The country of Egypt has announced a wonderfully preserved tomb dating back 4400 years. The discovery was made near Saqqara and is decorated with much hieroglyphics(ancient Egyptian writing). The tomb also has 45 statues, many of pharaohs(kings of ancient Egypt),carved into the rock. It is believed that the tomb was untouched for hundreds of centuries and archeologists are hopeful that the tomb, thought to be that of an important priest, will include many artifacts, when excavation begins in the new year. Interestingly, the tomb is in the same area as the famous Step Pyramid.

Photograph from reuters.com

An amazingly successful launch of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic took place in the Mojave Desert, in California. The SpaceShipTwo reached the edge of outer space, or 51.4 miles in altitude. The space vehicle had two pilots aboard for the historic ride, which reached 2.9 times the speed of sound in less than one minute! It is hoped that within six months, the company will begin offering rides of a lifetime! The cost for the trip will be $250,000 per person and will include a few minutes of weightlessness(zero gravity).

Photograph from dailymail.co.uk

Plastic bags. Most people use them but they are very harmful to the environment and especially marine life. It is believed that up to 5% of all plastic bags find their way into our oceans. People in the capital city of Nepal, Kathmandu, are hoping to make a statement with what they are hoping will take the title as the world's largest sculpture made from plastic bags. Using collected plastic bags, a map of the Dead Sea was created. An estimated 100,000 plastic bags were used to make the sculpture which measures 65 ft. long and 16 ft. Tall. It is hoped that the plastic bag sculpture will create an awareness to just how many plastic bags find their way into the our oceans. The current plastic bag sculpture record was done in the country of Singapore, back in 2012. An octopus was made from 68,000 plastic bags!

Photograph from news18.com

The Tree is here! Each year, the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree brings thousands and thousands of tourists to New York City. This year's Norway spruce tree comes from Wallkill, NY, and stands 72 ft. tall. Called "Shelby" by the people where the tree has stood for many years, the 2018 tree will be decorated with 50,000 lights and crowned with a 900 pound Swarovski crystal star. The official lighting is November 28th. After the holiday season is over, the tree will be donated to Habitat for Humanity where the wood will be used to build homes. The Rockefeller Center tree has been a tradition since 1931.During the Great Depression, workers were constructing Rockefeller Center and decorated a tree, on Christmas Eve.

Knickers is a very large steer that lives on a ranch in Australia. Standing 6' 4", the Holstein Friesian tips the scale at about 3000 pounds. Knickers doesn't have to worry about become thousands of hamburger patties as he is actually too large for a processing plant. So, Knickers will live out his life on the range grazing with other cattle and being the one that other steers follow around. Possibly a record size steer for the country of Australia, Knickers doesn't take world record honors. Currently, that goes to a steer in Italy.Called Bellino, the steer measures 6' 6.5" in height!

Photograph from msm.com

PAST NEWS STORIES

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"The school is the last expenditure upon which America should be willing to compromise."FDR "If a man empties his purse into his head, no man can take it away from him. An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest."(Ben Franklin) "You must be the change you want to see in the world."(Mahatma Gandhi) "School is a building that has four walls-with tomorrow inside."(Lon Watters) "We know the future will outlast all of us, but I believe that all of us will live on in the future we make."(Senator Ted Kennedy) "The purpose of life is a life of purpose." (Robert Byrne)
Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!

About Gail:

I have retired from teaching after 33 1/2 years in the classroom. Of that time, I taught Grade 6 Social Studies teacher for 31 1/2 years.I earned my BA in early secondary education with a concentration in social studies from SUNY Oneonta, New York, and my MST in social studies education from Binghamton University in New York. In 1988, I was awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Classroom Teacher of the Year Award from the New York State Council for the Social Studies. Additionally, in 1988, I was also awarded the Outstanding Elementary Social Studies Teacher of the Year Award by the National Council for the Social Studies. I am the author of 8 books for teachers and over 30 books for children(Purple Turtle Series by Aadarsh Publishing). In 2019, my new series of three books, "Odd History" will be published by Red Chair Press.

My work has appeared in most children's publications including:
Appleseeds,Scholastic's Super Science,Scholastic's Science World,Highlights for Children,Jack and Jill,National Geographic World, Ranger Rick, Cobblestone, Faces, Muse Magazine,Contact Kids, US Kids,Action Magazine(Scholastic),Girls' Life,Boys' Life,American Girl, Instructor,Creative Classroom,Middle Years,Time for Kids,Scholastic News,Scholastic News Zone, Time for Kids , Ask Magazine, Dig,Calliope, Cobblestone, FACES, Studies Weekly, Glo Adventurer, and more.

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