Hands-on Activity Shows Why Some Countries Are Poor

Haiti is poor and Germany is rich. Why? Have students each wad up a piece of paper. A BuzzFeed video shows a wastebasket being moved to the front of the room. The contest begins when students try to throw their paper wads into the basket.

     What will students in the back of the room say? They'll claim they are at a disadvantage.

The discussion begins. What are some of the disadvantages poor countries face? How can these countries help themselves improve their situations? What would be comparable to adding a wastebasket to the back of the room? What are some of the ways privileged countries could help poor countries? What would be similar to students in the front of the room sharing their chairs with students from the back of the room?

   

Teens Find Drought and Zika Remedies

Entering contests and writing to potential mentors not only can help individual students jump start their own careers but these proactive efforts also can help humanity. Dr. Hongjun Song, the mentor who received a letter from the student involved in Zika virus research, observed: "Unencumbered by previous experience, high school students aren't afraid of failure and are freer to try things than graduate students or postdocs."

Help for drought-starved crops

Kiara Nirghin, the 16-year-old South African girl who won the grand prize in Google's Science Fair (googlesciencefair.com), reasoned that a superabsorbent polymer (SAP) used in diapers could help soil retain more water when drought threatens crops. To avoid the pricey, less eco-friendly acrylic acid chemicals used in current SAPs, Ms. Nirghin tried creating a SAP by applying UV light and heat to avocado and orange peels. When sprinkled on fields, her polymer, which holds 300 times its weight in liquid, provides water for crops that would otherwise die from drought.
(Kiara Nirghin is among the world's 30 most influential teens TIME magazine lists at time.com/teens2016.)

Help for studying the Zika virus

At the University of Pennsylvania's School of Engineering and Applied Science, engineers developed a $2 genetic test to detect the Zika virus immediately by using color-changing dye in a device about the size of a soda can. The process requires no electricity or extensive technical training.
     Chris Hadiono, whose parents are U.S. immigrants from Indonesia, was a high school intern at Dr. Hongjun Song's neurology lab at John Hopkins University, when he developed a bioreactor device used to determine how the Zika virus causes the abnormal brain development which results in the small heads of newborn babies, i.e. microcephly, and many more problems.
     Using 3D printing instructions from a YouTube tutorial, Hadiono created a machine with gears that keep 12 "mini-brains" floating and growing in wells, each filled with about one teaspoon of nutrient rich liquid, by constantly stirring the liquid in all the wells at the same time.
     Before Hadiono's contribution, the neural tissue of human brains, "mini-brains," already could be produced by turning human skin cells (3D printers also can create human tissue and bone) into stem cells which could be turned into the neural stem cells that became human neural brain tissue resembling the human cerebral cortex affected by the Zika virus. And a magnetic bar could continuously stir a rich nutrient broth-like medium, or liquid, that enabled "mini-brains" to float and grow in all directions. The problem was the big device required too much costly medium and could only be used once to accommodate a few experiments at a time. With Hadiono's bioreactor device, at a much lower cost, researchers can see how the Zika virus infects and kills neural stem cells in 12 different parts of a human's cerebral cortex at the same time..  With the work of another teen, maybe prevention and a cure for microcephly will not be far behind.

Games Techies Play

LEGOs, videogames, robots, and drones blur the line between play and war. Consider the 45 foot by 44 foot Star Wars X-wing fighters built from LEGOs (See the documentary film "A LEGO Brickumentary."), the "Battlezone" videogame that the U.S. Army has used as a simulator to train tank operators, wars between "BattleBots" on TV, and drone races in soccer fields on Saturday afternoons.

     With theatrical lighting, announcer commentary, and brackets worthy of college basketball's "March Madness" in the U.S., home made "BattleBots" fight robot wars on television. Some "BattleBots" are works of art, but other determined teams only create spinning, crushing, jabbing, remote-controlled machines in order to destroy their opponents.

