ELA.9.V.1.3

Apply knowledge of context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials, and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of words and phrases, appropriate to grade level.

Clarifications

Clarification 1: Review of words learned in this way is critical to building background knowledge and related vocabulary.
Clarification 2: See Context Clues and Word Relationships.
Clarification 3: See ELA.9.R.3.1 and Secondary Figurative Language.
General Information
Subject Area: English Language Arts (B.E.S.T.)
Grade: 9
Strand: Vocabulary
Standard: Finding Meaning
Date Adopted or Revised: 08/20
Status: State Board Approved

Related Courses

This benchmark is part of these courses.
0500300: Executive Internship 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1700370: Critical Thinking and Study Skills (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1700380: Career Research and Decision Making (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1001320: English Honors 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1001800: Florida's Preinternational Baccalaureate English 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002300: English 1 Through ESOL (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1005300: World Literature (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1007300: Speech 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1007330: Debate 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1007340: Debate 2 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1009300: Writing 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1009320: Creative Writing 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1001310: English 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1001315: English 1 for Credit Recovery (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1002381: Developmental Language Arts Through ESOL (Reading) (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
7910120: Access English 1 (Specifically in versions: 2013 - 2015, 2015 - 2017, 2017 - 2018, 2018 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))
1007305: Speech 1 (Specifically in versions: 2014 - 2015, 2015 - 2019, 2019 - 2021, 2021 and beyond (current))
1005345: Humane Letters 1 Literature (Specifically in versions: 2019 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))
1000412: Intensive Reading 1 (Specifically in versions: 2021 and beyond (current))
1000414: Intensive Reading 2 (Specifically in versions: 2021 and beyond (current))
1005346: Humane Letters 1 Literature Honors (Specifically in versions: 2020 - 2022, 2022 - 2023, 2023 and beyond (current))
1006305: Fundamentals of Journalism (Specifically in versions: 2021 - 2022, 2022 and beyond (current))

Related Access Points

Alternate version of this benchmark for students with significant cognitive disabilities.
ELA.9.V.1.AP.3: Use context clues, figurative language, word relationships, reference materials and/or background knowledge to determine the connotative and denotative meaning of a word and/or phrase, appropriate to grade-level content at the student’s ability level.

Related Resources

Vetted resources educators can use to teach the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Lesson Plan

Concussion Risk Simulator Part 1:

Students conduct research to discover the dangers associated with concussions and why it is an important public health concern in this integrated lesson.  They will explore legislation and public policy aimed at mitigating the risks of sports-related head injuries as well as different ways technology can be used to prevent, diagnose, and assess concussions among athletes.  This is the first lesson in a series of three where students will investigate how public policy and technology influence the identification and response to potential sports-related head injuries.  In part 2, students will plan a simulation or model to demonstrate how technology and public policy influence our response to sports-related head injuries, and in part 3, students will program their simulation or model using Scratch.

 

Type: Lesson Plan

Original Student Tutorials

Vocabulary Unleashed:

Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Analyzing Connotative Meaning in Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse":

Learn to differentiate the connotative and denotative meanings of words in context. In this interactive tutorial, you'll  study excerpts from “Total Eclipse,” an essay written by Annie Dillard. You will analyze Dillard’s word choices throughout portions of her essay to better understand their impact and meanings. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Two):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 2, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Three):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 3, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to open the first two parts.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part One):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 1, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Playing with Words: Changing Word Forms:

Learn how to transform words into other words, including nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, adjectives into adverbs, and much more with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary Mastery :

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary in Action:

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary Power:

Review strategies for acquiring new vocabulary and then learn fifteen new words in this interactive tutorial. You'll also practice using the words in a variety of ways to help you add them to your vocabulary.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Exploring and Gathering Vocabulary:

Learn several ways to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, including context clues, word parts, and dictionary skills. In this interactive tutorial, you'll apply these strategies to text passages from John Muir's book A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf, which includes vivid descriptions of Florida in the late 1800s.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Word Sleuth: Using Context Clues:

Learn to use context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Text Resources

Case Study: Training Day-The Importance of Professionalism in the Workplace:

Using this case study students can discuss, "Why are professionalism and effective communication essential components of the workplace?"

Type: Text Resource

When Humans Begin Colonizing Other Planets, Who Should Be in Charge?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article asks the reader to ponder the ethical issues that may arise as we travel to and colonize the rocky inner planets in our solar system. The article questions what country or organization will make the guidelines that answer these ethical questions.

Type: Text Resource

Yellowstone Ecosystem Needs Wolves and Willows, Elk and...Beavers?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the effects of the wolf population in Yellowstone National Park, as well as how other organisms are linked in this food web. As the wolf population decreases, the elk population increases due to lack of predation. The larger elk population decimates the willow population, a prime source of food and building for the beaver. As beaver population decreases, streams no longer deposit enough sediments. This then changes the willow population, because they are no longer able to take root in the stream.

Type: Text Resource

Against the Tide: Fish Quickly Adapt to Lethal Levels of Pollution:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes the evolution of a type of fish who can survive in a human-altered, toxic environment. The text discusses possible reasons for this successful evolution and what the implications are for other species, including humans.

Type: Text Resource

This App Uses Facial Recognition Software to Help Identify Genetic Conditions:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes a new tool (Face2Gene) that is being used by geneticists to help identify genetic disorders. The app uploads a picture and searches databases for specific facial measurements and characteristics common to specific genetic conditions. The app sends out a list of possible conditions, as well as a metric of their likelihood.

Type: Text Resource

The Invasive Squirrel That Wasn't:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This article describes the discovery of evidence that contradicts the notion that a specific species of squirrel was introduced to an Alaskan ecosystem. It further discusses the implication of the new evidence and challenges the current meaning of invasive species.

Type: Text Resource

Gut Check: Mandrills Sniff Poop to Avoid Peers with Parasites:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes a mechanism of behavioral avoidance to help maintain health between mandrills. Mandrills use their olfactory senses in order to determine which of their peers to avoid due to parasitic infections.

Type: Text Resource

The Mystery of Human Blood Types:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Blood types such as the ABO group have been inherited for at least 20 million years. Despite how ancient blood groups are, scientists are still unclear as to their purpose. The ABO blood group, the most well-known of the blood groups, has enabled scientists to understand a link between blood groups and the immune system; discoveries over the last century suggest a link between blood groups and disease. Even with these findings, scientists are still unclear as to why such blood antigens evolved in the first place.

Type: Text Resource

These Itsy-Bitsy Herbivores Could Stage a Huge Coral Reef Rescue:

This informational text resource supports reading in the content area. The article implies that human interactions that raise the global temperature (climate change) can have disastrous effects on coral reefs (coral bleaching). The article explains how a discovery of other organisms filling a previously occupied niche may help to rebuild and sustain coral reefs.

Type: Text Resource

Analysis of Fossilized Antarctic Bird's 'Voice Box' Suggests Dinosaurs Couldn't Sing:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have presented new findings on the fossilized voice box called a syrinx -- and its apparent absence in non-avian dinosaur fossils of the same age. This may indicate that other non-avian dinosaurs were not able to make noises similar to the bird calls we hear today.

Type: Text Resource

Polar Bears Across the Arctic Face Shorter Sea Ice Season:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Polar bears are among the animals most affected by the seasonal and year-to-year decline in Arctic sea ice, because they rely on ice for essential activities such as hunting, traveling, and breeding. A new research study has confirmed this finding.

Type: Text Resource

Born During a Drought: Bad News for Baboons:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how a drought affected the savanna ecosystem found in southern Kenya during 2009. It further addresses how baboons are affected later in life based on the conditions when they are born and the social status they are born into. Based on the research on baboons, the implications on human health are discussed in the latter portion of the article.

Type: Text Resource

Virus Fingered as Top Suspect in West Coast Sea Star Wasting Disease:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The National Science Foundation article discusses research on the identification and the effects of the Sea Star Associated Densovirus. The article further explains the importance of research on this virus because of its impact on the tidal ecosystems on the Pacific West Coast.

Type: Text Resource

Cone Snail Venom Reveals Insulin Insights:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the context area. The text describes how cone snail venom, a simpler form of insulin than human insulin, works more rapidly. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body is no longer to control the glucose levels in the bloodstream. Cone snail venom could help scientists develop a better, more efficient way of treating diabetes.

