictures. Answer the questions.

Info:

The Blackberry Curve beat the iphone in sales. The Curve is now the most popular phone in the USA. 

How did this happen? Three reasons: 1) The Curve is sold by a lot of phone companies such as Verizon and Sprint but you can only get the iphone from AT&T. 2) Verizon just had a buy one, get one free Blackberry Curve sale. 3) The Curve only costs $99 while the iphone starts at $199. 

The iphone used to be the most popular phone but now the Curve is number one.

Questions:

1) Which phone is now the most popular phone in the USA?

2) Give one reason why the Curve beat the iphone

3) Which one do you like better? Why?

Homework - current events, Dr Pepsi

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions.

Info:

DALLAS – Looking through antiques stores while traveling through Texas, Bill Waters stumbled across a beat up old book filled with formulas.

He bought it for $200, suspecting he could resell it for five times that. Turns out, his guess about the book's value was more spot on than he knew. 

Bill Waters eventually discovered the book came from the Waco, Texas, drugstore where Dr Pepper was invented and includes a recipe titled "D Peppers Pepsin Bitters."

"I began feeling like I had a national treasure," said Waters, 59.

Dr Pepper's manufacturer says the recipe is not the secret formula for the modern day soft drink, but the  book is expected to sell between $50,000 to $75,000 when it goes up for sale  on May 13.

Questions:

1) Where was the book discovered?

2) Who bought the book and how much did he pay for it?

3) How much is the book expected to sell for?

4) When will the book go up for sale?

Due: Tues 5/5/09

Info and picture = Yahoo news, AP

Homework - current events, Saudi Arabia

Read the info. Look at the picture. Answer the questions:

Saudi Arabia: An eight-year old Saudi Arabian girl who was married off by her father to a man in his 50s has had the marriage thrown out of court. The case caused a lot outrage in Saudi Arabia.

The child, who has not been named, had been told by a court last December that she would not be allowed to divorce her husband until she reached puberty.

But the girl went back to court and a new judge ruled that the marriage was to be annulled (thrown out).

 The father is said to have married the child to a friend to pay off some money he owed.

Questions:

1) Where did this story take place?

2) How old was the child who was married to the man?

3) How old was the man who married the child?

4) What happened to the marriage in the end?

5) Why did the father marry off his child to his friend?