ST. LOUIS AMERICAN • AUGUST 20 -26, 2015 A13

MAP CORNER

DID YOU KNOW?

Enjoy these activities

that help you get

to know your St.

Louis American

newspaper.

Activity One — Spend

20 minutes reading the St.

Louis American silently. At the

end of the time, each student

must state a fact they learned,

express an opinion about an

advertisement, and state a price for

an item he/she would like to buy.

Activity Two — Have a race

through the newspaper to find

as many geographical words as

you can like hill, river, lake,

plateau, etc. Find examples of

as many of them as you can

on a state map.

Learning Standards: I can use a newspaper to locate information.

I can identify the difference between fact and opinion. I

can locate geographical terms in print and on a map.

The St. Louis American’s award winning NIE program provides

newspapers and resources to more than 7,000 teachers and

students each week throughout the school year, at no charge.

African -American Inventions in the Classrooom

As you return to the classroom for a new school year, many

items around the room were invented by African Americans.

In this section, you will learn about a few of them.

Masking Tape and Clear Tape — Richard G. Drew received a

patent for masking tape in 1923. Originally, this tape

was used for painters and only had adhesives on

the end, and not in the middle. Recognizing that

tape could be used for many different purposes,

Drew later made a clear tape with adhesive the

entire length. It was called Scotch tape and was

invented in 1930.

Pencil Sharpener — JL Love received a

patent for a pencil sharpener on November

23, 1897. This design was a handheld

sharpener that worked by placing the pencil

into the opening of the sharpener and rotating by

hand. The sharpener held the shavings. Many

artists used this invention. This design is still

being used today and can be found in many

school desks.

Pen — W.B. Purvis invented the

fountain pen which allowed people to

write without having to carry a bottle of

ink. He said, “The object of my invention is

to provide a simple, durable and inexpensive

construction of a fountain pen which may

be carried in the pocket.” He received his

patent in January of 1890.

Folding Chair — The folding chair was invented

by Nathaniel Alexander to be used in large

gathering places, like church and school.

Folding chairs are often used to add extra

seating for musical programs, assemblies,

meetings, etc. When the chairs are folded

closed, they can be stored without taking

up a lot of space.

Discuss: What are your favorite inventions

in your classroom? Why? If you could invent

something for your classroom, what would it be? How

would it improve school?

Extension: Did you iron your clothes for school? Did you

know that African American Sarah Boone invented a design

for an ironing board? Maybe you placed your breakfast

dishes in a dishwasher. You can thank Dennis Weahterby for

inventing dishwasher detergent! How many mailboxes did

you pass on the way to school? The mailbox was invented by

Philip B. Downing so that people would not have to travel so

far to the post office to send mail.

Learning Standards: I can read nonfiction

text about African American inventors.

Teachers, if you are using the St. Louis American’s NIE program and would like to nominate your class for a Classroom Spotlight, please email: nie@stlamerican.com.

SCIENCE CORNER

CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHT SCIENCE STARS

MATH CONNECTION

This special Newspaper In Education initiative is made possible, and delivered to classrooms, through The St. Louis American Foundation and its NIE Corporate Partners:

Jennings Junior High School & College Prep Academy teacher, Kathleen Foster, works with students Katana

Boler and Necho Cook on story

comprehension by using the

newspaper. Jennings Junior

High School Prep is in the

Jennings School District.

Photo by Wiley Price/ St. Louis

American.

The Science of Problem Solving:

The Scientific Method

Basketball was

invented in

1891 by

Canadian

P.E.

teacher

James Naismith.

Janine Hausif

invented an app

called “Around

the Way” that allows users

to locate and support the

nearest African-American

companies in the area.

Kitty litter was invented by Ed Lowe in

1947. A friend of Lowe complained that

the ash she was using for her cat made a

mess, and he created this solution.

Use your math skills to solve these

back-to-school themed word problems.

z The cafeteria sold 3 more turkey

sandwiches than ham sandwiches. They

sold 11 sandwiches in all. How many

ham sandwiches did the cafeteria sell?

______

x Maria has 15 pens. All of the pens

are either blue or black, and there are

5 more blue pens than black pens.

How many black pens does Maria have?

______

c In Kirk’s music class there are

2 more boys than girls. There are 8

students in all. How many girls are

there in Kirk’s class? ______

v Jackie and Kendall are part of their

school’s relay race team. Each member

of the team has to run for a half mile of

a 3-mile race. How many members are

on the race team? ______

b David bought a 3-ring binder for

$4.49, a package of pencils for $1.19,

and two packages of paper. What

information is needed to find the

total amount David spent before tax?

______

Learning Standards: I can add,

subtract, multiply, and divide to solve

a problem.

Fun Facts

About

Inventions!

Back-to-School Word Problems!

SCIENCE EXPERIMENT Build a Cube Keeper!

Background Information: In this experiment, you will design a container to keep an ice

cube from melting quickly.

Materials Needed: • Cardboard (less that one cubic foot)

• Waxed Paper • Masking Tape

• Newspaper • Aluminum Foil

• Rubber Bands • Ice Cubes

Process:

q Using these

materials, make a

container to see

how long you can

keep an ice cube

from melting. Find

out what works

best to keep the

heat away from

the ice cube. For

example, should

you wrap the box

in aluminum foil? Should you use the

aluminum foil to line the inside of the box?

Work with a group to design your cube keeper.

w Put an ice cube in the cube keeper. Take

another ice cube and leave it out of the cube

keeper. It will be your control. In

90 minutes, check both

ice cubes. If at the end

of 90 minutes, the control ice

cube is the same size as the ice

cube in your cube keeper, the

container didn’t do much to

keep the ice cube from melting.

Analyze: Compare your results

with other groups in your

class. Which techniques

were most effective?

Why?

Learning Standards: I can follow sequential

directions to complete an

experiment. I can apply the

scientific method of problem

solving and analyze results and draw

conclusions.

If you have ever tried to find a

solution to a problem, you have

used science. The first step is to identify the

problem. In the experiment section on this

page, the “problem” is that you are trying to

keep an ice cube from melting. The second

step is that you will form a theory. This is

what you believe will fix the problem. It is

also called a hypothesis. The third step is

to test the hypothesis. Is your solution or

design effective? What needs to be changed?

The fourth step is to collect the data. This

means you will write your observations or

take measurements. Step five is to analyze

the data. How will the information help

you tweak your design to make it more

effective? Finally, step six is to draw

conclusions. The conclusion will either

be “yes” the hypothesis was correct, or

“no” the hypothesis was incorrect. If

the hypothesis was incorrect, you will

use your data to change your original

hypothesis and repeat the six steps.

Learning Standards: I can read

nonfiction text for main idea

and supporting details.