Tip of the Week -- Science

Marie Curie (1867-1934) was a pioneer in the field of radioactivity. She did not actually discover radioactivity, but she did give it the name, and she created the theory of radioactivity. She also developed techniques for isolating radioactive isotopes, and she discovered two elements, polonium and radium.

Marie was the first scientist to explore oncology. Today, when we hear of people undergoing radiation treatments for cancer, we can thank Marie Curie. The Marie Sklodowska-Curie Institute of Oncology in Warsaw, Poland, grew out of the Radium Institute, which Marie founded in 1932.

Although Marie was Polish, she was the first female professor at the University of Paris. Her husband, Pierre, was also a professor and a scientist. Together, they won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1903. Their daughter, Irene, carried on the family tradition, winning a Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935. Irene's children are prominent scientists as well.

Marie also won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1911. She was the first person ever to be awarded two Nobel Prizes.

Goose Day

Today is September 29 - Goose Day!

The Medieval Period is also known as The Middle Ages. It lasted for 1,000 years, from the 5th century until the 15th century (the 400s until the 1400s). During this time, people celebrated Michaelmas, or the Feast of St. Michael, as a religious festival.

Michaelmas also happened to be the time of year when peasants paid their rent to the landowners. A peasant would come to the landlord's castle or manor house with rent, which could be paid in currency or, more often, a portion of the crops from the fall harvest. The peasant would also bring a stubble goose (a nice, fat goose), for the landlord's table, to ensure that the lease would be renewed for the coming year.

When the British began to colonize the United States in the 1600s, they brought the tradition with them. The only place in the US where it is still celebrated is in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, where there is a large population of people with British and Scots-Irish heritage.

In modern times, Michaelmas is called Goose Day, for the traditional goose dinner Mifflin Countians have on this day. Many restaurants in the area have a "goose day special." Eating goose on September 29 is said to bring good luck in the coming year. Other festivities include a 5K run and a "Wild Goose Chase," which is a county-wide scavenger hunt in which teams of people pile into cars and head out in search of clues. Another tradition is that a police officer will pull over a random car with out-of-state license plates, tell the occupants of the car that they will need to be "taken in," and then treat them to a surprise goose dinner at a local restaurant.

Tip of the Week -- Singular and Plural Possessives

Last week, we talked about apostrophes in contractions and possessives. This week I wanted to take a closer look at possessives. Possessive apostrophes can be confusing, but we'll try to make it clear.

Singulars are easy! Just add "apostrophe s". For example, Jim's car.

But what if Jim uses his real name, James? Is it James' car? James's car? James car? Well, James is one person, so he's singular. Use the same rule! James's car is correct.

Now let's look a plural example. The Smiths live next door. Notice that we just add an s to show that there is more than one Smith living next door. If they have a cat, we would say the Smiths' cat. The apostrophe after the s shows that Smith is plural, that is, a number of Smiths own the cat. If Mrs. Smith lives alone and has a cat, it would be Mrs. Smith's cat.

Here's an easy way to remember: If there is one Smith (singular), then the singular word Smith appears before the apostrophe. If there is more than one Smith (plural), then the plural word Smiths comes before the apostrophe.

Let's look at one more example. What if the James family lives next door? We say, "The Jameses live next door. If Mr. James (singular) has a truck, we would say Mr. James's truck. If the James family (plural) has a dog, we would say the Jameses' dog.

Banned Books Week September 25 - October 2

As the character Scout Finch said in Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from 1960: "Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."

Scout was saying that reading is something people take for granted, like breathing. As we assume the air will always be here for us, so we assume that books will always be here. Not so.

The American Library Association declared annual Banned Book Week in 1982, and we celebrate by reading books that have been challenged or banned. Every week, there there is mention in the news of a person or group of people who want this or that book removed from library shelves for one reason or another. Do you want other people to decide what you are or aren't allowed to read?

This is just a very small list of the books that have been banned or challenged in the past:

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Beloved by Toni Morrison

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl

Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank

Little Women by Lousia May Alcott

For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradburg

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Charlotte's Web by E.B. White

Animal Farm by George Orwell

Lord of the Flies by William Golding

Winnie the Pooh by A.A. Milne

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

The list goes on and on . . . and on . . . Be a rebel! Support your right to FREADOM! Read a banned book!