Type: Text Resource

Hibernation Season Over, Will Disease-Ridden Bats Emerge from Caves and Mines This Spring?:

This informational text resource supports reading in the content area. The article discusses the spread of White Nose Syndrome in North American bats and how bat colonies are being affected in both size and number. The article also provides a comparison between European and North American bat colonies suffering with this disease.

Type: Text Resource

NASA Moon Mission Shares Insights into Giant Impacts:

This informational text resource supports reading in the content area. The GRAIL mission is a research project tasked with studying large impact basins. Orientale basin is a giant, ringed impact crater on Earth's moon. Until now, how impact craters with rings form had not been well understood. Scientists have reconstructed Orientale's formation using data from NASA's GRAIL mission.

Type: Text Resource

The First Non-Browning GMO Apples Slated to Hit Shelves Next Month:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses newly developed apples that have lower levels of PPO enzyme, thus keeping them from turning brown quickly.

Type: Text Resource

Caribbean Bat Species Need 8 Million Years to Recover from Recent Extinction Waves:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how Caribbean bat species are ideal for understanding the implications of extinction and its effects on species. The article suggests that the geographic isolation of these species helps scientists to understand the causes of extinction and how long species may need to recover from natural and human impact.

Type: Text Resource

How New Zealand's Glaciers Shaped the Origin of the Kiwi Bird:

This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses research conducted by scientists that proves there are more species and subspecies of kiwi birds than originally thought in New Zealand. The article discusses how scientists believe glaciers isolated populations and how new genetic lineages were discovered by analyzing the kiwi genome.

Type: Text Resource

Zika's Accidental Ally: Miami's Luxury High-Rises:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the problems that are being encountered in Miami Beach as health officials try to execute a mosquito management program. Because of the high rise buildings, the pesticides being sprayed are not necessarily reaching the intended areas. Not only are mosquitoes staying alive, but they may become resistant to the first-choice pesticides being used against them.

Type: Text Resource

What the New Superbug Means for the US:

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes how colistin-resistant bacteria have reached the United States, which is cause for great concern. There are currently some strains of bacteria that are resistant to all types of antibiotics. Scientists will have to develop new antibiotics if we are to continue our mostly successful fight against bacterial disease.

Type: Text Resource

New Zealand Announces Plan to Wipe Out Invasive Predators:

This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text explains the new Zealand government's plan to eliminate invasive predators from the country by 2050 and the challenges that may be involved in reaching this goal. The article also describes the effects the predators have had on the native wildlife to date.

Type: Text Resource

For the First Time, Bees Declared Endangered in the U.S.:

This resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes how for the first time bees have been declared endangered in the United States. Seven species of Hawaiian yellow-faced bees have been decimated by invasive species and habitat loss and are now federally protected. The text goes on to describe an innovative way scientists want to help the bees.

Type: Text Resource

Prairie Dogs Are Serial Killers That Murder Their Competition:

This  resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the discovery of the white-tailed prairie dog murdering ground squirrels in cold blood in order to eliminate the competition for food. The article further highlights how the killings of the squirrels benefit the prairie dog offspring.

Type: Text Resource

What's Good for Crops Not Always Good for the Environment:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes a recent development that will allow scientists to help farmers determine the precise amount of nitrogen needed for their corn and soybean fields. The research was conducted by two scientists at the University of Illinois. If farmers can pinpoint the exact amount of fertilizer needed, reducing the amount that runs off or leaches into the water supply, the better for all living organisms on Earth.

Type: Text Resource

Cholera-Like Disease 'Piggybacking' on El Nino to Reach New Shores:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the research conducted by scientists showing the correlation between El Niño events and the spread of infectious disease. The article discusses how the scientists believe Vibrio bacteria are being transported across the ocean and the impact this can have on public health.

Type: Text Resource

GM Mosquitoes Succeed at Reducing Dengue, Company Says:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes a recent study that allowed researchers to prove the benefits of releasing GM mosquitoes in Brazil in order to decrease disease transmission. At first, research showed that the mosquito population had dropped, but then the research also showed that diseases like dengue fever had dropped dramatically in comparison to areas with conventional mosquito control.

Type: Text Resource

Rangers Use Artificial Intelligence to Fight Poachers:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text discusses the design of an artificial intelligence (AI) technology called PAWS that was designed as a tool to help wildlife officials stop poachers. PAWS uses data about previous poaching activities and analyzes the data to create smart and efficient routes for wildlife officers to use while looking for poaching activity.

Type: Text Resource

Antarctica Could Lose Most of Its Penguins to Climate Change:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the research conducted on the status of the Adelie penguin population and what might happen to it by the end of the century. Using statistical models, researchers looked at current data and used future climate projections to determine the status of the Adelie’s habitat.

Type: Text Resource

Wildlife Species Provide Clues to Spread of Antibiotic Resistance in Africa:

The informational text resource describes how researchers from Virginia Tech and the University of Sydney tested for resistance to 10 antibiotics among 18 wildlife species and cattle in Botswana. The results from the tests showed that antibiotic resistance is being transferred to mostly carnivores at the top of the food web. Animals that show multi-drug resistance are crocodiles, leopards, hyenas, hippos, baboons, and warthogs. There also seems to be a correlation to drug resistance and aquatic life, but only certain species. Further research should be conducted in order to understand how the resistance moves across landscapes.

Type: Text Resource

Who Is at Risk for Heart Disease?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text, written by the National Institutes of Health, describes the many risk factors for heart disease. The text is broken into three areas: risk factors that can be controlled (like smoking, high blood pressure, and obesity), risk factors that cannot be controlled (like age and family history), and emerging risk factors.

Type: Text Resource

Which Emits More Carbon Dioxide: Volcanoes or Human Activities?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article answers the question of whether volcanic activity or human activities contribute more to global warming. With evidence and support, they easily conclude human activities are the heaviest contributor

Type: Text Resource

Dirt Mounds Made by Termites in Africa, South America, Asia Could Prevent Spread of Deserts:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the impact termite mounds are having on semi-arid ecosystems and the surprising realization that scientists have come to in regards to the effects of these termite mounds. The text also describes the importance of scientific modeling to predict plant growth while having termite mounds present.

Type: Text Resource

Protecting the Honey-Bearers:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the problem of declining honey bee populations in the United States and lists the possible factors involved. The text then describes the study on African honey bees to determine if there are genetic or physiological causes in their response to the Varroa parasite. Researchers are hoping the data they gather will help them improve breeding programs or management practices in U.S. bee populations.

Type: Text Resource

All We Are is Dust in the Interstellar Wind:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes cosmic dust and the effects it leaves on the galaxy when it comes in contact with astronomical phenomenon. The interstellar dust can cause a distortion of astrological observations, called reddening. This can cause false data being reported because, for one, color is used to determine the age of a star. The article addresses how astronomers have produced a 3-D map of interstellar reddening for three-quarters of the visible sky.

Type: Text Resource

Field Fever, Harvest Fever, Rat Catcher's Yellows: Leptospirosis by Any Name Is a Serious Disease:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes current research into the factors that increase the rate of transmission of the bacterial disease Leptospirosis. Scientists are using research to provide tools to prevent future transmission. Scientists are studying three communities in Chile and determining what factors in each setting are contributing to the spread of the disease.

Type: Text Resource

Peering into the Secret World of Life Beneath Winter Snows:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes a new field of researchers called winter ecologists who are examining the effects of warmer winters caused by climate change. The text describes how snow creates an insulating layer for the living organisms below the snow. When that insulating layer is thinner, due to increased global temperatures, the organisms suffer colder temperatures, stress, and even death. Winter ecologists are trying to learn more about this layer, which is called the subnivium, and how organisms are responding to these changes.

Type: Text Resource

Warming Waters Contributed to the Collapse of New England's Cod Fishery:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the decline in the population of cod found in the Gulf of Maine. The author writes that fishery managers have set strict quotas on cod, with little positive change. Research indicates climate change has been a major factor in the steady decline of cod, and the text explains why.

Type: Text Resource

Ten things to know about Scott Kelly’s #YearInSpace:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes an ongoing NASA research project where astronaut Scott Kelly and cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are being tested for the effects of a year-long spaceflight. However, the science of their mission spans three years: one year before they left, one year in space, and another upon their return. In addition, part of the research also includes the Twin Study; Scott’s identical twin brother, and a former astronaut, served as a human control on the ground during Scott’s year-long stay in space.

