Do you like doing jigsaw puzzles? If you are, you are a dissectologist! Did you know there is a annual World Jigsaw Puzzle Championship? Since 2019, the four day event has been held in Valladolid, Spain. This year, the competition took place between September 17-22. Over a thousand people competed from 68 countries. There were individual puzzlers, teams and even kid categories.The winner this year, for individual speed puzzler, Kristin Thug, Norway, completed her puzzle in 37 minutes. Did you know that the very first jigsaw puzzle was made by a cartographer (mapmaker) named John Salisbury, in 1767? Avid puzzlers say the key to solving a puzzler quickly is by sorting the puzzle pieces by color. The very first purpose of jigsaw puzzles was to teach geography!

Illustration is from Pixabay

Imagine finding a musical composition of famous composer, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, more than 250 years after he died. That is exactly what was discovered this week in a library in Leipzig, Germany. Called Serenade in C, the 12 minute composition is believed to have been written when Mozart was just a teenager. Before Mozart died, at the age of only 35, he had written more than 600 works of music.

Photograph from Smithsonian. Learn about Mozart at this link: Learn about Mozart!

Although most of us will not be able to see it, the earth will have a second moon from September 29th until November 25th. Actually, the visitor is an asteroid, called 2024 PT5, which will be caught in the gravitational pull of our Earth. You will need a professional telescope to see it but, still, it is pretty cool to have this happen.

Photograph from Pixabay

Clingman's Dome, named after a Confederate general, has been the name of the highest peak in the Great Smokey Mountains National Park, for over 150 years. Now, the park's department has restored the original name, Kuwohi. Considered a sacred place for the Cherokee people, the park, located between North Carolina and Tennessee, is one of the most popular national parks.The name, Kuwohi, means "mulberry place" in the Cherokee language. Photograph from GSMNP

Paleontologist have discovered some amazing footprints of dinosaurs in both Africa and South America. What makes this discovery more interesting, the footprints, estimated to be about 120 million year old, appear to be a match on both sides of the Atlantic! Such a discovery is another piece of the puzzle to the Continental Drift Theory. At one time, the continents were one giant land mass known as Pangea. Eventually, areas broke apart, creating the different continents we have today. If you look at a map of the world, you can see where some land masses look like they would fit. South America and Africa were once part of a super continent called Gondwana that eventually broke apart. The dinosaur footprints, about 260, were found in both the countries of Brazil and Cameroon.

Photograph from CNN

Birds chirping, frogs croaking, bees buzzing but did you ever thing SOIL made noise? Scientists in Australia (Flinders University)wanted to see just how noisy things are in healthy soil. Microphones were planted and the "soundtrack" created was quite amazing. Seems that land that is cleared is definitely NOT as noise producing as land that is natural. Called Ecoacoustics, scientists hope that listening to soil and its crackles,pops and clicks,(soundscapes) may help its ecosystem that includes, ants, beetles, earthworms and more. It is estimated that 75% of the earth's soil has been harmed from overgrazing, deforestation and habitat destruction.

Oyster shells are finding a new use. A company in Taiwan is recycling the shells into fabric! An estimated 200,000 tons of oyster shells are produced each year in Taiwan. The shells produce smelly odors and give homes for mosquitoes to breed.So, finding uses for this large amount of shells is important. Some of the uses for oyster shells include being used for insulation in homes and for water purification.Now, the oyster shells are being repurposed into "sea wool" to create clothing! Clothing made from this material is very similar to natural wool and is lightweight and...odorless!

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About Gail:

I 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 35 books for children(Purple Turtle Series by Aadarsh Publishing and Odd History Series by Red Chair Press).

My work has appeared in most children's publications including:
Highlights for Children,News-O-Matic,Appleseed,,Scholastic's Super Science,,Scholastic's Science World,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.

* Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!







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* Special thanks to EducationWorld for letting me use this image of my "alter ego" as Mrs. "Waffenschmidt!

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