September 24, 1789

On this date in 1789, the United States Supreme Court was established, as Congress passed the Judiciary Act of 1789, and President George Washington signed it into law.

The original Supreme Court had six justices, but over the years, that number has increased to nine. Justices serve until they day or retire. New justices are nominated by the president, but must be confirmed by the Senate.

The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over all laws in the country, especially those in which the United States Constitution comes into play.

Math Tip of the Week -- Subtracting Time

Subtracting time is no different than subtracting other numbers. We know that if all of the digits on the top are bigger than all of the numbers on the bottom, we just subtract straight down. The same goes for time.



But what happens if we have to borrow? When subtracting time, we don't so much borrow as we convert. If we borrow from the hours column, we must add the number of minutes (the equivalent to the hours we borrowed) to the minutes column. It looks like this:

We would use the same process for subtracting units of measure, too. But we would use the equivalent numbers for the measures we're working with. For example, 1 foot = 12 inches, 1 pound = 16 ounces, etc.

Today in Science History

On September 23, 1846, the planet Neptune was discovered by Johann Galle, a German astronomer at the Berlin Obervatory. Galle discovered the planet, not by directly observing it, but through mathematical calculations based on variations in gravity on its neighboring planet, Uranus. Italian astronomer Galileo observed Neptune as early as 1612, but he thought it was a star.

Neptune, the 8th planet from the Sun, is named after the Roman god of the sea, because of its blue color. It is 4 times bigger than Earth. Neptune rotates on its axis faster then Earth does; a day on Neptune is 16 hours long, whereas a day on Earth is 24 hours long. Neptune takes longer to orbit the sun than Earth does, though, so a year on Neptune is the same as 165 Earth years. Neptune has eight known moons, while Earth only has one.

Neptune is a gas giant, meaning that it is made up mostly of gases, as opposed to rock and other solid matter. Neptune is made up mostly of hydrogen, helium, ammonia and methane.

Social Studies Tip of the Week -- Nathan Hale

On this date, September 22, 1776, US patriot Nathan Hale was executed by the British for spying.

Hale joined the Continental Army, serving in a Connecticut regiment. He was involved in the overthrow of the British in occupied Boston in 1775.

In September 1776, he went behind enemy lines on Long Island, NY, to gather information about British troop movements. While he was there, the British took control of Manhattan. Hale was captured September 21, while trying to cross Long Island Sound to get back to American-controlled territory.

Nathan Hale was hanged the morning of September 22, 1776. According to legend, while standing on the gallows awaiting his execution, he uttered the famous words, "I only regret that I have but one life to give for my country." He was 21 years old.

September 21, 1866

Science fiction pioneer HG Wells was born today in 1866. Wells wrote such classics as The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, and War of the Worlds, all of which later became classic films as well.

On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles directed an narrated War of the Worlds as a radio play on the Columbia Broadcast System (CBS). The play was presented as a series of "news bulletins" and without commericial interruptions. It was intended as a spooky Halloween show. Unfortunately, many Americans had missed the beginning of the show and did not realize that it was a Halloween prank. This resulted in mass hysteria across America by people who believed that space aliens were invading the planet.

Writing Tip of the Day - Apostrophes

Have you ever seen a sign like this at a store or along a road:

Did you notice that unnecessary apostrophe? This is called a "grocer's apostrophe" because it is commonly seen in grocery stores and roadside produce stands, although it could pop up anywhere.

Apostrophes can indicate two things - either that two words are being combined into one contraction or that something is owned by someone or something else.

Let's take a look at the first case - the contraction. A contraction happens when two words are combined into one. The apostrophe substitutes for the missing letters.

For example:

Now let's look at the second case - the possessive. The possessive form is used to indicate that something belongs to someone or something else. In this case, we add "apostrophe s" to the end of the name of the person or the thing that does the possessing.

For example:

This is Sarah's puppy. The yellow toy is the puppy's rubber ducky.

This Week's Online Classroom Sessions

Monday, September 20, at 12:30 PM: Reading Scientific Images: Climate Change
Instructor: Rick Searle
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/r64531678

Tuesday, September 21, at 12:30 PM: The Elements of Geometry
Instructor: Rick Searle
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/r64531678

Tuesday, September 21, at 7:00 PM: ESOL Conversation Community
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler

Thursday, September 23, at 2:00 PM: Science: Graphs, Tables, and Charts
Instructor: Rick Searle
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/lbailey

Friday, September 24, at 9:00 AM: ESOL Live Online Classroom
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler

Reading, Social Studies and Today in History All in One Post!