Type: Text Resource

Risk Assessment, for the Birds:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Bird migration patterns have shown to be much more complex than once thought. Birds change their patterns based on a variety of factors, recent research indicates. The article refers to this as risk assessment; it includes the availability of food, strength, and even weather. The research was completed using three different species of songbird. Researchers are hoping that understanding of these patterns will help us in our conservation efforts.

Type: Text Resource

Too Much Algae—and Too Many Microbes—Threaten Coral Reefs:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes a recent study that helped researchers prove a link between overfishing to increased growth of fleshy algae to microbialization. This increase in microbes causes a depletion of the amount of oxygen dissolved in the water. In addition, the increase in microbial growth can spread disease. In conclusion, microbialization is found to be a major contributing factor to the destruction and decline of coral reef health.

Type: Text Resource

Coral Reefs Defy Ocean Acidification Odds in Palau:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the impact that ocean acidification typically has on coral reefs in water with low pH. The text goes on to describe the surprising results of a study done on coral reefs in Palau that are thriving despite living in water with low pH. Researchers must conduct further tests to determine why this is happening, but it gives them hope that some coral reefs might be able to withstand future levels of ocean acidification.

Type: Text Resource

Annual Antarctic Ozone Hole Larger and Formed Later in 2015:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text provides information about 2015's ozone hole, showing why it is larger this year and lasted longer than previous years. The article shows how the protective ozone layer changes with the seasons and is different each year. Although the hole is large this year, the practices that have been followed since the Montreal Protocol was enacted have allowed the ozone hole to slowly decrease, and it should be back to 1980 levels by 2070.

Type: Text Resource

Environmental Pressures at the Top of the Earth Produce Evolutionary Impacts:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text presents a picture of how and why animals and people living at the Arctic will start to change (due to changing climate with melting sea ice) in order to keep surviving.

Type: Text Resource

Exploring the Heart of Matter:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Under the direction of the Department of Energy, the Jefferson Laboratory is making strides in its development of a new high-speed particle accelerator. This accelerator promises to operate at double the maximum speed of existing accelerators, and it will reveal more details about the forces which bind subatomic particles inside an atom, as well as the very nature of those particles. These discoveries will help us refine our ideas about atoms and nuclei.

Type: Text Resource

Invasive Lionfish Diet Could Impact Native Coral Reef Fishes:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how lionfish, an invasive species in Atlantic waters, is threatening ecosystems there. The voracious diet of the lionfish will likely affect native species and the commercial fishing industry.

Type: Text Resource

Scientists Discover Fossil of Bizarre Groundhog-Like Mammal on Madagascar:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This article describes a new research discovery of the fossil remains of a groundhog-like mammal found in Madagascar. The article details the methodology scientists employed to unearth the fossil skull and explains the insights it offers into early mammalian evolution in the Southern Hemisphere.

Type: Text Resource

Organic Fruit and Veggies Help This Farmer-Mom Save Money and Forests in Bangladesh:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes how people in Bangladesh are using homestead farming to provide for their families, while simultaneously contributing to preserving local forests. With the help of USAID, farmers are using higher-yielding seeds and cultivating crops using organic fertilizers and composting. The demand for food grown without pesticides and nourished by compost helps the homestead farmers to make enough money to improve their standard of living, while helping the environment at the same time.

Type: Text Resource

Colorado High Peaks Losing Glaciers as Climate Warms:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes the results of a study that show declines in ice—glaciers, permafrost, subsurface ice, and lake ice—at the Niwot Ridge in the Rocky Mountains over the past thirty years. The text describes that the researchers attribute the declines in ice to climate change. Using the results of their study, the scientists also make a startling prediction that the Arikaree Glacier in the Rocky Mountains will disappear in twenty years.

Type: Text Resource

Ancient Fossils Show Effect of Humans on Caribbean Wildlife:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article focuses on scientific data gathered in the Caribbean (specifically Abaco Island). The authors describe how wildlife is impacted by natural events and by humans, and why it is important for people to understand these interactions.

Type: Text Resource

Feeding Birds in Your Local Park? If They're White Ibises in Florida, Think Twice:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes the interactions between local wildlife (white ibises in Florida) and humans, and the impact that these interactions have on both species. The article presents both benefits as well as potential drawbacks to the close proximity of humans and white ibises. The article also describes how scientists are studying these interactions and their effects.

Type: Text Resource

Do Bigger Brains Make Smarter Carnivores?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes an experiment that helps to confirm that larger brain size could indicate higher intelligence within carnivorous mammals. The experiment involved 140 animals and each was given the same task of retrieving food from a locked box within 30 minutes. The results of the test show that having a larger brain really does improve an animal’s ability to solve a problem it has never encountered before.

Type: Text Resource

In Grasslands, Longer Spring Growing Season Offsets Higher Summer Temperatures:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes the process the researchers use to develop a detailed model of how they predict climate change will occur in the future and what effect this will have on North American grasslands. The author explains how climate change impacts ecosystems while also providing an example of using models in science to predict future events/outcomes.

Type: Text Resource

Genetics Provide New Hope for Endangered Freshwater Mussels:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article explains the impact of scientists’ studies on a number of freshwater mussel species and their genetic makeup. The intent of the research was to find ways of protecting threatened and endangered species of mussels. The article explains that the genetic similarities of species that cohabitate a river could lead to development of new methods of protecting mussel species.

Type: Text Resource

Revealing the Ocean's Hidden Fertilizer:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text explains how scientists are working with the National Science Foundation (NSF) to explore the role of phosphorus, and specifically the phosphorus cycle, in marine ecosystems. The author explains what is known about the topic, what research was done, what conclusions were drawn, and the importance of the scientists' findings.

Type: Text Resource

Peru's Melting Glaciers Teach Community "to Be Strong in the Face of the Changes":

This informational text is resource designed to help support reading in the content area. The article discusses the impact of climate change (global warming) on the tropical glaciers in Peru. It focuses on providing a description of how Peruvians depend upon the glaciers and the impact that the melting of the glaciers could have in the future. The author also emphasizes USAID's role in working with Peruvians to help them develop plans to deal with the possible loss of the glaciers

Type: Text Resource

Where Do Rats Move in After Disasters?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes how a mathematical model can be used to simulate how environmental changes affect populations of pathogen-carrying rodents. A "capture" program undertaken by researchers at Tulane University allowed them to capture rats in post-Katrina neighborhoods in order to determine how rats migrate after natural or man-made disasters.

Type: Text Resource

Lakes Around the World Rapidly Warming:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This article describes the effect of climate change on the water supply and on ecosystems around the world. The article introduces research from a study spanning six continents that analyzed data to determine the rate at which Earth's lakes are warming. The author then uses this data to connect to the impacts on Earth's ecosystems and on human lives.

Type: Text Resource

Scientists Discover How Blue and Green Clays Kill Bacteria:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This text describes how researchers unearthed a natural clay deposit with antibacterial characteristics. The text also discusses exactly how the two elements in the clay cause the destruction of the bacteria. The end of the article addresses how this discovery could provide possible solutions to bacteria that are antibiotic-resistant, like MRSA.

Type: Text Resource

Climate Change: Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes the possible effects on the planet due to the rise in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, especially the implications for climate change.

Type: Text Resource

Geomagnetic Reversal: Understanding Ancient Flips and Flops in Earth's Polarity:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how the National Science Foundation (NSF) has been using one of their ships to gather information which scientists can use to explore the process of geomagnetic reversal. The article explains the basic concept of geomagnetic reversal and how the information gathered can help in understanding it. Finally, the article discusses several different roles that scientists have taken on in the NSF's ongoing operations.

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Southwest Sliding into a New Normal: Drier Conditions:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes a study on the climate of the southwestern United States. Using 35 years' worth of data, scientists believe a subtle shift in weather patterns is leading to drier conditions in the Southwest. The text goes on to explain the significance of this research and the challenge of connecting drier conditions in the region to climate change.

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Seeking Zika: Where and When Will Zika-Carrying Mosquitoes Strike Next?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes current research into the mosquitoes that carry the Zika virus, with the ultimate goal of using the research to predict and possibly prevent future outbreaks. Scientists are studying three towns in Ecuador by collecting data to help them discover the socioeconomic and environmental factors that put people most at risk for diseases carried by the Aedes aegypti mosquito, including the Zika virus. The scientists are also examining how virus transmission by these mosquitoes may be affected by climate change.

