In exercise for this topic we focus on skill: Presentations.

This exercise is prepared by the Leaf Academy. It is part of the Spectator College programme and it is linked to the articles: Turn off the light every time you can, experts advise and How to learn science in a fun and easy way.

CONTENT EXERCISE 1: Turn off the light every time you can, experts advise EXERCISE 2: How to learn science in a fun and easy way

EXERCISE 1 linked to the article: Turn off the light every time you can, experts advise

Lesson Objectives

1. Read article (10 minutes)

a. Underline any words you do not recognize or understand.

2. Understanding: (5 minutes)

a. Have each student share word(s) they dont know and define them.

3. Summarize/Monitor Understanding/Research (10 minutes)

a. Explain what light pollution is and the biggest sources of it.

b. What are the negative impacts of light pollution on humans? On insects?

4. Focused Free Write: (5 minutes writing, 5-minute discussion)

a. Prompt: There are many sources of pollution that negatively impact humans and other organisms. Light pollution is one of the easiest forms of pollution to stop. Agree or disagree with this statement and use evidence from the article to support your position.

5. Discussion (10 minutes)

a. Find common views and dissenting views regarding both pollution and light pollution. What role should high school students play in informing others about light pollution, its negative impact and how to change it?

EXERCISE 2 linked to the article: How to learn science in a fun and easy way

Lesson Objectives

This exercise is prepared by the Leaf Academy and it is part of the Spectator College, a programme created by The Slovak Spectator.

7. Mar 2017 at 12:25 |Compiled by Spectator staff

Continued here:

Topic: Science and technology (Excercise) - The Slovak Spectator

At the beginning of the month, Beijing officials vowed to crack down on the citys dancing grannies by issuing fines to anyone playing loud music in public spaces. While this news was a relief for some, many Beijingers felt badly for the elderly ladies who gather in groups to socialize and excercise.

Well, it looks like a solution that will please all parties may have been found: headphones. Thats right, community workers recently started issuing special wireless headphones to troupes of dancing grannies, Beijing Daily reports. So now they not only get to keep square dancing, but they get to listen to music too.

So far, these headphones have been issued in 11 communities in northwest Beijing.

Regardless of whether its students preparing for their university entrance exam, workers on the night shift, or women who just gave birth, none of them want noise, Sun Renping, a leader of one dance group, told Beijing Daily. We tried to lower the volume, but we couldnt hear it ourselves.

Luckily community workers had the brilliant idea to contact a headphone manufacturer in Guangdong. The company actually produces headphones for dancing grannies. These special headphones play music from a nearby music player using a wireless signal. Therefore, groups of dancing grannies can listen to the same song and dance in unison without disturbing their neighbors.

[Image via Smoky Tower]

See original here:

Beijing's Dancing Grannies Get Fancy Wireless Headphones - That's Online (registration)

New York Times

Playful Vegan Dishes at a New Grocery in Manhattan New York Times Joya Carlton, the executive chef of Orchard Grocer in Manhattan, with smoked carrots made to look like salmon. Credit John Taggart for The New York Times. No, that is not smoked salmon in the deli case of the new vegan Orchard Grocer. It is smoked ...

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Playful Vegan Dishes at a New Grocery in Manhattan - New York Times

If you love Key lime pie, as many of us do, then you crave the stuff like candy. Kind of tart, kind of green candy from somewhere in Florida ideally topped with low clouds of meringue or even, gasp, whipped cream but candy nonetheless.

But for vegans and the dairy-intolerant, its often off-limits (sad face). To the rescue: Gracias Madre, the vegan Mexican restaurant in West Hollywood, California, whose kitchen is led by Chandra Gilbert. Its a beautiful place (vaulted ceiling, outdoor fireplace), often filled with equally beautiful people. But, more important, the food is the sort of thing that vegans want and do not often get to indulge in. Cream pie, to be specific. Its not actual cream, of course, but for a minute you think it could be. Do you want date paste in your pie crust and coconut oil in your whipped cream? Do you want the filling built from avocados and lecithin? If youre a vegan, you do indeed. And if youre not a vegan, it tastes pretty good, too.

Serves 8 to 12

Crust

In a food processor fitted with a steel blade, combine the pecans, date paste, salt and vanilla extract, and process to form an even crumb. Press the crust into a well-oiled 9-inch springform pan, and refrigerate until ready to assemble.

Filling

In a food processor fitted with the steel blade, combine the lime juice, agave, coconut milk, avocado, vanilla and salt, and process until smooth. Add the lecithin and coconut oil, and continue to process, stopping to scrape down the sides, until completely combined and you can no longer see lecithin granules. Pour the filling evenly over the crust, and tap the springform pan lightly to evenly distribute the filling and eliminate air bubbles. Refrigerate the pie overnight.

Whipped cream

Without shaking or turning the cans of coconut milk over, carefully open and remove the semi-solid cream that has risen to the surface (about 3/4 cup heavy cream per can). Save the leftover milk for another use.

Combine the cream in a bowl with the agave, salt and vanilla, and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form, 3 to 7 minutes. Beat in the coconut oil.

