Upcoming Themes for ASK ^®

2005-2006 School Year

July / August	Islands Features to include: animal life on Madagascar and Australia, sinking islands, legend of Atlantis, volcanoes-island formation, surviving on an island, Darwin and the pirate
September	Mysteries of Space Features to include: primer on universe formation (simplified as in The Universe Tells a Cosmic Story), star and planet formation, what current space exploration is learning, historical thoughts, discovery of galaxies, how big, how old, how far, rings of Saturn, should we explore sea or space?, ancient understanding of stars and constellations
October	Disasters That Changed the World Features to include: predicting volcanoes/earthquakes, violent weather, animals that predict violent weather, Pompeii, the Flood, end of Minoan culture by tidal wave, first person account of San Francisco earthquake, Krakatoa, London fire
November / December	Friendship Features to include: do animals have friends?, altruism in evolution (cooperation v. competition), baboon bullies v. cooperative behavior, symbiotic relationships, evolutionary value of sharing and fairness, different ways animals live and cooperate-cooperative breeding, extended network of caring, mice that take care of other mice, animals and people as friends, anthropology of friendship, what is friendship, how do we pick friends, evolutionary value
January	Inside the body Features to include: the discovery of the circulation of blood, advancements in surgery, the development of the stethoscope, MRIs
February	Catalog of Life Features to include: finding new species, the search to find and catalog new species, reintroducing species into the wild: condors, biodiversity of rainforest, Lord God bird, citizen scientists who search for species, Where are the frogs?, naming species, things that are related that don't look related, extinction, catalog of life program
March	How Did They Build That? Features to include: focus on architectural and design solutions to problems, engineering feats: building the pyramids, saving the Tower of Pisa , the Statue of Liberty, Brooklyn Bridge, Mackinoc Suspension Bridge, "green" buildings (parks on top of skyscrapers, solar energy, etc.), Gang studio architects, animal engineers: termites, breakthroughs in technology: arch, skyscrapers, materials
April	Intelligence of Plants Features to include: how plants protect themselves, strangler fig, plant poisons, plant art and mazes, history of the apple
May / June	Trade & Money Features to include: born to trade - from caravan to mall, how trading started, changed the world, money, pirates, turquoise, medieval fairs, ice trade, spice trade, counterfeiting/science of making money, tulip bulbs and bubbles, industrial secrets
2006-2007 School Year
July / August	Surviving in the Desert Features to include: formation of Sahara, animals and people surviving in the desert, global warming - what is it?
September	Music Features to include: Susan Milius article, "Face the Music - Why are we such a musical species - and does it matter?", bass sounds and emotions (church organs, haunted houses), musical genius, Mozart effect, violin bows, brain close to language, bird songs, other animals and music, perfect pitch and tonal language, musical scales, weird musical instruments, why do people like the music they like?, ancient instruments (from Field Museum), Rocky Mountain music camp (how did kids pick instrument; in the orchestra), giftedness vs practice
October	Deception Features to include: deceptive ravens, fireflies, camouflage, written all over your face, detecting lies
November / December	Oceans Features to include: exploring oceans for new sources of food, medicine, energy, and knowledge about climate change, deep ocean fish, how oceans are threatened, shipwrecks, currents and waves, overfishing, cod

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Updated: 7/20/08 08:08 am
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