     To navigate the cones and pylons that mark a drone race course, pilots wear first-person-view (FPV) video goggles, rely on a live camera feed, and use joy sticks that control the pitch, roll, yaw, and throttle of their tricky-to-fly, remote controlled quadcopters (four-propeller drones). A segment on the TODAY show June 1, 2016 claimed drone competitions are going to be the next big thing. Find out more at droneworlds.com and dronenationals.com.

     Where can techies learn to be "playful?" Try the maker spaces mentioned in the earlier blog posts, "I Made This Myself" and "Robots for Good."

   

Summer "Vacation" Projects

Older teens 16 to 19 years of age, maybe as many as 60% of them, have figured their futures will be better served by attending summer school or participating in sports and clubs, rather than working in a minimum wage job. Although such choices probably feel like heresy to parents and teachers who spent their summers as lifeguards and waitresses at resorts, working construction, or going from office to office as temps, young people who spend their summers focusing on opportunities that will lead to a career, especially a career with an international application, could be less likely to boomerang back home because they cannot find a job. As reported in the World Future Society's March 2014 issue of The Futurist, the analysis of older teens by Gray & Christmas can be interpreted to suggest summer vacation is an excellent time to help young people do some career planning and preparation.

     Where should students look for career-related summer programs and internships? Local colleges and universities, churches, 4H (even in urban areas), zoos and humane societies, children's, art, and other museums, libraries (in addition to programs, read biographies, self-help and special interest books), schools devoted to the arts (music, theatre, dance, art, fashion design), newspapers and magazines, fitness centers and gyms, YMCA and YWCA, Boys and Girls Clubs, professional and amateur sports teams, social service societies (Rotary, Kiwanis, Knights of Columbus), local, state, and federal governments, scout troops, political parties and candidates, camps devoted to a particular career, such as computers or space (See the earlier blog post, "Space Explorers.").

     Whether it is a Pillsbury Bake-off recipe or a winning photograph, contests are another summer activity that can lead to recognition and a future career. Contests are mentioned in a number of earlier blog posts: "Take Your Best Shot," "Young Voices," "Work Around the World," "TED Talks for Teens," "Robot Revolution," "Dairy Cows on the Moove," "A Healthy Environment."

     And don't ignore do-it-yourself projects: planning and planting a year-round sustainable garden (See the earlier blog post, "A Healthy Environment."); organizing a yard sale or running a lemonade stand with attention to pricing, display and advertising; using video or a vine to tell a story; planning the best cost-effective virtual foreign trip by watching exchange rates in a number of countries (See the earlier blog post, "When to Buy/Sell in the World Market."); subscribing to the World Edition of littlepassports.com in order to receive a monthly letter about a country visited by fictional "Sam and Sofia"; charting the weather (See "Climate Control."); or counting bees (See "The Bees and the Birds.").

     Whether they learn Hindi, how to coach soccer, or the value of a ruble, summer presents an opportunity for students to position themselves for employment in the global marketplace. After all, according to trendwatching.com, the global culture sees "consumers from nine to 90, from Chicago to Bangkok" using the same smartphones, eating sushi, and wearing the same sneakers.

   

Take Your Best Shot

Like many mothers, I experienced a day toward the end of winter, when I couldn't think of any new ways to amuse my six-year-old daughter. That's when I bundled her up and sent her into the courtyard with my old Super 8 movie camera. What caught her eye? Did she learn not to pan too quickly? While she didn't develop an interest in becoming a photographer, exposure to the photographic and movie-making processes could help another student discover an international career.

     This week we'll see all aspects of the Sochi Olympics in magazines and newspapers, on TV, and on the Internet. We'll also see reporters broadcasting from Sochi. Look at the backgrounds behind them. Just as network correspondents tell viewers where news is being made by standing in front of a school, parade, or courthouse, young people can begin to pay attention to the backgrounds they choose for their photos.

     To get ideas for photography, young people can check out lightbox.time.com, photography.nationalgeographic.com, and the scenic wonders Ansel Adams captured in Yosemite National Park. Also, be on the lookout for a new book, The Photographer's Eye, from National Geographic. It includes the best photos from the 300,000 submitted by photographers around the world, as well as tips telling how these photos were taken. Street photographers just ask people they see on the street if they can take their photos. It's a good way to show how regular people look when they're just going about their lives.
Seeing a drone used to film surfers from overhead reminded me how photographers often view life from different angles. With YouTube, there also are different ways to project your views of life.

