What Color Were Dinosaurs? (And Other Frequently Asked Questions)

Humans are naturally curious. I don't know anyone over the age of 15 who hasn't seen or heard a little kid ask why the sky is blue. (The short answer is that it isn't. The color of something depends on which wavelengths of light it absorbs and which wavelengths it reflects, and to what extent it reflects and absorbs each particular wavelength. You see the sky as blue because that's the color that is reflected by gas molecules in our atmosphere. It's also important to note that color is incredibly subjective. You may look up and see a blue sky, a couple of green trees in the background, and some people milling around just over there on that hill, but a person with colorblindness, your family pet, the bird that just crossed into your line of sight, and the various insects buzzing around will see all see that same scene colored far differently. If you'd like to see how a colorblind person sees, click here. And if you want to see the world through your dog's eyes, click here. Spoiler: To them, you're a rather unappealing shade of green, but they love you anyway.)  

So, back to today's resource.

This Youtube channel offers answers to some of life's more unusual questions, like what color dinosaurs used to be. If you're anything like me, you might have hoped to answer to be 'rainbow-colored, sparkly, and florescent.' However, the experts at Scientific American offer a bit more plausible explanation. 

You can also find the answers to such burning questions as 'why do onions make us cry,' 'what does the universe sound like,' 'why does toothpaste makes orange juice taste bad,' and 'why can't humans regrow limbs like awesome little starfish?' 

750 Words

This simple, free to use site encourages you to write 750 words daily. This may seem like a daunting task at first, but remember that you can use what you've written for school that day, personal thoughts, free-writes, letters, blog posts, journal entries, poetry, or anything else that you feel like writing.

If 750 words is just too much or if you're in elementary school, give yourself a personal goal of 250 or 500 words a day. You won't get a cool little check in the box above your account, but you'll still know that you accomplished your goal.

Besides the obvious agenda of inspiring my students and readers to write more, I'm also recommending this resource because it is super cool.

750 words gives you daily as well as lifetime stats about how much you've written over how long, the rating of your writing, the emotions and concerns expressed in your writing, and whether your mindset is positive/negative, introverted/extroverted, certain/uncertain, or thinking/feeling. It also tells you whether you tend to write about the past, present, or future, and whether you use sight, touch, or hearing to communicate your thoughts. It also gives you a fairly impressive graphic of frequently used words. Your lifetime stats will tell you your average words per day, how fast you type, and how often you get distracted. It'll also analyze your word usage and compare you to world averages.

For those of you concerned about privacy, I can assure you that this information is computed via pre-set algorithms and formulas. No one will see it except you and the person looking over your shoulder. (Make you look.)

If you use the site frequently and start to get into the habit of writing daily, your writing will improve slowly but steadily, and you'll have a chance to earn some cool badges on the site for your accomplishments.

So pick up that pen and start scribbling! Er, I meant leave that keyboard right where it is and start typing! Good luck, and have fun!

Why it's Vital to Supplement School with Home Learning

In today's increasingly global, intensely competitive, and dizzyingly fast-paced society, it is vital to supplement what you learn at school with home learning. First of all, let's define what I mean by 'home learning.' I don't mean homework, and I don't mean studying for school-related tests or quizzes. Nor do I mean sitting down and reading your entire biology book in one session. (Seriously, don't do this. You will wake up in terrible pain several hours later regretting every life choice you ever made. I speak from experience. Possibly; it could have been a dream for all I know.)

What I do mean by home learning is going to the library and finding a novel that captivates your attention. I mean tuning into the science channel for a little while. I mean going online to watch educational videos that inspire you. I mean sitting down and writing a poem about what's outside your window, or writing a short story about what your cat does when you're not looking (spoiler: he licks everything you own), or writing a series of novels about alien dinosaurs that may or may not be planets.

