Islands of Gold

Note: I have cross posted this article on my new View Point at SchoolNet.com.

The Washington Post is running an article entitled, "Defending Old Ways on an Oasis in the Nile." The article states, "Neither the military nor the government has told the island's residents who wants the farmland or why, farmer Maher Yusef Ibrahim Gomaa said last week. "They only said they want to hit us over the head and throw us into the waters," Gomaa added bitterly...The seizure of land has opened another front in the elemental battle of life in Egypt: the losing struggle of poverty against power."

Read the Article!!


Discussion Starters:

Ask students to respond to the following statement: "Old fashion ways of life were not as good as our way of life today." Do students think that this statement is correct or fair? Why/why not?

What can we learn about water from this article?

Who do students think will win the traditional farmers or the Egyptian army and government? Why? What can we learn about the battle between tradition and development from the Island of Gold?

Ask students to imagine that they lived on the Island of Gold. What argument would they make in an effort to persuade the Egyptian government to leave them alone?

If students could incorporate one behavior that would have been considered typical 100 years ago, but is no longer considered typical, into their lives today, what behavior would they choose? Challenge them to explain their opinions.

Vocabulary terms to discuss: Tradition; Venue; Oblivious; and, Goad.

Google vs. Microsoft

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "Google Gets Ready to Rumble with Microsoft." The article states, "At Sun Microsystems, where he was chief technology officer, Mr. (Eric) Schmidt (currently CEO of Google) looked on as Scott G. McNealy, the company’s chairman, railed against Microsoft and its leaders, Steven A. Ballmer and Bill Gates, as 'Ballmer and Butthead.' During a four-year stint as chief executive of Novell, Mr. Schmidt routinely opined that it was folly for any Microsoft rival to 'moon the giant,' as he put it; all that would do, he argued, was incite Microsoft’s wrath." But now,the article reports, "The growing confrontation between Google and Microsoft promises to be an epic business battle. It is likely to shape the prosperity and progress of both companies, and also inform how consumers and corporations work, shop, communicate and go about their digital lives. Google sees all of this happening on remote servers in faraway data centers, accessible over the Web by an array of wired and wireless devices — a setup known as cloud computing. Microsoft sees a Web future as well, but one whose center of gravity remains firmly tethered to its desktop PC software. Therein lies the conflict."

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Young Children

• Ask your students to identify their favorite on-line game. Do they ever buy games on CDs at stores? If so, what games have they bought? Why would students want to purchase games if there are games available on-line for free? What games do students think are better, free games or games that are on CDs? Encourage them to explain their thoughts.
  
• Do students think that it's important to review their work before giving it to the teacher? Why/why not? Would it be smart to keep on reviewing a small homework assignment for a week (or a month) before giving it to the teacher? Why/why not?
  
• Do students enjoy playing games against one another? Why/why not? Do students think that they ever try harder when they are trying to beat somebody else in a game? Why/why not? If somebody loses in a game does it mean that the winner is either smarter or better? Why/why not?
  
• If students could develop a computer or a robot that could do one thing for them what would the computer or robot do? Why?
  

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Outflank; Formidable; "Personal Productivity"; and, "To Google".
  
• In 10 years do students think that people will access software programs on their own computer or in the ubiquitous Internet cloud? Challenge students to support their opinions logically. Do students think it is fair to ask how people will access programs in 100 years? Why/why not?
  
• Ask students to imagine that worked on Microsoft's executive team. What might they do in an effort to ensure that people to do turn away from Microsoft's locally based software in favor of using software located on Google's Internet cloud? Why do they think that this strategy might work? Do students think that it's necessary for Microsoft's survival that people continue to load software onto their own computers? Why/why not?
  
• Why do students think that the metaphor "cloud" has been used to describe the location of Google's software programs? Can students think of more effective, or simply different metaphors?
  

Wrong Again!!

The New York Times is running an article entitled, "New Data, New Methods, New Conclusion." The article begins, "How could American intelligence agencies have overstated Iran’s intentions in 2005 so soon after being reprimanded for making similar errors involving Iraq?" "Current and former intelligence officials insist that much of the 2005 Iran report still holds up to scrutiny. At the same time, they acknowledge that in retrospect, some of its conclusions appear to have been thinly sourced and were based on methodology less rigorous than was ultimately required under an intelligence overhaul that did not begin in earnest until later. "

Read the Article!!

Discussion Starters for Younger Children

• Ask your students if they have ever done something wrong, learned from their mistakes, and then did the thing correctly? What did they do? Was it easier to do the first time or the second? Why?
• Do your students think it's OK to make mistakes? Why/why not? Is it OK to make the same mistake over and over? Why/why not?
• Have your students ever played a guessing game? What does it mean to guess? Are some guesses better than others? What kinds of things should somebody remember to be a good guesser?
• Have your students ever blamed somebody for doing something only to find out that the person actually didn't do it? What did they think the person had done? Do students think it's easier to blame others? Why/why not? Should we always do what is easy? Why/why not?

Discussion Starters for Older Students

• Vocabulary terms to discuss: Blistering; Methodology; Illicit; and, Overstating.
• Ask students to imagine they were compiling an intelligence report on the presence, or absence, of nuclear weapons in Iran. What questions would they try to answer in order to determine if such weapons were present? To whom would they ask these questions? Do students think it would be possible to attain credible answers? Why/why not?
• Ask students to respond to the following statement: "It's OK for spies to produce incorrect reports. After all, nobody is going to provide spies with the exact information for which they are looking.
• What would it mean for one country to be dangerous to another? It's highly unlikely that Iran will attack the United States of America. Is it still possible for Iran to pose danger to the U.S.? Why/why not? What does it mean for a country to have national interests? What are the national interests of the U.S.?