Have you ever tried to find a ball under a cup out of several that are shuffled around? A study by researchers at Harvard did this with 21 adults, 21 children and a 22 year old parrot. Colorful pom-poms were placed until cups and were moved around. Participants had to follow the moving cup to keep track of which cup had a pom-pom.The results, the African grey parrot, Griffin, did the best on the memory test. He outperformed the children and was slightly better or equal to the adults! Photograph from dailymail.co.uk

Elephants and farmers in Botswana don't often get along. The elephants trample their crops, planted near the Chobe River, where the elephants go for water and the fertile grasses growing there. Dogs barking, fences and farmers banging pots, haven't seem to detract the elephants, who especially roam in the night hours. A new idea, from Elephants Without Borders, seems to be working to keep the wild elephants from damaging farmer's crops. Solar powered Strobe lights(disco lights) have been placed to create a light barrier along the perimeter of the farmers' fields. The different color lights, whose patterns are changed weekly, seem to be keeping the elephants away from the crops. Note:A similar idea was tried in the country in India(southwestern India-Calicut) back in 2018.

This balloon ride is going to be an out of this world experience when passengers lift off in 2021. Along with a pilot, eight people , on each trip, will embark on a six hour round trip to the edge of space! The Space Perspective's vehicle uses hydrogen (helium is in short supply) to inflate the balloon that extends about the length of a football field. The cabin will offer 360 degree views from 100,000 ft. above the earth. The ride, which will begin at the Florida's Cecil Spaceport and/or Kennedy Space Center, will end when the balloon vehicle splashes down to the ocean and the passengers are retrieved and brought back to shore. Start saving your money, as a ticket will cost about $125,000!

Scientists are saying the world's biggest whirling mass of dust nicknamed the "Godzilla Dust Cloud" is heading to the USA. Specifically, the dust storm is likely to hit the southeastern parts of the country.Originating in the Sahara Desert,trade winds often bring dust clouds on a 5000 mile trip to North America. This, however, is the largest such dust storm in at least 50 years. The storm can been seen by the astronauts at the International Space Station.

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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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