by Tira Shubart | 21 Feb 2023 | Educators' Catalog, Environment, Science, Space
Light pollution interferes with the breeding patterns of animals and insects. How can we look to the stars if we can’t even see them? Two night scenes. On the left, stars fill the sky over the Coconino National Forest. (Credit: Coconino National Forest, U.S....
Light pollution affects more than just our ability to see the Big Dipper at night. Dive into the environmental and human consequences of too much light and discover how we might turn the night sky on again.
Exercise: After reading the article, divide students into groups of 3-4 to discuss main takeaways from the text. Then, instruct each group to come up with a one-sentence public service announcement to get people to turn off unnecessary lights in their local community. The class can then vote for their favorite PSA.
by Tira Shubart | 14 Dec 2022 | Climate decoders, Educators' Catalog, Science, Space, Writing's on the Wall
Oh Tang! If our seas rise too high there are exoplanets to settle. But hope you like freeze-dried food, because it’s a long trip out there. This illustration shows a fictional astronaut on Mars, as viewed through the window of a spacecraft. (NASA/JPL-Caltech)...
Fearing the prospect that our seas will rise and our climate will get too hot to make life comfortable on Earth, some smart people are thinking about new homes in outer space. But is there a so-called Planet B we could actually reach in a spaceship and what would life be like there? In an entertaining article that takes us through time and space, correspondent Tira Shubart explores these possibilities and comes to the conclusion that maybe we should concentrate our money and energy on cleaning up our own backyard.
Exercise: Shubart tells us that it is unlikely that Mars could be made habitable for humans. But let’s say that your students could come up with the technology that would make that possible. What would they need to produce to make Mars a place where people could live? Have them brainstorm a list of devices that would solve the problems Shubart discusses in the article. Then ask them to come up with a list of ways we could clean up our environment on earth.
by Tira Shubart | 8 Nov 2022 | Educators' Catalog, Russia, Space, Technology, Ukraine
Despite conflicts on Earth, satellites orbit in peace. But use of Elon Musk’s Starlink to aid Ukraine has Russia looking to the sky with hostile eyes. A rocket booster carrying three Gonets-M satellites and the first Skif-D satellite of the Sfera programme lifts...
While all kinds of international conflicts occur on the ground, up in space things have been pretty peaceful. We depend on peace in the skies because such things as social media, multiplayer video games, Google classrooms and Zoom sessions rely on satellites bouncing signals across the earth. Correspondent Tira Shubart tells us why tensions on the ground in Ukraine could disturb the tacit and explicit agreements over satellites in the sky.
Exercise: Let’s imagine that each student has been hired to draw up an international agreement to govern and protect satellites that need to cross the skies over international borders. What are the five most important considerations that would have to be included in this treaty? Some things to consider are: The citizens in every country want fast and reliable Internet; people want their privacy protected; and countries are concerned about the possible military use of satellites.
by Tira Shubart | 24 Aug 2022 | Culture, Economy
Coffee is more than a beverage in the Italian city of Trieste. Over centuries, the commodity enriched the port, where cafés are ‘places of the soul.’ Examining coffee beans at Caffè San Marco in Trieste, Italy (photo by Tira Shubart) Grabbing a coffee is...
by Tira Shubart | 2 Aug 2022 | Decoders, Environment, Science, Space, Technology
Technology depends on rare earth minerals, but their extraction can harm our planet. Asteroids offer a plentiful source of valuable elements. In the future, mankind will go to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter to mine for the vast wealth that is within the...
