Divers came upon a HUGE jellyfish off the coast of Cornwall, England. The huge barrel jellyfish(also called the dustbin-lid jellyfish) was estimated at about 5 ft. in length. The human sized huge barrel jellyfish is very rare to spot. Amazingly, this jellyfish, with eight long chubby looking arms underneath its body, isn't the largest of the ocean jellyfish. A lion's mane jellyfish is the largest. With 1200 tentacles, the body of a lion's mane can reach about 120 feet in length. Think the length of a blue whale!

Photograph from Lizzie Daly Wildlife(Facebook)/ABCNews.com

Mattel, the makers of Barbie, will be honoring astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti with a new Barbie doll. Part of the Barbie Dream Gap Project, the company hopes the doll will be a role model to young girls inspiring them that they can dream of becoming anything. Cristoforetti, is the first Italian female member of the European Space Agency.

Photograph from dailymail.co.uk

A businessman has a unique idea to bring fresh water to the Arabian Gulf. He plans to bring giant icebergs from Antarctica! Fresh drinking water is in short supply in desert regions. Removing salt from sea water(desalination) is costly. Abdulla Alshehi thinks that despite dragging icebergs 5500 miles, there still would be sufficient amounts of ice left to make the idea workable. In addition to drinking water, Alshehi believes that the bergs would generate cloud formation as the icebergs melt, perhaps, causing some rain to fall on the area. Before the year is out, Alshehi will do an experiment bringing a smaller iceberg to the area to see just whether his idea will work.

Photograph from oddity central.com

Can you shot a basketball from the foul line? Cue 3 just made 2000 shots in a row! It's a new world's record! Cue 3 is a robot with sensors which helps him figure out the best angle and force to use. Standing 6ft. 10 in., the humanoid must be moved into position as he is unable to move on his own. Before Cue 3 stopped his foul shooting, he actually made 2020 baskets in a row to honor the 2020 Olympic Games that will be played in Tokyo, Japan.

Photograph from dailymail.co.uk

A wonderful light show is on display in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. A species of fireflies, photons Carolinas, are believed to be one of the only species of lightning bugs in North America to synchronize their flashing. For two weeks, thousands and thousands of male flash their bioluminescent green-yellow lights in the abdomens, about 6-8 blinks at a time and then go dark for a couple of seconds,trying to find a mating partner.Females respond just one flash.Humans who wish to visit the park to see the remarkable light show must enter a lottery, which just a small number gaining access to the park during this time. Learn about fireflies at this link:Fireflies

Photograph from justfunfacts.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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