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Parasites: Rulers of the Reef:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text informs readers about the influence of parasites on damselfish, a coral reef species. The author explains how his team determined the reason for the consistent behavior of damselfish leaving their aggressively guarded territory each morning to go to a cleaning station. Through the scientist describing how his research lead to new observations that lead to new questions and research, the text is a good example of how scientific investigations are conducted, including working collaboratively and communicating important results.

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Where Does Water Go When It Doesn't Flow?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientific thoughts about the water cycle have changed over time, particularly due to information gathered in a recent study. The article gives a good representation of the scientific method and the importance of the water cycle.

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Zanzibar's Malaria Hunter:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article is about a woman, Habiba, who uses a motorbike to travel to families in the villages of Zanzibar to track, test, and treat malaria patients. After receiving a text message about the location of a malaria patient, she travels to the patient and tests the patient's family to see if other family members have malaria. Then, she treats any infected family members with medicine, giving them extra medicine and insecticide-treated mosquito nets, while educating them about prevention of the disease and its transmission.

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What are El Niño and La Niña?:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article explains what El Niño and La Niña are in terms of meteorology. It also explains the weather effects of both and a brief history of their names.

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Coastal Blue Carbon:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text describes different ecosystems that store carbon, like forests, and goes into how carbon is stored more efficiently in coastal ecosystems. The text goes on to advocate for conserving and protecting our coastal ecosystems to keep the carbon stored and prevent the carbon from being released into the atmosphere to further impact the planet through climate change. The text also explores other benefits for conserving coastal ecosystems.

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Gut Reaction: Digestion Revealed in 3-D:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The article describes how villi in the small intestine and muscle contraction work together to digest food and provide nutrients to the body, using the metaphor of coral working with an ocean current to circulate nutrients in the sea. A team of scientists plans to use technology to create 3-D imaging of digestion, and their research is described in the article along with the specific physiology and function of the villi within the digestive tract.

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Three Miles High: Using Drones to Study High-Altitude Glaciers:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. This text describes new and creative technologies that are being used in climate research to study high-altitude glaciers and map how they are changing. The text describes the ways in which the use of drones with time-lapse thermal camera systems are being used to gather data over the Peruvian Andes more effectively than satellites or planes. The text also describes some of the researchers' early findings based on the data they have gathered through the use of these drones.

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How Cells Take Out the Trash:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The text focuses on cellular waste and describes different ways a cell gets rid of waste. The text also briefly addresses how further study of the ways cells dispose of waste could lead to new approaches for preventing or treating disease.

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Shedding Light on Millipede Evolution:

This informational text resource is designed to support reading in the content area. The author tells of his success in locating and reclassifying a species of millipedes known as Motyxia bistipita. Until his rediscovery these millipedes were not known to show bioluminescence. Once he discovered this trait he was then also able to trace their evolutionary lineage and determine the reasons for the development of this ability in bipista's relatives. This article also discusses bioluminescence in other species and its important medical applications.

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Avogadro: Voice in the Wilderness:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how Avogadro's hypothesis, proposed prior to the publishing of Dalton's atomic theory, was initially rejected. But his hypothesis turned out to be the key to solving many problems facing chemistry in the 1800s. The article describes how the later acceptance of his original idea changed the subject forever and even allowed for the creation of the periodic table.

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Why Tau Trumps Pi:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The author tries to convince the reader that two pi, or tau, occurs more often in mathematics than pi by itself. The author provides several examples and indicates the history behind society's choice of pi rather than tau.

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In the Valley of Wolves: Reintroduction of the Wolves:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone has resulted in many changes in the ecosystem. Before the wolves were reintroduced, large elk populations destroyed aspen and willow trees, preventing their reproduction. Since wolves were reintroduced, elk have had to change their browsing behavior, allowing some vegetation to recover in certain areas. This has affected many other species, including beavers, birds, fish and insects.

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World record for compact particle accelerator: Researchers ramp up energy of laser-plasma 'tabletop' accelerator:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Using one of the most powerful lasers in the world, researchers have accelerated subatomic particles to the highest energies ever recorded from a compact accelerator. The team used a specialized petawatt laser and a charged-particle gas called plasma to get the particles up to speed. The setup is known as a laser-plasma accelerator, an emerging class of particle accelerators that physicists believe can shrink traditional, miles-long accelerators to machines that can fit on a table.

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Does Sour Cream Cause Bike Accidents?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Many people are confused about the concept of correlation versus causation. To help demonstrate the misconception in a light and humorous way, this article describes the work of Tyler Vigen. The Harvard student graphs data that are highly correlated but clearly unrelated. The "spurious correlations" help debunk the myth that if there is a correlation, then there is a causal relationship. The article emphasizes that rational human thought is essential to process the relationships and is necessary for studying statistics.

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Immune System:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The immune system's job is to defend against pathogens and keep our bodies healthy. There are a number of cell types, tissues, and organs that play a role in the immune process. The article discusses the three types of immunity: innate, adaptive, and passive. Finally, the article discusses various immune system disorders and diseases that are associated with each one.

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Periodic Table of the Elements:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This simple text explains the basics of how the periodic table is organized and summarizes the information that the table includes about each element.

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Climate's Troublesome Kids:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Did you know that climate has two not-so-nice children? Meet El Niño and La Niña, the "boy" and "girl" spawned by the global climate every 3-7 years. They can give the world a climate that's quite troublesome, depending on which one is causing the disturbance.

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Ultracold Atoms:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Most students are familiar with the four most common states of matter, but what about the 5th state of matter, the Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC for short)? This article explains what a BEC is and how researchers are exploring this unique state of matter.

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Oxidation-Reduction Reactions -- Real-Life Implications:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Oxidation-reduction reactions are one of the main types of reactions students are taught in chemistry class, but what are some real-life examples of this often awe-inspiring reaction? This article looks at the science behind some real-life oxidation-reduction reactions, including explosions (in cars and trains), space shuttle fuel, and many uses of metals. The importance of these reactions in limiting systems is also covered.

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The Dark Side of the Universe:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists discovered dark energy and dark matter. The article details the role gravity and the study of supernova played in this scientific discovery. It also explains the problems that scientists encountered in the process and the conclusion they were able to reach. The article further explains WIMP, a weakly interacting massive particle and its connection to gamma rays. It also explains how studying supernova helped scientists estimate the age of the universe. Finally, the article summarizes that dark energy still remains a mystery.

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Peru Billboard Doubles Up as an Air Purifier:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Students at a university in Peru have erected a billboard near a construction site that filters air. It uses water to rid the air of pollutants like dust, bacteria, and even metal particles. This innovative billboard purifies the same amount of air as 12,000 trees! The billboard uses recycled air and takes little energy to work. The embedded video shows the impact on the construction workers who are near the billboard.

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Humans and Squid Evolved Same Eyes Using Same Genes:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text discusses the evolution of the eye across different types of organisms. Eyes have evolved independently several times (such as in squid vs. humans), though all animals with eyes share the Pax6 gene, which is responsible for organizing the formation of a simple eye. The evolution of the Pax6 gene, particularly in how its RNA product is spliced, is responsible for the diversity of eye types, such as the camera eye in squid.

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How Nuclear Power Works:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. Nuclear power has become a suggested solution to the issue of energy dependence, but what exactly is nuclear power? This article focuses on the many aspects of nuclear power including how it's created through fission and harnessed for electricity. Discussion of the pros and cons of nuclear energy and storage methods is also covered.

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Gentoo Penguins Thrive, While Adelies and Chinstraps Falter in a Climate-Changed World:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes various species of penguins that are affected by warming climates in Antarctica. Tracing the penguins' genetic ancestry back to the last ice age suggests that some species' populations are increasing, while other species' populations are diminishing. This is likely due to the effects of climate change on the penguins' main food sources.

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Sun's Activity Triggers Lightning Strikes:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Researchers have found a correlation between solar wind and an increase in the number of lightning strikes near England, as much as 32% after a month-long period. They believe solar wind causes a greater number of strikes because it delivers streams of high-speed solar particles that strike Earth's atmosphere. This contrasts an earlier hypothesis that solar wind decreases lightning strikes because it deflects cosmic rays.