Refrigerate the whipped cream overnight. Before serving, fluff the cream with a fork.

NOTE: Date paste (also known as pressed dates) is available at Middle Eastern markets; to make it, process pitted dates with a little water to form a paste. Lecithin granules are available at gourmet markets and cooking stores, as well as online.

-- Adapted from a recipe by Chandra Gilbert

See the original post here:

Gracias Madre's Key lime pie (vegan) - Madison.com

Wichita Eagle

Meatless masterpieces part of healthy vegan diet Wichita Eagle Hardcore vegans will not eat honey because, as Noah Lewis of vegetus.org puts it, the simple fact is that the bees are enslaved. Similarly, some vegans will not eat sugar because, while it comes entirely from a plant, some sugar is whitened by using ...

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Meatless masterpieces part of healthy vegan diet - Wichita Eagle

In Food Money Sex, we askanonymous Washingtonians to diary the food they ate, the money they spent, and the sex they hadover the course of their weekends. On Mondays,weput it on the internet. This week:

Food:

Money:

Sex:

Last year, I met a girl who was here for the summer, and even though I knew that she wasnt sticking around for long, I completely infatuated myself with her. Since she leftin August, I havent had the desire to even talk to another girl. We stayedin touch for a month or so, before she decided that it would be better for us not to talk for an indefinite amount of time. Nothing bad, just the common-but-true tale of being busy at school and seeing another person, etc. But, every night I go to sleep with my phone next to my bed hoping that it will ring and that it will be her, wanting to talk to me again.

Want to be featuredin Food Money Sex? Introduce yourself in an emailto ideas@washingtonian.com.

Share this week's Food Money Sex diary.

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Food Money Sex: Eating Vegan Sausage and Sleeping with the Phone - Washingtonian.com

Who cares about green beer? Last month, I was blissed to find soy milk and almond milk in every coffee shop in Dublin. Every eatery had a vegan option or could craft one without fuss and didnt look at me like I was crazy. I even talked aquafaba meringues with a waiterbig news in a country where dairy and meat have traditionally been a big part of the plate and a big part of the Gross National Product.

I presented at Happy Food Cafe, Dublins first and only all-vegan cafe, where the beetburger- chowing crowd hungered not just for vegan eats but to create vegan consciousness and vegan community. Passionate about animal welfare, they seemed slightly embarrassed all of Ireland hasnt embraced it, too.

Maybe its not happening as fast as Dublins vegan crowd would like honey, Im familiar with the feeling but the move to vegan has been happening in big ways and small. Dublin had its first-ever vegfest in November and Dublin VegFest 2017 is in the works now, spearheaded by the mighty Pears Hussey and a small dedicated group of people passionate about vegan living. Thats all it takes to bring about change.

In 1898, a dedicated and passionate Irishman, playwright (and vegetarian) George Bernard Shaw wrote, Why should you call me to account for eating decently? If I battened on the scorched corpses of animals, you might well ask me why I did that. About 90 years later, Morrissey, Smiths frontman, Irish vegan and PETA activist extraordinaire came out with Meat is Murder.

Pioneering Blazing Salads, Dublins family-owned whole food vegetarian restaurant opened 30 years before Happy Food Cafe. Its morphed from its earnest 80s beginnings to do a mean, modern and largely plant-based takeaway business.

Beetburgers, plant-based milks and chickpea blondies may be all but mainstream, but they werent always. For many years, Irelands mainstay crop and the mainstay meal was potatoes. And then, when the crop failed, it wasnt. During the Great Famine, 1.5 million Irish died of starvation. You tend not to forget a thing like that, no matter how long ago it happened.

Food is precious, valued in Ireland in a way that it isnt in America. I learned about farm to table in Ireland years before it was big here. I learned about it at the farm. At the table. Its so intrinsic to how theyve lived, they didnt even have a term for it. Coming from America and our monster centralized food system, I couldnt believe a simple roasted newly-dug potato could taste so minerally and rich and fall apart in my mouth like a puff of cloud. I could feel the potassium shoot through my veins like a junkie getting a hit.

Forget corned beef and cabbage (not vegan, not Irish) Celebrate St. Patricks Day with a potato. Planting potatoes on St. Patricks Day is an Irish life-affirming tradition. Potatoes also star in my vegan version of that age-old Irish comfort food, bubble and squeak. A simple hash of cabbage, kale or other seasonal vegetables held together by potatoes, its not only greater than the sum of its parts, its sustainable and farm-to-table as it gets. Nice with a pint of vegan Guinness.

St. Patricks Day, raise your glass to Happy Foods Cafe, to Dublin VegFest and Irelands small but dedicated, passionate and growing vegan-conscious community. Slinte.

This encore post originally ran on March 14, 2016.

Go here to see the original:

Meatless Monday: St. Patrick's Day Dublin-Style Dedicated, Passionate Vegan Community: 1, Corned Beef and ... - Huffington Post

Patch.com

Snow Day Movies: 13 Patch Picks Patch.com The cameos by stars such as Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin as everyday people make this a classic anytime. Every scene is pure Chicago and it never gets old. Good soothing, relaxing music is perfect to have on in the background on a snow day." Tim ...