On this date, September 20, 1878, Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore, MD. Sinclair was was a muckraker, which means he was an investigative journalist who dug beneath the surface to find the story beneath. It wasn't always pretty.

In 1904, Sinclair spent several weeks working undercover in Chicago's meatpacking industry. The result was his novel, The Jungle, which was published in 1906. It exposed the horrendous conditions, not only for the workers, but also of the food that was being produced for the American public. The novel cause such a public outcry that, with a few months of publication, the government passed the Pure Food and Drug Act and Meat Inspection Act.

If you have never read The Jungle, pick it up sometime. It will make you appreciate your food and your working conditions!

Sinclair went on to write many other novels. He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1943 for Dragon's Teeth. Another of his books, Oil!, was the basis for the 2007 film, There Will Be Blood, starring Daniel Day-Lewis.

Upton Sinclair died in 1968, at the age of 90.

September 17, 1862

On this date in 1862, the Battle of Antietam was fought. This battle, fought during the American Civil War, is known as the bloodiest one-day battle in American history, with over 23,000 casualties.

Antietam is the name of a creek near Sharpsville, Maryland, where the battle was fought. In the south, it's known as the Battle of Sharpsville.

At the end of the day, Union Major General McClellen won the battle of Confederate General Lee. Lee's retreat prompted President Lincoln to issue the Emancipation Proclamation, which abolished slavery.

Many of the soldiers who fought at Antietam met again less than a year later at the Battle of Gettysburg.

Tip of the Week -- Math

A mnemonic device is a little trick to help you remember something.



A good mnemonic to remember the Order of Operations is



Please Excuse My Dear Aunt Sally



Parentheses

Exponents

Multiplication

Division

Addition

Subtraction



Or you could just remember PEMDAS as a fun nonsense word to help you to remember.

Tip of the Week -- Science

On this day in history, September 16, 1978, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck near the town of Tabas, Iran. More than 25, 000 people were killed. The quake was felt up to 400 miles away. The town of Tabas was destroyed. Of the 17, 000 people who lived there, only about 2000 survived. The only buildings left standing were the school and the bank. They were the only buildings that had been constructed with steel frames.

Earthquakes result when energy is suddenly released along faultlines. Think of pushing two cardboard boxes together. Sooner or later, one of them will collapse, causing the other to suddenly move forward, backward, or sideways, depending upon which way the collapsed box fell.

The tectonic plates on our planet move just like those cardboard boxes. They constantly grind against each other until one of them gives up and the other one moves suddenly, releasing energy in the form of an earthquake.

This illustration shows the types of faults and how they work:

Tip of the Week -- Social Studies

Today, we're combining the social studies tip with an event that happened on this day in history.

On September 15, 1959, Nikita Khrushchev became the first Soviet head-of-state to visit the United States. Khrushchev became the leader of the Soviet Union after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1954. Stalin was a dictator who ruled the Soviet Union and controlled the Eastern Bloc countries from 1922 until his death.

After WWII, the Soviet Union and the United States engaged in the Cold War, which didn't officially end until 1991. During this time, the Soviets and the Americans were both superpowers with nuclear weapons. They realized that each had the power to destroy the other, so rather than engage in a direct war, they engaged in proxy wars. The wars in Korea and Vietnam are examples of proxy wars. The larger, more powerful countries used the smaller countries as substitutes so that they didn't have to fight each other directly.

During the Cold War, especially in the 1950s, tensions ran high. Americans built bomb shelters in their back yards, and school children had air raid drills, in anticipation of nuclear war.

Americans were surprised when Nikita Khrushchev visited America. They weren't sure what to expect. But Khushchev wanted to soften the tensions caused by the Cold War. He wanted more friendly relations. By visiting us, he took the first step in ending the Cold War.

The Cold War did not officially end, however, until 1991, when Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev was in office.

September 14, 1959

On this date in 1959, the first man-made object landed on the moon. The Soviet rocket was launched two years after Sputnik, the Soviet satellite that was the first man-made object to orbit the Earth.