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Plant Detectives Dig into How Cells Grow:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Moss is being used as a model system that may hold the key to understanding how all plant and animal cells grow. This article shows how a deeper understanding of cell growth is being established: specifically, how the cytoskeleton directs growth.

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Male Faces May Have Evolved to Be Punch-Resistant:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes new research suggesting that human ancestors, particularly males, evolved stronger jaws that were resistant to punches. (Females, perhaps less prone to fighting, do not show this same adaptation). This contradicts earlier hypotheses, which suggested that larger jaws evolved to better consume food resources.

 

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The Cell's Protein Factory in Action:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The ribosome, the site of protein synthesis, is the focus of this article. The text describes how a problem-some antibiotics are targeting the ribosomes of both harmful and beneficial bacteria-is being solved by studying the movement of ribosomes during translation.

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Black Holes :

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes black holes: what they are, how they are formed, where they are located, what evidence there is for their existence, and what scientists still do not know about them.

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History Of Chemistry/Famous Chemists:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the history of chemistry through the scientific findings and major contributions of several important chemists. These chemists, including Joseph Priestly, Dmitri Mendeleev, and Niels Bohr, discovered properties of gases and other materials, developed the Law of Conservation of Mass and the periodic table, and contributed to the development of atomic theory.

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The Certainty of Climate Change:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Our Earth’s temperatures have increased over time and scientists are attributing this to human activities.

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Pesticides Spark Broad Biodiversity Loss:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article is about how agricultural pesticides are contributing to the biodiversity loss of invertebrates. Research teams examined streams in broad regions to study the effects of pesticides in those ecosystems. Up to 42% fewer species were discovered in streams that were highly contaminated. In another study, it was found that neonicotinoid insecticides accumulate in the soil at levels that kill soil invertebrates.

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Heaviest Named Element is Official:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the addition of copernicium, the heaviest named element, to the periodic table. It discusses the process of validation required for elements to be named and added to the periodic table.

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Does the Rotation of the Earth Affect Toilets and Baseball Games?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article examines the Coriolis effect-how the Earth's rotation affects moving objects-and its relationship to baseball, weather...and toilets. The author is concerned with dispelling some myths about the influence of the Coriolis effect on everyday things.

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Artistic Chemistry: A Beautiful Collaboration:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Chemistry can be an important part of creating art. This article discusses two examples of this: the presence of redox reactions in making Raku pottery, and the use of cleaning agents when creating stained glass. The process of making both types of art is described, along with the chemical reactions involved.

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What Happens to Shipping Containers Lost at Sea?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article examines how the marine environment is affected by shipping containers that accidentally fall to the seafloor. It explores how the containers can be harmful but can also be a benefit to the ecosystem depending on factors such as what the containers are carrying and what the containers are made of.

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Undead-End: Fungus that Controls Zombie-Ants has own Fungal Stalker:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Zombies may seem like science fiction, but that's exactly what scientists are calling the behavior in some species of ants. This article looks at the parasitic relationship between a form of fungus and carpenter ant that causes this zombie-like behavior. It also looks at a further complication to the process as the parasitic fungus has a parasite of its own.

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Warming Arctic May Be Causing Jet Stream to Lose Its Way:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains that changing weather patterns can be linked to a weakening of the jet stream. It is known that the jet stream is responsible for changeable weather patterns, and the weakening of the stream is causing weather conditions to stay in locations for longer periods of time. The article concludes that the fuel source of the jet stream (the differences in temperature between the tropics and the arctic) is becoming less dramatic, which in turn is weakening the winds.

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Understanding Uncertainty: What Was the Probability of Obama Winning?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article examines various factors that changed the uncertainty of whether Barack Obama would win the 2008 election. Specifically,the article discusses probability, the science of quantifying uncertainty. The article questions common methods for assessing probability where symmetrical outcomes are assumed. Finally, the author explains how to use past evidence to assess the chances of future events.

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Havard-Smithsonian Astrophysicist Discovers New Method to Weigh Some Distant Stars:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Astrophysicist David Kipping has discovered a new method for weighing distant stars without relying on computer models. For the method to work, a star must have a planet with an orbiting moon cross in front of it, a circumstance not yet known to scientists, but it shows promise for future solar discoveries.

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Molten Salts Could Improve Fuel Economy:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes a new technology that might a boost car engine's efficiency by 2% by adding ionic liquids called "molten salts" to lubricating engine oil. The addition of the molten salts has the potential to reduce millions of barrels of oils from being imported into the United States annually.

 

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Wave Power:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. New Jersey-based company Ocean Power Technologies has gained a permit to launch PowerBuoys, which will convert ocean wave energy into power for human consumption. The benefits and concerns of harnessing the ocean's energy by this method are discussed in the article.

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Newly Discovered Paddle Prints Show How Ancient Sea Reptiles Swam:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.

Scientists have found fossils in seabeds in China that are tracks left by nothosaurs, ancient sea reptiles. These tracks provide evidence that these reptiles moved by rowing their forelimbs in unison, answering a long-standing question about how they propelled themselves.

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Brewing a New Fuel Source:

Mano Misra at the University of Nevada has proposed the use of old coffee grounds to make a biodiesel fuel. The benefits include the reduction of harmful emissions that trap greenhouse gases. Misra suggests ways in which the hurdle of gathering grounds for fuel production can be overcome.

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The Infinite Struggle Against Invasive Species in the Galapagos:

The Galapagos Islands provide some of the most unique flora and fauna in the world, and the islands have served as a hot spot for modern evolutionary theory, thanks to the work of Charles Darwin. However, the island's unique biodiversity is threatened by invasive species. This article delves into the struggle we face to preserve the species which are native to the islands.

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What is the Electromagnetic Spectrum?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the entire range of light waves which constitute the electromagnetic spectrum. Excellent graphics aid in illustrating the differences in types of light. The article also uses the electromagnetic spectrum to explore the universe, from visible light to X-rays and gamma rays.

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Debate Tests Accuracy of Tree Ring Data :

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains the controversy surrounding the research of scientists Mann, Fuentes, and Rutherford, whose work suggests that tree rings may not be as accurate a record of past climate changes as once thought. The author explains how the reliance on one type or source of data is a limitation in science and discusses the other information available to reconstruct climates of the past.

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The Weird, Wild World of Citizen Science is Already Here:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the collision course between citizens and scientists as "makers" and "hobbyists" begin aiding and supplementing the scientific community more and more. The article gives many examples of amateurs helping out on active projects, especially when science cannot dedicate the hours or money necessary to complete them.

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Meteorites May Have Sparked Life on Earth:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have formulated and tested another theory to explain how life began on Earth: meteorites crashing into the surface of the ancient planet brought with them the elements of life's building blocks. The results of the scientists' simulations are promising.

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Space Weather: Sunspots, Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections :

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes three kinds of solar phenomena: sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections. Each is explained in relation to its effect on the weather, climate, and technology of Earth. NASA programs that monitor the activity of the Sun are also described.

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A Fuel Cell for Home: Tested in Private Households:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists at the Fraunhofer Institute in Dresden have developed an energy-efficient fuel cell superior to combustion engines and other traditional ways of heating homes. The stacked fuel cells convert natural gas directly into electrical energy without resulting in energy loss. The fuel cell prototypes are being tried in homes and signal promise for the future.

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The Big Bang: What Really Happened at Our Universe's Birth?:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article explains the current prevailing theory of the Big Bang by breaking it up into a timeline. At each moment after the Big Bang, the author discusses what happened and what evidence exists for it. The text also explores the mystery of what—if anything—existed before the Big Bang.

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The Unexplained Mystery of Why Hot Water Freezes Faster than Cold:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the Mpemba Effect - the odd phenomenon that causes hot water to freeze faster than cold water. The author discovers how a high school student brought the Mpemba Effect to the attention of a physicists and explores potential hypotheses for the cause of the phenomenon. The author goes on to discuss some experiments that have sought to explain the Mpemba Effect, but none have done so conclusively.

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Math for Hungry Birds:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. A new study indicates that the flying patterns of hunting albatrosses may resemble mathematical designs called fractals. This article describes the basics of fractals and why scientists think the albatross may hunt in such patterns. As it turns out, many animals may use math to find food!

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Evolution Made Ridiculous Flightless Birds Over and Over:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article focuses on the evolution of ratites—large, flightless birds like the ostrich—and how they evolved to become flightless birds. New research shows that ratites evolved from common flying ancestors and that the evolutionary process occurred over and over again.