Find a topic that interests you and learn everything you can find about it. Admittedly, that's probably an impossible goal in this day and age. If you try to learn everything you can find about volcanoes, say, you'll have to sort through fifty million webpages, videos, articles, pictures, ads, etc, etc. When I was a child, all I had to do was take out five books from the library and watch a 45-minute documentary and presto, I had explored every possible avenue of volcano-related knowledge that existed in my small corner of the world. Perhaps a better bit of advice would be to explore the topic of your desire until your curiosity is throughly satisfied.

Find something you're passionate about. If you like art, take a virtual museum tour. Do some research about galleries that offer free or reduced-price or optional admission, and politely request that your caregiver organize a day trip in the near future. If you want to try your hand at art, see if you can borrow some art supplies from your school or local library. If not, you may just have to settle for sketching with a pencil or pen and drawing online until you can save up enough to explore some other mediums like pastel, watercolor, or sculpture. See if you can apprentice with a local artist or if you can negotiate a work-for-knowledge sort of employment.

You might want to explore film-making or photography. Even if you start with the camera in your phone, you can still play with light and shadow, theme, mood, tone, composition, and subject. Experiment. Mix it up. With your parent's permission, you might even be able to start a Youtube channel. Enlist the help of your friends to interview elders in your community. Gather stories from the people around you, or find an beautiful little place of isolation where you can record the swaying of trees or the blossoming of flowers or the ebb and flow of the urban environment.

Volunteer. Find out if there are any local animal shelters or hospitals nearby that accept volunteers. If you love working with animals or helping other people, this might be a great way to gain experience, give back to your community, and start building your resume or CV.

Spend a day at the library with the goal of exploring something completely new. Go to the geography section and find a book about a country you've never heard of. Wander over to the history section and pick out a few books about time periods you know little about. Make your way over to the science isle and find materials about a theory you've never even knew existed. Either do it the old-fashioned way and leave your electronics at home, or bring along a tablet or laptop for additional research. (Just make sure it's silenced beforehand, or you might find yourself on the receiving end of a very disapproving SHHH!)

If you're interested in computers, electronics, engineering, or robotics, see if you can find a really old desktop computer from the '90s. You might have to look around your neighborhood on trash day or ask around to see if anyone is looking to get rid of a broken computer, or you might have to settle for buying one. A general rule of the thumb is the older, dingier, dustier, and more broken it is, the cheaper it'll be. Your goal here is to take apart the computer, so don't spend more than 10 or 15 dollars. If you can find a tower as well, great. (For those of you too young to remember what a tower is, it's a big, loud, noisy black box that used to run our computers and stub our toes back in the days before laptops.) I took one of those bad boys apart a few years back, and it was pretty awesome. I am, however, contractually obligated to inform you that you will find fifteen years of dust, pet hair, and other assorted debris, so consider yourself warned.

If you're interested in coding, that's another story entirely. I'm planning a post about online resources for students just like you, so keep checking back over the next week.

You might be interested in geography as well. Try starting a rock collection, and learning about the origin of each rock, how it was formed, approximately how old it may be, and how professional geologists would classify it.

If you love nature and find yourself inspired by trees and flowering plants, there's a couple of things you can do to foster that interest. Ask your caregiver if you can start a small garden in your yard, or, if you don't have a yard, ask if you can dedicate a windowsill or corner of your room to a small garden. You might want to try growing herbs, flowers, succulents, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, or even bushes and small trees. You might even want to start a butterfly garden or a compost pile. (Please remember that unless you're living on a piece of property that you yourself own, you will either need to ask your landlord and/or caregiver for permission.) You can also join Arbor Day foundation and get ten trees delivered to your house when you purchase a year-long ten dollar membership. You'll be helping the environment, beautifying your community, purifying your air, and providing a place for local birds to nest. And I will stress again that you must ask your caregiver to borrow their credit card before purchasing a membership, unless you are an adult or are old enough to have a high school checking account with a debit card.

If you're interested in writing, you might want to start a blog, or contribute to an existing forum for young writers. If your school has a journalism group or newspaper, enquire about joining.

I'm sure that there are other interests I've missed. If you'd like a personalized recommendation for home learning ideas for your personal interest or hobby, leave a comment and myself or my co-partner will be more than happy to help you.