Writing Tip of the Day -- Conjunctions

A conjunction is a connecting word. It connects two thoughts. The easy way to remember the conjunctions is to remember FANBOYS.

For (when it means "because")
And
Nor
But
Or
Yet
So (when it means "as a result")

September 13, 1814

On this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote a poem. He had witnessed the bombardment of Ft. McHenry in Baltimore by the British during the War of 1812. He was amazed that the American flag was still flying over the fort the next morning. Scott's poem was set to music and became our national anthem, The Star-Spangled Banner, in 1931.

Reading Tip of the Week: Types of Conflict

Conflict is found in all literature. Every story you will ever read has a problem that needs to be solved. That's conflict.

These are the four types:

Man vs. Self is the only internal type of conflict. This is when a character is torn between two paths or ideas, or must make a difficult decision. An example of Man vs. Self would be A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. Ebenezer Scrooge is confronted by his past, his present, and his future and must amend his ways.

Man vs. Man is the most common type of conflict. This is when the character is in conflict with another character. An example of Man vs Man conflict would be Sherlock Holmes novels and stories. Holmes tracks down the bad guys - often one bad guy: Professor Moriarty.

Man vs. Nature occurs when the character is pitted against a natural event or occurrance. An example of this would be Jack London's To Build a Fire, a man who is lost in the wilds of Alaska struggles not to freeze to death.

Man vs. Society comes into play when a character when a character is out of sync with the society in which he lives. An example of this would be Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. The Monster want desperately to be accepted and to be loved, but he knows that this can never be.

All four types can be found in movies and on television, too. For example:

Man vs. Self: Good Will Hunting shows the character's internal struggle between loyalty to his friends and going on the achieve his full potential. Casablanca shows Rick's internal struggle between saving the woman who broke his heart (and her husband), or saving himself from the Nazis.

Man vs Man: Batman puts the superhero up again bad guy The Joker. The police on Law & Order track down criminals. Any "good guy vs. bad guy" book, movie, or TV show would fall into this category.

Man vs. Nature: Jaws shows characters tracking down a maneating shark. Disaster movies also fall into this category: Deep Impact, The Day After Tomorrow, Earthquake, Dante's Peak.

Man vs. Society: Gattaca shows a man trying to fit into a future society in which humans are genetically engineered. The Matrix shows characters rebelling against a society in which reality is an illusion.

Keep in mind that all of the types of conflict can be present in the same book or movie. Titanic is a good example of this. Rose is in love with Jack, but at first feels some loyalty to her family's station (Man vs. Self). Jack is in conflict with Cal for Rose's affections (Man vs. Man). Everyone on the ship is in danger when the ship sinks (Man vs Nature). Jack tries to be polite to Rose's upper class friends and family, but he just doesn't fit in (Man vs. Society).

This Week's Online Classroom Sessions

Tuesday, September 14, 7:00 PM: ESOL Conversation Community
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler

Wednesday, September 15, 9:00 PM
AND
Thursday, September 16, 10:00 AM: Reading Between the Lines
Instructor: Matt Manfred
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/mjmanfred

Friday, September 17, 9:00 AM: ESOL Live Online Classroom
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler

Math Tip of Week -- Algebra: Why Are There Letters in Math??

Take a look at the word equation. It has the same root as the word equal. An equation is a situation in which one thing is the same as something else. In math, it means that one number or set of numbers is equal to another number or set of numbers. That's why there is an equal sign (=) in the middle of it.

For example, we know that 2 + 2 is the same thing as 4. We say 2 + 2 = 4. The numbers on both sides of the = mean the same thing.

But what if we only have two numbers in that equation? What if we only have 2 + 2 =
and we don't know what goes on the other side of the =? We substitute the missing information with a letter (usually x, y or z) to represent that we don't know the number yet.

We could write 2 + 2 = x.
To solve for x, we must first isolate x, or get it alone, on one side of the =. In this example, x is already by itself, so we only have to add 2 + 2 to find it.

Simplified, it looks like this: 2 + 2 = x
2 + 2 = 4
x = 4

Let's do another one, and mix it up a little: 2 + x = 4
We need to isolate the x. We know that 2 + something is equal to 4, so 4 - 2 must be equal to that something: 4 - 2 = x. And we have the x right where we want it. Now we just need to solve to find x.