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Demystifying Gross Stuff:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. From pimples to bad breath to passing gas, this article clears up the science behind some of the gross things our bodies do—acne, bad breath, and flatulence—in an attempt to make the gross seem a little less so.

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The Human Immune System and Infectious Disease:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains the importance and function of the human immune system with a detailed discussion of non-specific versus specific immunity. The text features an embedded animated component showing how vaccines work.

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Cool Jobs: Planet Protectors:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists are looking into newer, futuristic technologies to help humans do less damage to our environment. This article focuses on three very exciting solutions—leafy walls, water conservation, and solar cells—that are close to becoming realities.

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Will Seafloor Carpets Be the Key to Harvesting Wave Energy?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how scientists have discovered a method of transferring wave energy into electrical energy by the use of manmade seafloor "carpets." After the article explains how the process works, it lists the potential benefits of utilizing this method on a large scale.

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World Cup Raises Epidemic Questions:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Tropical areas such as Brazil can be hotspots for communicable diseases due to warm temperatures and crowded urban spaces. There is a concern that when Brazil hosts the World Cup, mosquito-borne dengue fever may spread to its visitors. The article explores methods of pathogen transfer in a variety of venues (pilgrimages, airplanes, cruise lines) and compares these to conditions at the World Cup.

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NASA Hits Jackpot With Discovery Of 715 New Exoplanets:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the methods scientists have used to discover a large range of planets that exist outside of our solar system. It then details how the technology and techniques involved in planetary identification have evolved to become more efficient. The article also explains that scientists are constantly looking for planets in a "Goldilocks Zone" that could contain liquid water, and therefore sustain life.

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Animal Clones: Double Trouble?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Would you want to eat "clone chops?" This article discusses the possibility of food products derived from cloned animals appearing on our plates in the future. Also included is a brief history of cloning and the methods by which it is executed. In addition, the ethical and health arguments surrounding this development are discussed.

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Tornadoes Strike Again. How Do They Work?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Tornado events seem to be increasing over the years. Computer simulations and high-resolution satellite imagery are a few of the emerging technologies that have helped us to predict and respond more rapidly to this deadly force of nature. The article gives a solid discussion of the role of latent heat and moving air in tornado formation. It also reviews energy transformations and gives an overview of several ways that people can more safely live in Tornado Alley.

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"Greener" Energy Needed Now, Group Warns:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article is based on a climate change report published by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It provides another perspective on climate change from the IPCC and includes evidence and possible solutions to the problems caused by man-made pollution.

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Chemists Expand Nature's Genetic Alphabet:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article provides some of the newest and most exciting information relating to the DNA in living things. It is a synopsis of a recent experiment in which scientists were able to successfully add two new "letters" into DNA and have the cell replicate these new bases. This could lead to advances in genetics, medicine, and various other fields of study.

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"Designer" Chromosome for Brewer's Yeast Built from Scratch:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have been able to create a synthetic functioning chromosome (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) found in yeast. With this breakthrough, they might be able to create customizable bio-fuels, vaccines, or even synthetic organisms in the future.

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Urban Bees Respond to Littering by Adopting Innovative Nest-Building Techniques:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains how some bees living in an urban environment have started to build their nests out of human-made materials such as plastics. Furthermore, the bees seem to prefer the materials to plants! Scientists theorize that these nests may actually prove to be safer for the bees, as they are stronger and protect against parasites.

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Could Common Earthly Organisms Thrive on Mars?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article asks the question: could life exist on Mars? The research depicted specifically applies to a simple, single-celled organism called a methanogen, which is in the kingdom Archaea. So far, studies have shown that these types of organisms are able to survive in manipulated environments similar to the harsh conditions on Mars.

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The Calamitous Climate Responsible for Florida's Record Rainfall:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article introduces extreme rainfall as an effect of climate change that is both measurable and personal - as it occurred in our own back yard. The article discusses the storm in Pensacola before heading into information about climate change.

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Blood Does a Body Good:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes the components of blood (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, and plasma) including their functions and origins, along with a novel medical application for the rare blood-producing stem cells.

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The Weather on the Moon Is Wonderful! Except for One Small Thing...:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article highlights the dangers that solar flares pose to moon colonization and how humans might deal with them. It is a brief article that grabs the reader's attention and leaves him/her thinking.

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How to Win at Rock-Paper-Scissors:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes a new study about the game rock-paper-scissors. The study reveals that people do not play randomly; there are patterns and hidden psychology players frequently use. Understanding these potential moves can help a player increase their winning edge. As part of interpreting the results of the study, the article references the Nash equilibrium and the "win-stay lose-shift" strategy.

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Invasive Pythons Put Squeeze on Everglades' Animals:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This interesting article about Burmese pythons in the Everglades showcases the effect one invasive species has on a local ecosystem and habitat. This is a great way to discuss invasive species in the classroom and explore the causes and effects on biodiversity.

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How Tumbleweeds Spread Radiation from Old Nuclear Sites:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how radioactive materials can be spread by biological vectors, such as tumbleweeds and rabbits, from decommissioned nuclear sites and nuclear waste storage facilities.

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International Research Team Close Human Evolution Gap with Discovery of 1.4 Million-Year-Old Fossil :

Scientists discover a fossil which dates back 1.42 million years and shows the development of a bone not found in human fossils prior to this date.

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How Plants Evolved to Cope with Cold:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article reports on research into the evolution of plants in cold climates.

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New GPM Video Dissects the Anatomy of a Raindrop :

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article by NASA explains the physical reasons why the shape of a raindrop is more bun-shaped than tear-shaped.

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The Sloth's Busy Inner Life:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article is about how scientists sought to understand why some sloths descend from trees, risking their lives, to defecate on the ground. Their research results suggest that the behavior is to increase the benefit gained from the sloth's mutualists: moths and algae.

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Introduction to Sedimentary Rock:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes how sedimentary rocks are destroyed and created through the rock cycle via the processes of weathering, transportation, sorting, and deposition.

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Cultured Beef: Do We Really Need a $380,000 Burger Grown in Petri Dishes?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the way scientists have created the first lab-grown meat and the possible implications of this new technology. An infographic and video are included that add significantly to the content.

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How the Ingenious Mushroom Creates Its Own Microclimate:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains the mushroom's ability to make its own microclimate. Through convection caused by the release of water vapor, mushrooms can efficiently disperse spores.

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Deforestation: Facts, Causes & Effects:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article explains the causes and locations of deforestation and explores the environmental consequences that occur because of the practice.

Type: Text Resource

Swine Flu Goes Global:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article is about the swine flu. It explains where and how the virus originated, what countries it can be found in, facts about the virus, and whether a vaccine might be developed.

Type: Text Resource

Fireworks!:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes the composition and workings of fireworks. Details are also given as to how the colors, lights, sounds, and propulsion are produced by fireworks' components.

Type: Text Resource

Life's Little Essential:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains why water is so essential and the properties of water that make it critical for life on Earth.

Type: Text Resource

Monster Sunspot Larger Than Jupiter Stars in Amazing Sun Photos:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes a large sunspot on the sun. It also briefly mentions some characteristics of the sun as well as the effects of the sunspots on earth.

Type: Text Resource

Seahorse Heads Have a 'No Wake Zone' That's Made for Catching Prey:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article explains how seahorse heads are specialized to eliminate vibrations in the water, which might alert prey to their presence.

Type: Text Resource

New Housecat-Size Feline Species Discovered:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how scientists have discovered a species of Oncilla (little tiger cats) in Northeastern Brazil, which are a genetically different species than those in the rest of South America.

Type: Text Resource

The Real-Life Neuroscience Behind Zombies:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text discusses the possible real-life brain disorders that could contribute to fictional zombie behavior. There is also a video that explains these disorders further.

Type: Text Resource

Bacteria Learn New Trick:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article shows how, through experimentation, bacteria evolve over a short period of time. The E.coli bacteria show the ability to eat a new food, citrate, after 13,000 generations of gene mutation.

Type: Text Resource

F-16 Accident Investigation Complete:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Investigators give their final conclusion of what caused an F-16 crash after making scientific observations.

Type: Text Resource

Thermometers:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text classifies the different types of thermometers, the history of each, and the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Type: Text Resource

Bactreia and Fungi Together: A Biofuel Dream Team?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the use of bacteria and fungi to share the process of changing cellulose in corn husks to isobutanol. In contrast to current methods of producing biofuels, this process requires a simple, one bioreactor process.