My point here is that you should find something you love. Find something that excites you, something that inspires you, something that matters to you, something that speaks to your heart and your mind and your very being.

This isn't just important because it'll boost your grades. (Though, it is likely to help you perform better in school. That's just a bonus.) It's important because you are young and full of excitement and curiosity. Right now, you have so much potential. Make the most of it by exploring the world around you and learning as much as you can. If you're doing what you love, it won't feel like 'work' or 'learning,' but it'll still prepare you for your future years of schooling and for your future career. If you find that thing that inspires your mind to soar to new heights, you can start thinking of the kind of job you'll want when you grow up. If you love nature, you might become a botanist. If you can't go a day without animals, consider researching a veterinary career. If you're a computer whizz, think about becoming an engineer or a coder.

The best part of finding what speaks to you is that you'll start to see the world in an entirely new light. The more you know, the more connections you can make. The more you bring into the classroom with you, the more knowledge you'll leave with. Please don't think of learning as a chore. Learning... Learning is a box holding a key to a whole new world. So get out there. Learn something, even if it's one little thing every day, and watch as the world opens itself to you. It won't happen overnight, and it might not happen for years. But if you make a habit of learning, and if you learn to love learning, one day you will look down and find that key in your hand. See where it takes you. You might be surprised to discover where it leads, but I promise you this: you will not be disappointed.

Free Learning Materials for UK Students

If you are currently residing in the United Kingdom, follow this link to order free learning materials by mail, courtesy of the Open University. Students from other nations can download the same resources for free onto their computers, tablets, or other electronic devices, and are welcome to browse the various other free learning resources around the site.

TED Talks

TED Talks online gives learners from all over the globe access to innovative talks given from the world's premier experts. The Talks range from subtly humorous to jaw-droppingly beautiful to awe-inspiringly ingenious. The Talks range in duration from five minutes to just over a half hour, so you can fit them into your morning train commute, your mid-morning coffee break, your lunch hour, or your late afternoon snack time. High schoolers and adult learners would likely get the most out of this resource, but middle schoolers can feel free to take a peek around as well.

Miracles of Nature Documentary Series

This three-part BBC documentary explores the extraordinary range of abilities extant in the animal kingdom, and presents a variety of cutting-edge new technologies inspired by the remarkable range of survival strategies nature has developed over the past few billion years.

You can watch the documentaries here:

Miracles of Nature: Super Bodies

Miracles of Nature: Super Senses

Miracles of Nature: Super Powers

Writing Habits to Ditch in Middle School

When you were in elementary school, your teacher might have given you a formula for writing that looked something like this:

• An essay is three to five paragraphs. 
• A paragraph is exactly five sentences. No more, and no less. 
• You start with your introduction. Begin with 'let me tell you all about' or 'first.'
• The next three paragraphs are the body. Use transitions like 'second,' 'next,' 'then,' etc.
• Your fifth paragraph must start with 'in conclusion,' or 'as you can see.' 

If you are in elementary school, this kind of writing is fine. You're still learning how to use your writing muscles and no one is going to expect you to sit down and write Paradise Lost. 

However, if you're in middle school or high school, the above formula is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. My co-partner and I (and probably your teachers as well) feel something like this when they see a middle or a high schooler writing like that. 

Now that you know what not to do, let's discuss some alternatives that will bring your writing up to grade level.

