Artificial intelligence shows promise and peril. But some people might find it more comforting to tell their problems to a machine than a human. A young man talks to a robot therapist. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article, by high school students Sienna Mamoun...
In India, tens of thousands need kidney transplants and can’t get them. High demand and short supply makes organs a valuable commodity. A line of people queue up for an organ transplant. (Illustration by News Decoder) This article was produced exclusively for...
Vaping has exploded in popularity with young people. But the case against e-cigarettes for both smokers and non-smokers is mounting. A man sits on steps while vaping. Credit: Yehor from Getty Images Editor’s note: On 8 May 2024, scientists from the Royal College...
Long after teens returned to school, the isolation they endured during lockdown had ramifications we are just now seeing. A teen sits on stairs feeling lonely. (Credit: Motortion/Getty Images) This article, by high school student Chloe Kennedy, was produced out of...
Millions of girls around the world undergo a brutal and unnecessary surgery. Gambia, which banned the practice, is set to reverse course. Doctors in Somalia perform a repair surgery on a patient who had previously undergone female genital mutilation, 8 February 2022....
One student compared two schools in different countries and found that where the focus was on academics over community, students were more satisfied. What’s that all about? Students discuss amongst each other in a classroom. (Credit: FatCamera/Getty Images)...
It can spot cancer, answer medical questions and help develop drugs. But we don’t trust artificial intelligence to be our primary doctor just yet. A masked robot next to an MRI machine. (Photo illustration by News Decoder) You’re lying in a hospital bed about to enter...
A cyclone can affect trees which impact insects and animals spreading diseases to people. Doctors are realizing that individual health is part of an ecosystem. A bat, a flowering tree and a horse against the backdrop of a tornado. (Illustration by News Decoder) This...
How is having a C-section connected to deforestation? How can a cyclone off the coast of Australia affect the population of fruit bats and horse trainers? Health and science correspondent Maggie Fox dissects the concept of One Health for students in this latest Classroom #Decoder. In the accompanying classroom activity, get students thinking about their own thinking in an exercise in metacognition.
Exercise: With this article, students will engage in The 4 C’s protocol, adapted from Project Zero of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Students will read the article then answer the 4 C’s. (1) What connections do students draw between the text and their own lives? (2) What ideas or assumptions in the text do they want to challenge or learn more about? (3) What is the text’s key concept or takeaway? (4) How did the text change the way students thought about the topic? Did the text inspire a change in attitude or action? Have students underline or annotate the text in response to each question. Share responses in small groups, then as a larger class.
Some think there is a global conspiracy to promote harmful vaccines. But doctors and health experts agree: Vaccines are safe and they save lives. Measles vaccine, conceptual image (Photo by: SCIENCE PHOTO via AP Images.) Editor’s note: On 24 January 2024, the...
In recent years, the rise of measles reported by the World Health Organization is cause for concern. It doesn’t help that vaccine misinformation keeps many parents from immunizing their children against the disease. Get the facts straight and debunk vaccine myths in this piece by health and science correspondent Maggie Fox.
Exercise: After students read the article, divide them into groups of three. Each group should select a vaccine myth presented in the article and create a public service announcement (PSA) debunking the myth. The PSA should be short and catchy, and may be presented through any format of choice: text, images, video, multimedia, etc. The class will vote on the best PSA.
For one Canadian artist, the vibrancy of Japanese washi pulled her out of the darkness of mental illness. Alexa Kumiko Hatanaka and Ashoona Ashoona with their collaborative art piece at the Fogo Island Arts gallery in 2023. The piece, “Uummatima tillirninga, I can...