It looks like this: 2 + x = 4
4 - 2 = x
2 = x

Now let's look at a problem like this: 3x = 6
This means that 3 times something is 6 . . . but what is that something?
We follow the same steps: isolate x and solve the problem like this: 3x = 6
x = 6/3
x = 2

Now let's make it a little harder: 3x + 4 = 12
3x = 12 - 4
3x = 9
x = 9/3
x = 3

Science Tip of the Week -- Symbiosis of Plants and Animals

Plants and animals have a symbiotic relationship. This means that they are different from each other, but they each have something the other needs to survive.

Animals and people breathe oxygen and release carbon dioxide. Plants take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen.

Plants also provide food for animals, and animals fertilize the plants in return.

Animals - even carnivores (meat eaters) - would not be able to survive without plants, and plants would not be able to survive without animals.

September 8 is National Literacy Day!

Celebrate by telling others about your favorite book!

Some favorites among the teachers here at the Distance Learning Project include these titles:

• Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte


• Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte (Emily's sister!)


• Lord of the Flies by William Golding


• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee


• Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury


• Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett


• Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean Auel


• Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver


• The Great Ship of Knowledge by William Bailey

Here are some of the books we're reading for fun right now:

• Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain


• The Art of the Commonplace by Wendall Berry


• The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb


• Memoirs of an Antihero by Drew Blank


• Emma by Jane Austen

Social Studies Tip of the Week -- Labor Day

We all know that Labor Day is the unofficial end of summer. We get a day off. We have picnics. It's the last day before swimming pools and amusement parks close for the season. But do you know the history of Labor Day?

It all started in 1894 in the town of Pullman, Illinois. Pullman was a factory town, and their product was Pullman train cars, which were made at the Pullman Palace Car Company. The company had lost revenue the previous year because demand for railway cars had dropped. Their answer to lost revenue was to cut workers' pay and increase their hours.

The workers were angered by the company's decision, and they held a wildcat strike. A wildcat strike is a strike that is not authorized by union officials. The American Railway Union, led by Eugene Debs, was a union of all railway workers. It was a large and powerful union. The ARU supported the Pullman worker's strike by refusing to run trains that included Pullman cars. Soon, all train traffic west of Chicago stopped. This affected both travel and trade.

President Grover Cleveland sent the U.S. military troops and U.S. Marshalls to intervene and get the trains moving again. During the clash, 13 workers were killed. These workers were instrumental in improving workers' rights in America.

As a result of the Pullman Strike in 1894, President Cleveland created Labor Day as a celebration of American Workers and their families.

This Week's Online Classroom Sessions

Tuesday, Sept. 7 at 7:00 PM: ESOL Conversation Community
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler/

Wednesday, Sept. 8 at 9:00 PM
and
Thursday, Sept. 9 at 10:00 AM: Needed Operations and Multi-Step Math Problems
Instructor: Matt Manfred
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/mjmanfred

Friday, Sept. 10 at 9:00 AM: ESOL Live Online Classroom
Instructor: Shannon Mischler
Online Classroom: http://adobeconx.tiu11.org/smischler

Writing Tip of the Week: Run-On Sentences

A run-on sentence doesn't know when to stop. It goes on and on, combining two or more ideas with no, or incorrect punctuation.

For example: I had pizza for lunch it was good. This type of run-on is called a fused sentence because there are two complete thoughts here, but no punctuation.

The easiest way to correct this run-on is to add a period and separate the two thoughts into individual sentences: I had pizza for lunch. It was good.

We could also fix it with a comma that separates the thoughts, but does not create a separate sentence. If we do this, we must also use a conjunction, or connecting word. For example, I had pizza for lunch, and it was good.

Remember that 1 comma + 1 conjunction= one period.

Labor Day

We hope you had a great Labor Day weekend! Because of the holiday, the DLP office was closed yesterday, and your Reading Tip of the Day was posted a day late.

Do you know what Labor Day celebrates? We know that it's a celebration of America's working men and women, but there's more to the story. Check back tomorrow for your Social Studies Tip of the Day!

Reading Tip of the Week: Fact and Opinion

Do you know the difference between a fact and an opinion? In a nutshell, you can't argue with a fact, but you can argue with an opinion.