• Begin by acknowledging that an essay can be one paragraph or fifty pages. A paragraph can be one line long, or it could fill it up half your page. This is English, not chemistry or math. There is no formula for the perfect essay, nor any equation that will give you an awesome paper.
• Start with your thesis statement. This is either the point you're trying to prove (if you're writing a 'critical lens' for English or some similar such essay) or the topic you're going to be talking about. 
• Example One: Robert Frost once said that "freedom lies in being bold." There is a compelling truth in these words, as true freedom can only be found by gathering the courage to forge one's own path in life in pursuit of one's hopes and dreams. 
• When you are asked to write critical lenses, your teacher often asks you to agree or disagree with a given statement. I'd recommend that middle schoolers do so explicitly, but that high school students attempt to do so more subtly. In the above example, I never outright said I agreed with the quote, but it's clear that I do in fact support the point of view expressed. 
• Example Two: World War Two caused a great number of social, economic, technological, political, and global changes that paved the way towards the modern world. 
• Finish off your introductory paragraph by providing a little more detail. Give a brief overview of the evidence you're going to use later on in your essay. Just remember not to play all of your cards in the first paragraph. 
• Use your body paragraphs to analyze the evidence you're going to provide to prove your point. 
• For the critical lens, you'll probably want to think of two or more works of literature that support your position. Remember that you can use books, plays, or even poetry to back up your thesis. 
• You can devote one paragraph to a real world example. I'd generally advise against using personal examples. However, feel free to draw from history and current events. 
• For the history essay, spend one paragraph on each point: social changes, political changes, economic changes, and technological changes. You'll want to save the 'global changes' part for your conclusion.
• In each paragraph, give examples of the various changes that happened after the war. You can talk about the Baby Boom, the rise of the suburbs, America's rise to a global superpower, the Cold War and the way it changed the political climate of the 20th century, the Truman Doctrine, women's return to the 'domestic sphere' after comprising a significant part of the workforce during the war, and the various civil rights movements that emerged shortly after the war.
• High schoolers should also acknowledge counter-points to their argument. For the English essay, you should acknowledge that there are other ways of achieving freedom, and that the concept of freedom itself is incredibly objective. For the WWII essay, spend a paragraph talking about the changes that represented a step back for society rather than a leap forward. 
• Now it's time for your conclusion. The best way to do this is to restate your thesis in light of the evidence you provided. This is also the place to acknowledge counter-arguments if you can't devote an entire paragraph to it. You're also going to want to make a Big Picture connection. Explain why the topic of your writing is important. Talk about how Robert Frost's words apply to everyone in some way. Spend a couple of sentences discussing the lasting consequences of WWII and how we are still benefiting (or, in some cases, suffering) from its repercussions. 
• Let your essay end naturally. Allow it to taper off. Think of writing as an art form. You don't want to hammer in your point; you want it to gradually settle upon your reader. Ideally, your essay should have the impact of steel but read with the smoothness of silk.

Educational Youtube Channels to Add to Your Subscription List

If you're looking to subscribe to some channels that make learning fun, check out the following links:

• Minute Physics
• Minute Earth
• The Brain Scoop
• Nova
• It's Okay to Be Smart
• Metropolitan Museum of Art
• Smarter Every Day

Editing and Proofreading

Editing your work is an important skill to master no matter where you are in your academic career, so let's take a few moments to discuss what you should be looking for as you edit your work.

