INFOhio provides this information from the SIRS Discoverer™ and WebFind™ newsletter and is not responsible for the content or the reliability of Web links. Your INFOhio username and password may be needed to open some links.

WHAT'S NEW @ SIRS

Our product development team is constantly reviewing customer feedback and making changes to our learning resources to meet your needs. Several updates to our SIRS family of products were recently completed and we wanted to bring them to your attention.

Political Cartoons in Discoverer

Discoverer provides political cartoons geared for the younger researcher, from noteworthy sources including Junior Scholastic, Scholastic News, New York Times Upfront and Current Events.

Students can learn how to read and decipher political cartoons, as well as understand the writing devices employed in them (satire, irony, metaphor, etc.). In a hurry? The quickest route to all of our political cartoons is Database Features, Activities, Editorial Cartoons. Here’s just a few timely examples to get you started:

Subject Tree Updates

At SIRS, we’re continually reviewing the Discoverer and WebFind Subject Trees to provide a more comprehensive search function that reflects the carefully selected content available in the database.

Visit ACTIVITIES in the Database Features, to access articles and activities relating to Editorial Cartoons, Pro/Con discussions and Maps.

Current Events

Our editorial team updates our SIRS products every day with new articles and resources. Here's a short list of the timeliest and most topical articles added to your product this month. Publication dates may vary due to the editorial selection process.

Suggested Research Topics

Tens of thousands of students mine SIRS resources for the latest information on the leading issues of the day. To help maximize their research time, our Suggested Research Topics feature offers instant access to relevant articles and resources on many of the most popular research subjects.

Here's this month's list of hot topics and timely issues in Discoverer:

Caffeine
Cloning Animals
Global Warming
Iraq
Ocelots
Phillis Wheatley
Stepfamilies
Synesthesia
Tennis

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Groundhog Day, always celebrated on February 2nd, is based on a jocular folk tradition. Supposedly, if a hibernating groundhog surfaces and sees his shadow, he'll be frightened back underground—thus marking six more weeks of winter. If it's cloudy, the groundhog won't be frightened by his own shadow and will stay above ground to bring on spring.

Of course, there's no real truth to this tradition. But the people in Wiarton, Ontario, where the most famous Canadian groundhog used to live—Wiarton Willy—say their groundhog has been right 90 percent of the time. Taken from an ancient European tradition, the first Groundhog Day celebration in North America was held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, over 100 years ago. It's still celebrated there today where they use a groundhog known as Punxsutawney Phil, who was featured in the movie Groundhog Day, starring Bill Murray.

Activity: Let’s learn more about groundhogs to celebrate Groundhog Day. Type Groundhogs in the Keyword/Natural Language Search box for your search. Summarize from at least two articles that provide information on groundhogs.

Here are some sample questions for teachers to use for the mini-research summary:

	Communication Skills Make It a Dog's World "So how do dogs manage to achieve first-class social status with an economy-coach mentality? It's simple. Dogs have good people skills." (THE WHY FILES) Although chimpanzees are closer to humans genetically, dogs have long been our best animal friends. Learn what researchers have discovered about the ability of dogs to "read" humans. Organization: The Why Files
	X-Rays: What Are They? "X-rays were discovered in 1895 by Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen, who received the first Nobel Prize in Physics in 1901. Several important discoveries have been made using X-rays. These penetrating rays are also used in many applications." (THE NOBEL FOUNDATION) A series of five slide shows explores the discovery, nature and uses of x-rays. Organization: The Nobel Foundation
	The Healthy Heart "The heart is a powerful muscle, about the size of your fist. It is responsible for pumping blood to the entire body. In a healthy adult, the body contains about 2 gallons (5 liters) of blood that is circulated over and over through the body. The blood moves from the heart, into arteries, capillaries, and veins before returning to the heart." (FDA) Text and colorful animations explain the inner workings of the human heart. Organization: Food and Drug Administration (FDA)

Questions? Contact INFOhio at webmaster@infohio.org.