Type: Text Resource

The Electromagnetic Spectrum:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains the source of electromagnetic waves and surveys the types, including examples of each.

Type: Text Resource

Noble Gas Molecule Discovered in Space:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how the noble gas compound was discovered along with suggestions on how it might have formed and some of its properties.

Type: Text Resource

In a Grain of Golden Rice, A World of Controversy Over GMO Foods:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text discusses the origins of, and controversy surrounding, Golden Rice, a genetically modified food that could potentially provide beta-carotene to millions in Africa and Asia.

Type: Text Resource

Are There Mysterious Forces Lurking in Our Atoms and Galaxies?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses a physicist's search for a new universal force, along with details regarding the four fundamental/universal forces (gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force and weak nuclear force).

Type: Text Resource

Slug-Inspired Glue Can Heal a Broken Heart:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article describes a new glue, mimicking the sea slug, that can be used to mend heart defects.

Type: Text Resource

New Problem Linked to 'Jet Lag':

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have discovered that when they disrupt waking and sleeping times in mice, their immune systems responded in a harmful way causing disease, asthma, allergies, and maybe even immune disorders.

Type: Text Resource

Tiles May Help Shrink Carbon Footprint by Harnessing Pedestrian Power:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the development of floor tiles that provide a green, alternative energy source. These tiles work on the principle that pressure (footsteps) generates an electric current from certain crystals in an application of the piezoelectric effect.

Type: Text Resource

The Surprisingly Scientific Flash Behind the Fireworks:

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Chemists create pyrotechnics to give viewers the most spectacular fireworks show that they can by using basic chemistry concepts and physics. Readers of this article might be surprised to learn that conserving energy, preventing explosions, and cooling-down reactions are part of this process.

Type: Text Resource

What is Chemiluminescence?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text defines chemiluminescence as an exothermic chemical process. It contrasts endothermic and exothermic reactions. To better understand chemiluminescence, the author compares the process to incandescence and gives examples of chemiluminescence in everyday life and in nature.

Type: Text Resource

How Phase Change Materials Can Keep Your Coffee Hot:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses the concept of phase change materials (PCM) and how they can be used to maintain constant temperatures through application of the Law of Conservation of Energy and energy transfer.

Type: Text Resource

The Story of Serendipity:

The article explains how some famous scientific discoveries that happened "by accident" more accurately resulted from scientific habits of mind, which allowed researchers to take full advantage of these serendipitous moments.

Type: Text Resource

Graphene: The Next Wonder Material?:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article places special attention on the properties of graphene and its future potential uses.

Type: Text Resource

Snowflake Science: How it Snows for Days in the Arctic:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The purpose of this text is to explain how a conceptual model for snowfall in the Arctic is useful in explaining how snow falls for days on end in relatively clean atmospheric conditions.

Type: Text Resource

Open-Cycle:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text describes the open cycle method of converting the energy of warmed, surface seawater into electricity and the benefits of using this method.

Type: Text Resource

Discovery of New Enzyme Could Yield Better Plants for Biofuel:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the discovery of a new gene that produces an enzyme that controls lignin production in plants. Withholding the gene results in less lignin in plants and makes it easier to extract sugars used in the production of biofuels.

Type: Text Resource

What We Learned about Human Origins in 2013:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article summarizes the gains in the understanding of hominid evolution to include comparative archaeology and biology, DNA and tool analysis.

Type: Text Resource

Spider Webs More Effective at Snaring Electrically Charged Insects:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area.

The text describes how negatively charged spider webs attract positively charged insects. The article includes a link to an optional video and two good pictures of insects interacting with spider webs. This resource also includes text-dependent questions.

Type: Text Resource

X-ray 'Eyes':

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have discovered that X-rays can be used to photograph the movement of atoms and molecules in chemical reactions (i.e., photosynthesis).

Type: Text Resource

Clue to How the Circulatory System is Wired:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text describes the discovery of an enzyme’s role in blood vessel growth and development. The enzyme may be essential for advances in cancer research.

Type: Text Resource

Oil Found in Gulf Beach Sand, Even after Cleanups:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses the unseen effects from the Gulf oil spill which lie beneath the surface of the "clean" sand along the Gulf Coast of the United States.

Type: Text Resource

Tidal Energy:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text proposes the advantages and disadvantages of three methods of converting tidal energy into electricity. The text includes links to outside information and key vocabulary words are highlighted with blue print.

Type: Text Resource

Paintball: Chemistry Hits its Mark:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. The article discusses how the concept of paintball originated and how it has changed into the sport of today. It also describes how the different states of matter are all present in the components of paintball.

Type: Text Resource

Blood Made Suitable For All:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The text explains how blood is classified into types based on the presence of antigens. It describes a process whereby antigens can be removed by an enzyme to make all blood types the same as the universal donor.

Type: Text Resource

Animal Cells Can Communicate by Reaching Out and Touching, UCSF Team Discovers:

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. Scientists have discovered that animal cells can communicate by sending out thin tubes of cytoplasm called cytonemes that extend across many cells to reach a cell that will receive the signal, much like neuron communication.

Type: Text Resource

Do Diamonds Really Come from Coal?:

This resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article debunks a popular Superman myth. Even though diamonds and coal are both different forms of carbon, and pressure is a key part of turning carbon into diamonds, the author explains why Superman cannot crush coal to make diamonds. The article goes on to explain how diamonds are actually formed.

Type: Text Resource

How Sinkholes Form:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article discusses how sinkholes form, ways to recognize impending sinkholes, and ways to prevent them.

Type: Text Resource

Threatened Coral Get Fishy Rescue:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This article describes an experiment that was done by scientists to show how corals are being destroyed by a certain type of seaweed and how goby fish rescue the coral.

Type: Text Resource

IVF Pioneer Wins Medicine Nobel Prize:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article covers the topics of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF), bioengineering, the scientific pioneers, and the ethical debate surrounding it.

Type: Text Resource

Meet the Oldest Member of the Human Family:

This informational text is intended to support reading in the content area. This article from Scientific American describes a fossil skull of a new genus and species of hominid thought to be 7 million years old, which was found in central Africa.

Type: Text Resource

New Fossils Reveal Older Human Ancestor:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. This text is about the finding of a hominid fossil that is 1.5 million years older than other hominid fossils found to date.

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: A Journey to Becoming Debt Free:

Students will use this case study to answer the guided question: How can consumers manage debt responsibly?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Aligning a Misalignment:

Using this case study, students can discuss "How can an authorized collision repair shop create a misalignment where one didn’t exist?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: All About Arie:

Using this case study, students can discuss, "How much personal information in the hands of a service/product provider is too much?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: An Unplanned Opportunity:

Using this case study, students can explore the question, "How can individuals evaluate opportunity costs when making career choices and other financial decisions?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Backyard Office Dilemma:

Using this case study, students can discuss, what are the challenges with modifying a pre-made structure to prepare it for another purpose?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Busy Day in X-Ray:

Using the case study, students can discuss "How should staff shortages be handled when patient demand is high?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Clear the Path:

Using this case study, students can discuss, What factors contribute to a safe, productive workplace?

 

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Colossal Cookie Location Quest:

Using this case study, students will be able to answer the question "What factors should be considered when selecting business locations?".

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Colossal Cookie Product Quest:

Using this case study, students can discuss the question, "What should be considered when creating a successful product?"

 

 

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Colossal Cookie Profit Dilemma:

Using this case study, students will answer the question, "What factors should be considered when setting prices for products?" 

 

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Colossal Cookie Promotion Dilemma:

Using this case study, students can answer the question "What factors should be considered when promoting a business?".

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Competent Computer Company:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "How can a computer technician competently and professionally assist a customer with their computer workstation setup?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Customer Service Skills:

Using this case study, students can answer the question "How can employees provide effective and quality customer service?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Danger Zone:

Using this case study, students will answer the question: "How can any individual influence the safety culture of the workplace?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Digital Dangers:The Impact of Your Personal Digital Footprint in the Workplace:

Using this case study students can discuss, "What impact can your social media post history and digital footprint have on your career?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Digital Literacy in the Workplace:

Using this case study students can discuss, "What should businesses include in employee  training regarding workplace responsibilities involving digital literacy?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Digital Media Job Interview:

Using this case study, students can discuss, "What are the practices that should be followed when going into a job interview?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Dining Out Dilemma: How to Meal Plan and Budget for Busy Families:

Using this case study students can discuss,"What are meal planning strategies that families with busy schedules can use to save money and still eat healthy?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Efficient Web Design:

Using this case study, students can discuss "Which elements are best to use to create effective web pages?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Employers Supporting Employees:

Using this case study, students can discuss, "How can employers assist employees whose personal challenges are impacting performance?".  