     At ngkidsmyshot.com, kids can find out how, with a parent's permission, to submit their own photos that might be featured online or published in National Geographic Kids. Students can learn about National Geographic's Traveler Photo Contest at NationalGeographic.com/TravelerPhotoContest/ or go to nationalgeographic.com and search "travel photo contest.".There are four categories for photos: portraits, outdoor scenes, sense of place, and spontaneous moments. Information about the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards for photography is on an earlier blog post, "Young Voices." Free Spirit Publishing is sponsoring a "Words Wound Video Contest" for teens that ends April 15, 2014. A teen will win $250 by posting a short video on YouTube that shows how teens can use technology and the Internet to make schools kinder places. Details are available at freespirit.com. For information about future competitions designed to attract African feature movie and documentary cinema talent, go to afrinollyshortfilmcompetition.com.

     Sarah Stallings at National Geographic suggests a number of things to remember, when taking photos:
1. Hold a camera steady in both hands and brace upper arms against body.
2. Think of a tic-tac-toe grid over your picture. The horizon can be on a vertical line and key elements on the intersections.
3. Take a number of photos of the same object or scene by moving closer and closer.
4. Catch before and after scenes that no one else has by arriving early and staying late for an event.
5. Light gives emphasis to the important parts of an image. Inside, light from a window or a doorway focuses attention on a subject. A Luma company device enables a cellphone to obtain a light reading that makes it easy for photographers to set a camera's appropriate light setting.

     The field of photography has many branches. Besides sports, photographers travel the world to report the news; photograph fashion, nature, and landmarks; take photos for postcards and travel brochures; and win Oscars for feature films, documentaries, animated full length and short movies, and live action shorts. Museums, such as the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C., now exhibit photographs. A number of fashion photographers, who not only know plenty about style and design but also have social media fans, have become brands, i.e. entrepreneurs whose prints appear on products. David Bailey for one offers T-shirts printed with the likenesses of Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Grace Jones.

    Photography requires patience and technology. My grandfather was friends with an eye doctor who was a freelance photographer who waited for hours to capture the best light for a photo he took of the Capitol in Washington, D.C. Steve Winter worked for 14 months and used a video camera equipped with infrared detection and external lights to capture the iconic "Hollywood" sign behind a puma in Griffith Park, California.

      In color or black and white, a photographer can have an exciting international career.

Work Around the World

John Zogby, pollster and co-author of The First Globals: Understanding, Managing, and Unleashing Our First Millennial Generation, has proposed formation of a Technology Corps, along the lines of the Peace Corps formed by the Kennedy Administration. Like Doctors Without Borders, such an International Technology Corps could even include experts from a variety of countries.

     Since Zogby's polls have uncovered a craving for technology training, mentoring, internships, and practical experience by young people throughout the world, he sees an opportunity for mobile, tech-savvy cohorts to see the world and help provide their new contacts with a business profession at the same time.

     In England, without waiting for an International Technology Corps to take off, the Manchester Museum of Science and Industry (mosi) sponsors "iTech: design your future," an event that inspires students at a young age to begin thinking about careers that involve creative, digital, and other modern technologies. Information about the event is available from ambassadors@mosi.org.uk.

     Students aged 13 to 18, who already know a thing or two about what technology can do, might like to enter this year's Google Science Fair by going to googlesciencefair.com. Submissions are due by May 12, 2014.

    For other ideas about job opportunities around the world, see the earlier blog post, "What Do You Want to Be?"

Robot Revolution

Children all around the world have a similar interest in robots. Check ePals.com to find schools in a wide variety of countries where students are eager to collaborate on robotic projects.