• Spelling and grammar. For the most part, you're going to be typing your papers, so you have the advantage of built-in spelling and grammar checkers. Your teacher is going to a lot less forgiving of obvious spelling errors in your type-written work than in your hand-written work. It's also important to note that as you get older, your teacher's standards are going to climb higher and higher. The quality of work you produced in first grade is simply not going to fly in fifth. As you learn more about writing, grammar, and spelling, your academic advisors, tutors, and teachers are going to expect your work to reflect this progress. 
• Watch out for common spelling mistakes and tricky words. I personally have trouble spelling the word 'apocalypse,' which is unfortunate because I end up needing to use it at least once or twice a day. Thankfully, I have my word processor and spell check to help me out. Confession: about 10% of this page was underlined in red before I went back and fixed it. The lesson there is that you don't need to be a perfect speller to write well and be understood. You just need to edit. 
• Try not to confuse then/than, too/to/two, their/there/they're, and affect/effect. 
• I'm not sure how other programs work, but in Word grammar mistakes are underlined in green. However, Word often suggests imperfect replacements for errors and commonly marks perfectly correct grammatical arrangements as errors. When it doubt, read the original sentence and the suggested corrections aloud to see what sounds more natural.
• Read your work aloud, especially if you are a native English speaker. If it sounds strange, awkward, or just plain wrong, you want to fix it. Also ask yourself, 'Does my essay flow well? Does it make sense? Did I use transitions between paragraphs? Did I avoid run-on sentences? Can I make anything clearer or more concise? Is there a better way of saying this? Did I use enough detail and add enough examples? Did I prove the point I was trying to make? Did I complete the task?' If you find any errors, be sure to fix them before turning your work in to your teacher, especially if your teacher is expecting a polished final draft. 
• Remember that the purpose of writing is ultimately communication. If you want a good grade, you need to write something that your teacher is going to be able to understand easily. If you go back to your work and find out that something doesn't make sense to you, your teacher isn't going to stand a chance at figuring out what you meant to say. 
• Also remember that you're going to want to write in a fairly formal tone. Try not to use contractions (don't, wasn't, etc) or slang words. Text speak is also a definite no. You're writing for your teacher, not your friend. 
• You might want to ask for a copy of the rubric your teacher is going to be using to grade you. Try to take a step back and look at your work objectively. Put yourself in your teacher's shoes and ask yourself what grade you would give your paper. Be brutally honest, and correct for any favoritism you might be showing towards yourself by knocking off five points (or a half a letter grade). Then ask yourself if you'd be happy with the score you gave yourself. If you gave yourself an 85 or above, fantastic. If you gave yourself a 70, you might want to go back and edit some more. If you gave yourself anything less than that, you might need to ask a parent, guardian, older sibling, tutor, classmate, or teacher for help. 

Today's Lesson: Making Your Writing Come Alive

Let's pretend for a moment that my imaginary teacher just told me to write a few sentences about my favorite memory. After a minute or two of contemplation, I decide to write about the time I got my first dog.

So here's my first draft:

When I was in second grade, I got my first dog. My mom took me to the airport to pick her up. Then we brought her home. We named her Sophie. 

Not bad, but not good, right? It's a little dry, and a little boring. If this was my final draft, I'd probably put my readers to sleep. Let's try again. This time, we're going to add a little more detail.

When I was in second grade, I got a brand new puppy. My mother picked me up early from school so we could pick her up from the airport. After wandering around the terminals for what felt like forever, we found the domestic cargo building. From there, my puppy was only a quick signature away. Her crate was a little stinky from the long flight, but I was too excited to care. We brought her home, washed her up, and decided that out of all the names we'd considered for her, 'Sophie' was the best fit. 

That's quite a bit better. Notice that I also varied the sentence structure and used compound sentences. I also added a bit of emotion and flair. By combining all of these strategies, my writing seems a bit less generic and has a better shot of keeping my reader's attention.

If you want to be really fancy, you might want to try switching it up even more. My imaginary teacher's imaginary prompt was vague enough to allow me to get a bit creative. Let's try changing the point of view by writing this memory up as a journal entry.

Dear Journal,

Guess what? My puppy arrived all the way from Washington today! Mommy took me out of school at lunch-time so we could go pick up our new puppy. I was too excited to eat much, but Grandma made me chicken cutlets so it was hard not to eat. After lunch, we headed straight for the airport. Mom got a little lost so it took us forever to find the domestic cargo building, but we ended up in the right place eventually. 

I could barely stand still as we waited in line for our puppy, but the wait was worth it once I saw her. She was stinky, wet, and dirty from the long flight, but she was so, so, so cute! I took one look at her and fell in love. We had decided to call her Chloe, but the moment I opened my mouth, "I love you, Sophie!" popped out instead. Oops. 

After two long baths, Sophie was finally clean and free to explore her new home. I think she likes it here. I spent most of the afternoon playing with her, but she's taking a nap right now and Mommy says I should let her rest. Oh well. Anyway, I should go check on her. Bye, Journal!

This one is even more detailed and interesting, and it's a lot better than my boring first draft. You might notice that I changed some minor details from draft to draft. When you're writing creatively, it's perfectly alright to embellish your work like that. Just don't try that when you're writing a history paper. While it might be fun to re-imagine the American Revolution as a giant food fight, that is definitely not what happened and you'll probably get a big fat F for your efforts.