4/23/10 - Sports

OK football fans, here's your opportunity to analyze the first round of the 2010 NFL draft.

Which team made the best pick in the first round?  The worst?

How do you like your team's first round pick?

4/23/10 - Earth Day 2010

How much of an impact does you and your household have on the environment.  Take a few minutes to calculate your carbon footprint.

In the comments section, share your score.  Are you above or below the US average.  How does your score compare to the global average?

4/23/10 - The Week in Pictures

This NASA photo shows the first images from the Solar Dynamics Observatory, a NASA spacecraft on a five-year mission to study the sun.  


This and other amazing images can be seen in this Week in Pictures feature.  Look at the images and vote for your favorite at the end of the slideshow.


In the comments discuss your favorite photo(s) of the week.

4/14/10 - What Can We Learn From Public Opinion Polls?

Using Polls to Learn About America

Objective: 


Use data found in public opinion polls to teach the class about a particular issue or topic and how Americans view the issue/topic that you chose.


Procedures:  

1.  Use the links below to view lists of public opinion poll topics.  After browsing all the topics, make a list of the top 3-5 that you would like to learn about.  You will need to have several backup choices because no more than two individuals or groups in the class will be allowed to work on the same topic.

Use these four indexes to help choose your topic(s):

Roper Poll Index

Gallup Topic Index

Pew Research Center Topics

Pollingreport.com

Once you've decided on a topic, you can also check out these other polling websites for data:

CBS News Polls
Marist Polls

ABC News Polls

Pollster.com

You may also use search engines to help find data, but the data you use MUST be from a poll that follows the 5 step scientific polling process that we studied in class (NO internet straw polls!).  If you doubt the reliability of a poll, DON'T USE IT.

2.  Use the data you find to create either a poster or a power point presentation that will teach the class about your topic and about the public's opinion(s) on this issue.

3.  Your project should use data from as many different polls as possible, preferably from different polling organizations.

4  When choosing a topic, make sure that there is more than one poll available on that topic.  If the issue or topic that you choose is narrow, please chose another related topic to make your presentation complete.

5.  Based on the data that you found from the various polls, you must draw some kind of a conclusion(s) about the public's opinion(s) on the issue of your choice

6.  Your presentation should be visually appealing and free of grammar / spelling errors.

7.  I would like at least some of the projects to be presented to the class.  Individuals or groups who are chosen to present will receive extra credit.

4/1/10 - April Fools Day!

Yes, today is April Fools Day!

The Museum of Hoaxes has a cool list of the top 100 April Fool's Day hoaxes of all time, as judged by notoriety, creativity and number of people duped.  Check it out here.

(Pictured above is an ad for the 1996 Taco Bell hoax in which they claimed to have purchased the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell).

Browse through the list and comment on your favorite April Fool's Day hoax.

4/1/10 - National News

Don't Forget!

Today is the deadline to do something very important...send in your US Census Form.

What is the census?  First, read this to find out.  

Does the 2010 Census asks lots of intrusive, personal questions? Is it true that the Census Bureau has no constitutional authority to ask us these things?  Lots of claims have been flying around the internet about the Census.  Check out this video below from factcheck.org for the real scoop:


After watching the video, answer the following questions in the comment section:


1.  What is the main purpose of the census?
2.  Why should every American household fill out a census form?

4/1/10 - National News

Making Sense of the Health Care Law

Confused by the new health care law?

Read three or more of the articles that can be found by following the links below. All of these links summarize the changes that will take place as a result of the new law:

New York Times special Health Care section links to numerous articles about how the law will impact the country.

The Washington Post has an online tool that estimates what the new law could mean for your health coverage and taxes based on your income, family size and current insurance status.

The Washington Post also has a chart that gives an overview of how the changes will impact different groups of Americans

The Kaiser Health News, a nonprofit news organization committed to in-depth coverage of health care policy and politics, has a Consumers Guide to Health Care that answers many questions about the new law. 

When you are done reading, answer the following questions in the comments:

1.  Three things I've learned about the new health care law are...

2.  One question I still have about this law is...