      The word "robot" was first used in Czechoslovakia by the playwright, Karel Capek, to describe human-looking machines that could do the same job over and over again. Nowadays, robots utilize software, computer chips, sensors, microphones, lasers, video screens, wireless communications, remote controls, solar power, nanotechnology, and gyroscopes. Robotic devices can replace injured body parts, like legs and arms; load and unload ships; install and weld parts on an assembly line and under water; work in outer space; operate on the human body; enter the body to fight disease and diagnose illnesses; carry supplies around offices and hospitals; perform dangerous tasks like checking for bombs and hunting for survivors buried in rubble after an earthquake; hit military targets; and create special effects for theme parks and movies. Now, they are about to work alongside people in electronics factories, too.

     Some robots are human-shaped, humanoids that move like persons; others look like machines. YoungExplorers.com, mindware.com, and Museumtour.com offer both varieties. With the help of a detailed manual, children can use the programmable rover they sell to make a robot that avoids obstacles and works for them.

     Usually, robots prefer perfectly predictable conditions. The Roomba robot, for example, can scoot around the floor sucking up dust and dirt, but, when we tried to use it in a women's clothing store, it would get stuck in the dressing rooms. Children can see if they can clean a floor with their own "Brush Robot" from mindware.com.

     Students (and adults) from all over the world who design their own robots enter competitions. Details about these events are available at robogames.net and robotbattles.com. A variety of websites offer free robot designs to get you started. Also, teens 13 to 18 can enter the annual Google Science Fair by going to googlesciencefair.com. Submissions this year are due by May 12, 2014.

     Scientists are trying to design robots with artificial intelligence that can think on their own and human cyborgs implanted with robotic parts connected to their nervous systems and the outside world. Some argue that a machine may have the appearance of having conscious understanding without actually having it. Creating an ethical and legal system to deal with artificial intelligence and cyborgs could be a job robots cannot handle.

     An article in Time magazine (September 9, 2013) noted three types of jobs that will not be replaced by robots: 1) solving unstructured problems (writing a persuasive legal brief or designing a corporate strategy); 2) working with new information (driving a truck in the fog on a rain slicked road); and 3) performing non-routine manual tasks (styling hair or fixing plumbing).

     One further note. In the October, 2013 issue of The Futurist, the magazine of the World Future Society, Julie Carpenter, a researcher at the University of Washington, discusses the relationship between military personnel and the robots they use on the battlefield. Ms. Carpenter is concerned about the human, emotional attachment that can develop. She found that some soldiers name their robots for their girl friends. A soldier whose robot had saved his life may not want the robot to return to danger on the battlefield. And if a robot is damaged or fails to perform correctly, a soldier may get angry with it or think of it as a "poor little guy" that needs a proper funeral.

     To keep up with developments in the field of robotics, check the library for Clive Gifford's How to Build a Robot, Mark Beyer's Robotics, and later books. If you want to draw a robot, like I did for this post, pick up the book, You Can Draw It! Robots, by Maggie Rosier and illustrated by Steve Porter.

You Are Here

One of the easiest ways to introduce a child to the world is to hang a map. Just like seeing "You are here" on a map at a mall, amusement park, or subway, helping a child locate his or her home on a world map provides instant orientation on the globe.

     Book stores sell a wide variety of world maps. For example, the DK Eyewitness Travel Guides provide pull-out maps and additional information about 100 worldwide destinations. Free maps also are available at motor clubs and travel agencies. Satellite and aerial maps can be downloaded at earth.google.com and purchased from the U.S. Geological Survey. Since countries are prone to change their names, break up, join together, or adjust their boundaries, outdated maps and old atlases and globes frequently turn up at antique stores, flea markets, and garage sales.

     Not all maps are equal. Selecting a map would be less complicated, if the world were flat. In the process of projecting the global sphere onto a two-dimensional piece of paper, distances and shapes of countries at the nearly 25,000-mile Equator remain relatively unchanged. Toward the North and South Poles, however, flattening causes distortion. The Mercator projection developed by 16th century Flemish geographer, Gerardus Mercator, failed to compensate for distortion at the poles. His map shows Africa almost the same size as Greenland even though Africa is nearly 15 times larger. Using a technique reminiscent of the one employed by Matteo Ricci, a Jesuit missionary in 17th century China, Arthur H. Robinson created his egg-shaped, elliptical map to more accurately reflect the size of the polar regions in relation to the continents. The U.N.'s white on blue symbol overcomes distortion by viewing the world's inhabited continents from the North Pole.

