45 Student Almanac

Page
606
from

Student Almanac Opener

Start-Up Activity

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but it made human beings the dominant species on our planet. Human curiosity invented . . .

  • language so that we could talk about things that are right in front of us and also things far away and long ago;
  • science to learn about our world—to measure it, test it, explore it, prove it;
  • mathematics to quantify our learning and calculate new knowledge; and
  • history so that we could think back on the long, strange journey we have taken.

This student almanac provides a feast for human curiosity. It can help students in classes across the curriculum and can provide hundreds of writing ideas and points of inspiration. Show your students these pages. Encourage them to explore. Reassure them that this is their almanac—not information you will teach directly, but information they can dip into as their curiosity dictates.

Think About It

“Once we believe in ourselves, we can risk curiosity, wonder, spontaneous delight, or any experience that reveals the human spirit.”

—e. e. cummings

Page 607 from Write for College

Language

This page provides the manual alphabet and a map of Indo-European languages circa 500 A.D. (after the fall of the Roman Empire). Use this page to foster interest and discussion. Both graphics provide many opportunities to note patterns, such as the reach of Indo-Aryan languages or that of Germanic languages.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 608 from Write for College

The History of the English Language

Have students read through the fascinating history on this page and the next, or have a volunteer read each paragraph aloud and lead a discussion afterward of the words that entered the language at different times. Recognizing the many origins of English terms helps illuminate mysteries such as weird pronunciations and spellings (knight, ought, tough, dough). Also, some students will find the social-political aspects of English vocabulary to be revelatory.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 609 from Write for College

The History of the English Language (Cont.)

After students finish reading about the history of English, direct their attention to the chart of language families at the bottom of the page. Ask students which of the Indo-European languages they personally speak. Ask which languages they know someone who speaks. Ask those who speak languages that are not Indo-European which languages they speak. The sheer number of languages is staggering. Language itself is a constant of the human mind: all people have it. However, just what language they speak varies widely.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 610 from Write for College

Science

Though the United States has long lead the world in science, it has long trailed the world in terms of embracing the metric system (which most scientists use). This page can help students understand how U.S. Customary Units and metric units relate.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 611 from Write for College

Periodic Table of the Elements

This table represents one of the greatest achievements of science, capturing the basis of chemistry and reflecting the arrangements of protons and electrons in quantum physics. It shows the building block of the universe (hydrogen), reveals how it is fused into heavier elements in the nuclear furnaces of stars, and leads to the radioactive elements used in nuclear fission reactions.

Students interest in science can find much to meditate upon in this table.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 612 from Write for College

Planet Profusion

This page and the next provide the vital statistics of our solar system. In addition to contemplating our own home system, this set of terrestrial, gas, and ice planets provide us a paradigm for understanding the many diverse solar systems scientists continue to discover around other stars.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 613 from Write for College

Planet Profusion (Cont.)

The chart on this page contains many facts and figures about our sun, its planets, and their satellites. Simple comparisons of size (Jupiter has 318 Earth masses), time (Neptune's year is 164.8 Earth years), and temperature (the core of the sun is 27 million degrees) beggar the imagination. Encourage students to linger on these pages and imagine the vastness of our solar system—and how tiny it is in the scheme of things.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 614 from Write for College

Mathematics

Students can turn to this page as a basic reference for mathematical symbols, prime numbers, and Roman numerals. Point out to students how difficult basic math would be using Roman numerals. Somehow, the Romans built aqueducts with very gradual pitch over many miles without access to Arabic numerals, decimals, or even 0.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 619 from Write for College

Social Studies

This page provides students a concise summary of the U.S. Constitution, including the preamble and the contents of each article. Have students read through this page for a quick overview. Then they should review the first ten amendments (the Bill of Rights) on the next page.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 620 from Write for College

The Bill of Rights

Have students read through this page to understand the first ten amendments to the Constitution. The founders added these amendments before ratifying the original document, making sure to safeguard the rights of individuals from the start.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 621 from Write for College

The Other Amendments

Have students read through Amendments 11 to 27, noting the earth-shaking ones (such as Amendment 13, abolishing slavery, and Amendment 19, giving women the right to vote).

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site

Page 622 from Write for College

Historical Time Line

On this page and the following ones, students will find a time line stretching from 1447 (Gutenberg Press) to today. Encourage students to peruse the major events in U.S. and world history, science and inventions, and literature and the arts. Students will find many surprising facts as well as interesting connections between events in different spheres.

Related Resource Tags

Click to view a list of tags that tie into other resources on our site