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Snow Day Movies: 13 Patch Picks - Patch.com

Horror film The Devils Candy(out March 17) has generated terrific buzz since it premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2015. But one person who hasnt seen it yet is cast member Shiri Appleby. Ive been on the move so much, I just havent had an opportunity, says the UnREAL actress. I dont want to see it without an audience, because I know its the kind of movie that really deserves that. Also? Imscared to see it! she admits.

In this film from Tasmanian director Sean Byrne (The Loved Ones), Appleby and Ethan Embry play a couple who, together with their daughter (Kiara Glasco), move into a remote house with a dark past and find themselves targeted by Pruitt Taylor Vinces unhinged local. Ive never worked with somebody who had such a clear vision, says Appleby of Byrne. He knew completely the story he wanted to be telling. I felt like he was really driven. Hes a real artist.

RELATED: 20 Celebs Who Starred in Horror Movies Before They Made it Big

In the film, Embrys character is a metalhead, and Appleby says the actor encouraged her to check out the genre. I hadnt listened to that much heavy metal before the movie, she explains. Ethan really got into it, and it felt like it really became part of the experience of making the movie.So, is Appleby now cranking up the Metallica on the drive to work? No! she says. Im shooting UnREAL. The world of UnREAL is crazy enough. I get in the car and try to listen to some nice peaceful, relaxing music to counterpoint the dark world I have to get involved in as soon as I hit set.

The Devils Candy isnt Applebys first foray into horror. Back in the late 80s, the then-preteenappeared in a film called Curse II: The Bite. What was that about? I feel like it was about a snake that came out of somebodys arm that was biting people, she replies, uncertainly. There were a lot of special effects and smoke. You know we are one 100 percent going to track the film down, right? Okay, she laughs. Youll have to let me know how it was!

Watch the trailer for The Devils Candy below and an exclusive clip from the film above.

The Devils Candy will be available in select theaters, on VOD, and via digital platforms on March 17from IFC Midnight.

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The Devil's Candy: See an exclusive clip - EW.com (blog)

More Meditation Classes Offered

Cant make it to Susi Walters meditation classes in Clinton Township? Similar sessions are set for 7 p.m. May 5, 10 and 17 at LAnse Creuse Middle School North. Call 586-783-6330 to register.

You also can meditate with Walter Saturday mornings at the Shelby Township Senior Center from 9 to 10 a.m. March 11, 18, and 25. She will offer a special workshop on forgiveness April 22 and 29 and May 6 and 13. Call 586-731-0300 to register.

Have you ever tried to meditate? Its no surprise meditation is good for you, and undoubtedly most people have tried to quiet their minds at least once. But to most untrained meditators, thinking about nothing usually leads to thoughts about everything: Am I doing this right? Is this a waste of time? What else could I be doing?

You can learn how to silent those pesky thoughts and how to properly meditate by attending Susi Walters Tuesday evening meditation sessions at the Clinton Township Senior Center. The classes are set from 7 to 8 p.m., with sessions taking place in March, April, May and June. They are open to the public, and all ages are welcome. The cost is $40 per session.

Anyone might consider attending who is interested in learning how to meditate, improving quality of life, and holding peace within, Walter said. Meditation may help in every aspect of life. It is possible to heal the body, mind and spirit through consistent practice.

Walter, who is certified in mindful meditation through the University of Holistic Theory, begins class by discussing meditation techniques. Shell play relaxing music in the background, and the lights are slightly dimmed. She guides the class by reading meditation scripts. She also explains some fundamentals, like chakras (an energy center in the body), and auras (an electromagnetic field that extends about four or five feet around the body).

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Typically, classes focus on relaxing the body, clearing the mind, releasing physical and emotional pain, and seeing and feeling auric energy. However, Walter does offer specialty sessions emphasizing forgiveness, releasing stress and anxiety, living with illness, grief, goal setting, breaking habits, sparking creativity and more. Shes open to suggestions from participants, she said.

Students have the option to sit or rest lying down on the floor with mats and pillows. Its important to be comfortable while meditating, so participants are welcome to sit in a cushioned chair if theyre uneasy about getting down on the floor.

Meditation is now being used in clinical interventions to help improve health and well-being. Higher levels of mindfulness is related to decreased stress, which leads to better health, and evidence suggests meditation can even improve cognitive abilities such as sustained attention and working memory.

I am thrilled that many scientific and modern medicinal groups have begun to validate meditation as a true healing modality. I have had people come to my classes as a last resort for help, said Walter, who has been teaching meditation for 10 years. It has aided so many of them who were in desperate need of healing. Many hospitals are implementing integrative medicine departments and prescribing holistic remedies, such as meditation and energy healing in order to complement contemporary medicine.

The Clinton Township Senior Center is located at 40730 Romeo Plank Road. To register for the meditation class, call 586-286-9333.

See the article here:

Learn how to calm the mind, heal the body through meditation - The Daily Tribune