     Children can replicate the way J. Paul Goode reduced distortions on his flat map, if they make one vertical cut on an orange, carefully remove the peel in one piece, and smash the peel flat on a piece of paper. The sections will be irregular, just as Goode's map has irregular sections. Nonetheless, the sections can be reassembled to fit perfectly without distortion on a spherical orange or globe.

     Some atlases, collections of flat maps, are especially designed for children. Mercator was responsible for naming a map collection an Atlas, because his title page showed the mythical Greek giant holding a heavenly globe on his shoulders. For each country in the world, an atlas often includes its political divisions, such as cities and provinces, on one page; its lakes, rivers, mountains, and other geographical features on another; and its agricultural and manufactured products, power plants, oil fields, highways, and railroads on another. The new book, Maps, by Aleksandra and Daniel Mizielinska has great illustrations and geographical features, plus fascinating facts associated with every region of the world. Also check out the site, "Maps4Kids.com.

    Atlases might include a collection of historical maps showing how the world was divided by the Greeks and Romans, during the Crusades, at the time of the American Revolution, after World Wars I and II, and how its political pattern looks today now that African states are independent and new states have been formed out of the former Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. At timemaps.com, maps are connected to world history in an easy-to-use interactive way. In August, 2013, under "World" at washingtonpost.com/blogs, there was an interesting entry about 40 maps that explain the world. The maps showed expected divisions according to religion and language but there also were unusual maps showing, for example, the best and worst places to be born, where gay rights are legal, and where people are most and least: loved, racially tolerant, and emotional.

     It also is easy to make maps and globes part of a child's every day life. Map motifs appear on umbrellas, shower curtains, balloons, beach balls, coffee mugs, jackets, and Signals' world map bangle bracelet and world map poncho (signals.com). Modern and antique globes are sold as informative and decorative home accessories. Soft globe-shaped pillows sold at many map stores enable children to cozy up to the countries or continents stamped on them, while they can fall asleep using illuminated globes as night lights.

     Maps and globes also are designed as toys. Youngsters who have mastered wooden, magnetic, and floor puzzles of the United States can test their skills on continent and world puzzles as well as three-dimensional puzzle globes that stand by themselves. A giant, 252-piece world map floor puzzle is a best seller at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art (store.metmuseum.org). The Metropolitan Museum, National Geographic, MindWare, and Young Explorers also have interactive globes students can use to find information about country statistics: population, weather, currency, and more. Rand McNally makes an electronic game that explores the world's geography, history, ecosystems, oceans, wildlife, sports, and art. Using the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art's new "Global Glowball" children six months and older can touch one of 39 areas to make the globe light up and play a regional song. A number of board games, such as Atlas Adventures, rely on maps. On a rainy day, it is handy to have on hand blank outline maps (sold at map stores and teacher supply outlets) that children can fill in with the names of countries. Older children can go to geosense.net to test their knowledge of city locations throughout the world.

     On a world map or globe, youngsters can use a star, photo of home, or another symbol to indicate where they live. They also can use a world map as a bulletin board where they tack up their outgrown clothes on the countries that produced them. Kids who follow sports may wish to tape photos of their basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis, and other athletic heroes to the countries where they were born. Maps that include time zones enable children to set clocks to reflect the different times in parts of the world they would like to visit and where their relatives and friends already live or plan to travel.

     Like spelling whizzes, would-be chess masters, musical proteges, and athletic phenoms, children who have grown up interacting with maps and globes are primed to test their knowledge against the competition. Millions in grades four through eight begin their quest to win scholarships in the National Geographic Society's annual Geography Bee by checking the website,
nationalgeographic.com/geographybee. In the end, children require no board games or national competitions to send them looking for geographical answers. Locating on a map what is happening in the news is a daily challenge. Map study provides the foundation for an informed citizen of the world.