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Facing Rising Food Costs:

Using this Case Study, students will answer the question,  "How can a food service establishment respond to rising food costs without negatively impacting sales?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Finding the Light:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "What considerations go into evaluating the lighting needs of a production?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Getting Noticed in the Workplace:

Using this case study students can discuss "How can an employee"s behaviors and actions drive their career stability and path?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Helping Students Succeed:

Using this case study, students can discuss "How can a teacher apply their knowledge of  learning theories to help diverse students succeed in the classroom?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: How Will the Eagles Get to the Playoffs?:

Using this case study students will answer the question: "How does marketing strategy support outcomes?".

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Inspiration vs Copyright Infringement :

Using this case study students will answer the question: When does the inspiration of some one’s art being used become copyright infringement?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Is There Probable Cause?:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "Under what conditions, if any, can a law enforcement officer conduct a search of a student’s possessions without probable cause?"

 

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: It Looks Nice, But Does It Work?:

Using this case study, students can discuss, "How do the principles of design fit into the engineering design process?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Learning How to Work in a Production Team:

Using this case study, students can discuss, how does pre-production influence the production and post-production processes?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Planning for a Sports News Package:

Using this case study students will answer the question: Did the students plan effectively during the preproduction process to create a high quality sports news package?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Pressures of Adapting to Changing Technologies:

Using this case study, students will answer the question, "When should emerging technology be adapted to replace old technologies?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Professional Work Ethic:

Using this case study, students will answer the question, "What does it mean to have professional behavior?" 

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Senior Lending:

Using this case study, students can answer the question "What restrictions can financial institutions place on conventional mortgage lending applicants?".

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Should the Business Expand?:

Using this case study, students can discuss the question, "what factors should be considered when contemplating a business expansion?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Spending Your Life Away: Budgeting for the Future:

Using this case study students can discuss, "How are personal income goals related to life events?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Summer Job or Future Career?:

Using this case study, students will answer question: How can nature and plants provide us with future career opportunities?  

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Susan Can't See Red:

Students will use the case study to answer the question, "How can designers address Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility challenges on digital media?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: SWOT Analysis:

Using this case study, students can discuss "How does a manager conduct a SWOT analysis?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: The Benefits of a Viral Post:

Using this case study, students will answer the question, "How can social media be used as an advertising tool?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: The Boss’s Pet Project PSA:

Using this case study, students can discuss: "How can a production team work together to produce an effective public service announcement for a non-profit fundraiser event?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: The Healthy Meal Choice:

Using this case study students will answer the question "What challenges do families face when planning meals to meet their lifestyle needs?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: The Repercussions of Inappropriate Technology Use:

Using this case study, students can discuss, "What are the appropriate uses of technology and how do we make sure they are properly implemented?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Throw It My Way :

Using the case study, students will answer the question, "how can everyday awareness and actions help our environment?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Today’s Special: Dietary Restrictions:

Using this case study, the students will be able to answer the question "When preparing a menu for an older population, what are the primary considerations?

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Understanding How Copyright Law Impacts A Production:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "What are the limits of fair use regarding copyright protection?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: We Were Just Talking:

Using this case study, students will answer the question, "How can personal communication between employees inadvertently and negatively impact customer satisfaction of a business?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: What if I Used A.I. To Build My Site?:

Using the case study students will answer the question: "What role does A.I. play in a competitive digital design market?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: When Visitation is Volatile:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "How should a correctional officer demonstrate ethical and professional behaviors during family visitation day at the local prison?".

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Will this Stay be ADA Compliant?:

Using this case study, students will be able to answer, "How can a hotel ensure equal access for all guests?"

Type: Text Resource

Climate Change Affects Forest Floor Ecosystem:

This informational text resource is intended to support reading in the content area. The article presents experimental results from an investigation of how the amount of rainfall, predicted by climate change models, affects fungal decomposition on the forest floor. It discusses how spiders, springtails, and fungi form an important part of the nutrient-cycling food web in a forest ecosystem and how decomposition rates are influenced by precipitation in unique ways.

Type: Text Resource

Worksheet

Case Study: Jackson's Haircut:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "How could a routine haircut result in folliculitis?"

Type: Worksheet

Original Student Tutorials for Language Arts - Grades 6-12

Analyzing Connotative Meaning in Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse":

Learn to differentiate the connotative and denotative meanings of words in context. In this interactive tutorial, you'll  study excerpts from “Total Eclipse,” an essay written by Annie Dillard. You will analyze Dillard’s word choices throughout portions of her essay to better understand their impact and meanings. 

Exploring and Gathering Vocabulary:

Learn several ways to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, including context clues, word parts, and dictionary skills. In this interactive tutorial, you'll apply these strategies to text passages from John Muir's book A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf, which includes vivid descriptions of Florida in the late 1800s.

Playing with Words: Changing Word Forms:

Learn how to transform words into other words, including nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, adjectives into adverbs, and much more with this interactive tutorial.

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part One):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 1, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Three):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 3, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to open the first two parts.

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Two):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 2, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

Vocabulary in Action:

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context. 

Vocabulary Mastery :

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context.

Vocabulary Power:

Review strategies for acquiring new vocabulary and then learn fifteen new words in this interactive tutorial. You'll also practice using the words in a variety of ways to help you add them to your vocabulary.

Vocabulary Unleashed:

Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.

Word Sleuth: Using Context Clues:

Learn to use context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in this interactive tutorial.

Student Resources

Vetted resources students can use to learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.

Original Student Tutorials

Vocabulary Unleashed:

Learn 12 new academic vocabulary words in this interactive tutorial! You'll practice the words' synonyms, antonyms, parts of speech, and context clues in order to add them to your vocabulary.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Analyzing Connotative Meaning in Annie Dillard's "Total Eclipse":

Learn to differentiate the connotative and denotative meanings of words in context. In this interactive tutorial, you'll  study excerpts from “Total Eclipse,” an essay written by Annie Dillard. You will analyze Dillard’s word choices throughout portions of her essay to better understand their impact and meanings. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Two):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 2, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part Three):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 3, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to open the first two parts.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

The Bermuda Triangle: Full of Mysterious Words! (Part One):

Determine the meaning of unknown words and phrases in an informational text about the Bermuda Triangle in this three-part interactive tutorial. In Part 1, you'll practice determining the meaning of unknown vocabulary using context clues and dictionary skills.

Click below to complete all three parts!

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Playing with Words: Changing Word Forms:

Learn how to transform words into other words, including nouns into verbs, verbs into adjectives, adjectives into adverbs, and much more with this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary Mastery :

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary in Action:

Acquire new vocabulary through this interactive tutorial. You'll learn definitions for 15 new words, as well as their parts of speech, their synonyms and antonyms, and you'll practice using them in context. 

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Vocabulary Power:

Review strategies for acquiring new vocabulary and then learn fifteen new words in this interactive tutorial. You'll also practice using the words in a variety of ways to help you add them to your vocabulary.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Exploring and Gathering Vocabulary:

Learn several ways to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words, including context clues, word parts, and dictionary skills. In this interactive tutorial, you'll apply these strategies to text passages from John Muir's book A Thousand-mile Walk to the Gulf, which includes vivid descriptions of Florida in the late 1800s.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Word Sleuth: Using Context Clues:

Learn to use context clues, including synonyms, antonyms, and inferences, to determine the meaning of unfamiliar words in this interactive tutorial.

Type: Original Student Tutorial

Text Resources

Case Study: Getting Noticed in the Workplace:

Using this case study students can discuss "How can an employee"s behaviors and actions drive their career stability and path?"

Type: Text Resource

Case Study: Understanding How Copyright Law Impacts A Production:

Using this case study, students can answer the question, "What are the limits of fair use regarding copyright protection?"

Type: Text Resource

Parent Resources

Vetted resources caregivers can use to help students learn the concepts and skills in this benchmark.