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Recommended Reading for Students K-12... And More!
Teachers have many fun games to choose from for indoor activities. Many of these games are both amusing and educational.
In the game of telephone, the children begin by sitting in a circle. The teacher will whisper something in the ear of the first child. The child will then "pass the message" in a whisper to the next child. It will go from child to child until finally you hear what the message has turned into at the other end. Most of the time, the message has gotten quite distorted by the end of the chain. This can be a hilarious game for children and also an educational one. Teachers can use it to show how information spread from person to person (i.e. gossip) can get distorted in the translation. Children love to dance and there are many dancing activities that can be fun and get the children moving with some physical exercise. Many children love the Hokey Pokey dance, and it can even be educational with its use of left and right. Children may also love the chicken dance or the bunny hop. Obviously, this activity can get loud, so teachers should take that into account. Simon Says is a fun classic game. Teachers will give a list of commands. The students are supposed to comply with the ones that are preceded by the term "simon says" and ignore the ones without this turn. The children enjoy this game as even the most steadfast listener gets caught up and misses. It also shows the importance of close listening to the children. Another fun game is to have your children build their own video games using a programming language like Scratch, which is easily accessible to children. My associate who does my computer science homework lesson plan preparation is quite knowledgeable and helped me set up some fun programming games to play with children. Musical chairs is a fun game that children like to play. Simply line up chairs in the middle of a space, with one less than the amount of children playing. Play music, and when it stops the children should all try to find chairs. Whoever has not found a chair at the end sits out the rest of that round. Then one more chair is taken away until you come up with a winner at the end. Teachers can also use a nylon "parachute" for play. It is a round piece of nylon. The children can each hold on to it around the edges and sing songs, go under it and dance with it. This is commonly used in many play hours and gyms. There are many fun games and activities that can take place indoors. The preceding are just a few of the best ones.
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A new analysis looking at the long-term trends of more than 900 species of wildlife in Canada has found that half of them have seen their populations decline, including several species already listed as threatened or endangered.
The Living Planet Report Canada, released on Thursday by World Wildlife Fund Canada, paints a bleak picture for wildlife in a country that is home to a quarter of the earth’s wetlands, 8,500 rivers and more than 2m freshwater lakes. During the past four decades, human activity – whether industrial development, farming, forestry or the expansion of urban areas – as well as climate change, pollution and overfishing have helped shrink the populations of 451 species, representing half of the 903 monitored species in the country. “I think for many Canadians, it’s somewhat of a surprise,” said James Snider of WWF Canada and the lead author of the report. “Canada is this vast nation with huge wilderness areas, at times we assume that wildlife here is doing OK.” The list of species in decline ranges from the woodland caribou, who grace the country’s 25¢ coin but have seen their habitat shrink from logging, mining and gas development, to the several species of whale that live off Canada’s three coasts. The report found that for species with diminishing populations, the average loss was 83% of their population. “That’s a really striking number,” said Snider. The report – billed by the conservation group as the most comprehensive synthesis of Canadian wildlife population trends to date – was compiled using more than 400 sources of data on species population. Beluga whales swim in Arctic waters. Despite being listed as threatened, their habitats was not legally protected until 2016. Photograph: Andrey Nekasov/Ecoscene/BarcroftScientists looked at more than 3,700 populations of vertebrates, including 106 specials of mammals, hundreds of fish and bird species and dozens of 46 amphibians and reptiles, during a period that stretched from 1970 to 2014. Wide gaps remain in regions such as the Arctic, where a lack of historical information prevented researchers from drawing conclusive results. It’s a critical omission, said Snider. “Climate change is being witnessed in the Arctic at a rate really not seen elsewhere in the world. We need to be effectively monitoring today the status of wildlife populations so that we can understand the impacts of climate change on a lot of really unique and important species in the Canadian north.” Climate change is being witnessed in the Arctic at a rate really not seen elsewhere in the world Of the 903 monitored species – representing about half of the known vertebrates in Canada – 407 species showed an increase in population, while 45 remained stable. Success stories included the once struggling raptors – such as Cooper’s hawks and peregrine falcons – whose species have seen their numbers swell an average of 88% in recent decades, thanks to the reduced use and outright bans of pesticides such as DDT. Their rebound hints at the turnaround that is possible, said Snider. “So when we as society decide to take action and elevate the concern of wildlife, we are able to make real change.” Researchers, however, found that federal legislation – one of the country’s primary tools aimed at protecting wildlife at risk – had failed to stem the decline of many species. The report looked at 64 species protected by federal legislation and found their populations diminished by an average of 2.7% per year since 2002, when federal legislation was adopted to protect species at risk, as compared to an annual decline of 1.7% between 1970 and 2002. A peregrine falcon in the Bay of Fundy, Canada. With its rebounding population, the bird is one of Canada’s success stories. Photograph: Mircea Costina / Rex Features“According to researchers, the federal Species at Risk Act (Sara) has faltered in its mission to protect Canada’s most beleaguered wildlife,” the report noted. A number of peer-reviewed journal articles have documented shortcomings in the federal government’s efforts to curb the loss of wildlife, from delays in recognising critical habitat to the years-long process of creating recovery strategies. Why do endangered right whales keep dying off the coast of Canada? Read moreSnider pointed to the beluga whale population in the St Lawrence estuary off Quebec as a potent example of these issues. After the population was listed as threatened in 2005, the creation of a recovery strategy dragged on for seven years. It took until 2016 for the beluga’s habitat to be legally protected – more than a decade after the species was initially listed as threatened. The delays were not without consequence, as this year saw the status of the St Lawrence beluga upgraded to endangered. “This is a clear message that we need to be doing more to prevent the decline of wildlife,” said Snider. “If the rate of decline of wildlife continues as it is today, I do think we face the risk of beginning to lose species from Canada.” Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/sep/15/canada-wildlife-study-decline-living-planet-report |
AuthorIf there's one thing that's important in this world, it's encouraging our children to read. ArchivesCategoriesThanks for the birthday wishes, Alexandria!
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