For example, 2 + 2 = 4. That's a fact. It has always been a fact, and it will always be a fact. No one can change it. It doesn't matter whether you are talk about grains of sand or entire planets. Two somethings plus two somethings equals four somethings. Period. You can't disagree with it, because it's absolutely true. (That's why math facts are called math facts!)

On the other hand, if I say, "Titanic is a great movie," someone - maybe even you - might have hated that movie. That person would disagree with my opinion and have one of his or her own! If you can argue or disagree, it's an opinion.

Think about witnesses in a courtroom. They are only supposed to give facts - what they saw or heard. They are not supposed to give their opinions. They can say, "I saw the defendent take money out of the cash register," because if that's what happened, it's the truth. They can't say, "The defendent is a nice guy," because other people may not agree.

Math Tip of the Day -- Coordinates on a Grid

The important thing to remember when plotting points on a grid is that the X axis goes east west, and the Y axis goes north and south. When you are writing the coordinates, the X coordinate is always first, just like it comes before Y in the alphabet.

The point where the two axes meet is the center of the graph, and the coordinates are (0,0) because it is at point 0 on both the X and the Y axis.

Another thing that is important to remember is that when we move to the right on the X axis or upward on the Y axis, we are moving in a positive direction. Conversely, when we move to the left on the X axis on downward on the Y axis, we are moving in a negative direction.

The intersection of the two axes creates four quadrants. On one quadrant, all coordinates are positive. In the quadrant that is diagonal to that one, all coordinates are negative.

The other two quadrants contain both positives and negatives. In the lower right quadrant, the first coordinate is positive because the first coordinate is always on the X axis, and we are moving to the right. In the upper left quadrant, the first coordinate is negative because, although we are still on the X axis, we are moving to the left.

Take a look at the grid to the left. We've plotted the coordinates (+3, 0). We've moved three places to the right on the X axis, so our X coordinate is positive. We are still at 0 on the Y axis because we haven't moved upward or downward.

Now take a look at the grid to the right. We've stayed at +3 on the X axis, but we've got downward 2 places on the Y axis. Our coordinates are now (+3, -2)

Science Tip of the Week -- Hurricanes

I thought this would be a good time to talk about hurricanes, with Earl threatening the east coast and Fiona right behind him!

Hurricanes are a category of tropical cyclone. Tropical cyclones are divided into three types: tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes. Storms fall into these catagories according to the intensity of storm.

A tropical depression is a storm system with winds of up to 38 miles per hour.

A tropical storm is a storm system with winds between 39 and 73 miles per hour.

A hurricane is a storm system with winds above 73 miles per hour. Hurricanes are further divided on a scale from 1 (weakest) to 5 (strongest). Hurricanes that you may remember that have reached Category 5 include Hugo (1989), Andrew (1992), Mitch (1998), Ivan (2004), and Katrina (2005). This is only a partial list. You may want to read more about this at the link below.

Tropical cyclones are caused by a combination of warm tropical waters, light winds, and moisture. When those elements come together under the right conditions, they begin to swirl and move across the ocean, bringing strong winds, high waves, and intense thunderstorms, often resulting in heavy wind damage and flooding.

For more information about hurricanes, check out the National Hurricane Center's website:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Social Studies Tip of the Week: American Red Cross

The Red Cross is a humanitarian non-profit organization that provided emergency assistance for victims of disasters, community services for families in need, support to military personnel and their families, collection and processing of blood for future use, and educational services in the areas

Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, was a teacher during the Civil War. She organized a program that helped to locate soldiers who were missing in action. After working tirelessly for many years, her doctors sent her to Europe to rest. Rather than resting, however, she became involved with the International Red Cross in the midst of the Franco-Prussian War.

When she returned to the United States, she was determined to bring the Red Cross with her. The American Red Cross was officially established in 1881, during the presidency of Chester Arthur.

One of the early major disasters for which the American Red Cross provided relief, was right here in Pennsylvania. More than 2,200 people died and thousands were injured and left homless by the Johnstown Flood on May 31, 1889. It is listed as one of the worst natural disasters in American History.

The Red Cross continues respond to disasters to this day: earthquakes, tornados, hurricanes, floods, mine disasters, plane crashes. Wherever people are in need, the Red Cross is there, thanks to Clara Barton.