Week 4 of the challenge .. Part One

1.  Armadillos.  I looked up armadillos and found the article "Awesome Armadillos" in the Wild magazine.  It contained pictures and physical information.  The student can cut and paste potions of this article into their reports.  It can also be emailed and shared if there is a team of students working on a project
     I also looked up my newest animal of interest.  It appears that I have a Pack Rat that has decided to winter in my hen house.  I found the article in Yak's Corner.  I was interested to see if this critter is harmful and if so in need of termination.  Or, is it just a freeloader stealing hen food and I should let him winter in warmth.  Nothing really bad was found, but still a little creepy.

I found this site to be a good one.  So many links with so much information.  It appears sights are updated regularly and new links added.  A great spot for students to generate reports.

  Country Facts.  Slovenia.  In 1857, Slovenia became part of the Austro-Hungarian kingdom.  In 1963 it declared itself the Socialist Republic of Slovenia.  But most importantly, in 1991 after a 10 day war it became independent from Yugoslavia.
  It's agriculture consists of:  potatoes, hops, wheat, sugar beets, ..... and of course grapes for wine and cattle and goats for cheese.  What a perfect combination.
  It's language is Slovenian with some Serbo-Croatian.  They use Euros.
I chose Slovenia because my wife and I plan to bicycle there next year.
   I found a printable PDF map of Slovenia under  Slovenia(Archive)  It could be used as a handout to show what countries surrounds it.  If studying the aggression that took place in this part of the world during the early 1990s, students may gain a better understanding of borders, cultures, and maybe why the there were problems at this time.

Database.  Educators Resources.    It contains:  Product Training, Curriculum Tools, and Community Promotion.  I chose the one on Common Core Standards.  It has been controversial and an educator should be well informed on what they are all about before weighing in on the whole thing.  It had topics "Shifting the focus from "what" to "how" and SIRIS Targeted resources for Student research.  Finding resource that align with specific standards, defining reading levels, and promoting the development of critical thinking and information literacy skills.
Another good site with many helpful links.