Ways that Palestinian and Israel Children are Working Together

PA & Israeli girls study animal welfare together when 40 girls from Jericho and Beit Shemesh participated in an event called "New Spring – New Hope," at the Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in Israel. They visited animals and listened to a lecture in Hebrew and Arabic about the importance of treating animals kindly.

The Israel Association of Baseball (IAB) launched Baseball for All (Baseball Le’Kulam), the first ever program to teach Jewish and Arab Israeli children to play baseball. 28 sixth graders from Modiin and Ramle learned about baseball as they also learned about one another.

Source: http://verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com/  

What Does It Mean That Your Brain Is Missing a Cerebrum?

Article: The cerebellum is a part of the brain that holds half of our neurons. But until now, scientists haven't known exactly all that it allows us to do or not do. Thanks to some people born without cerebellums or cerebellums damaged due to stroke, infection or disease--and willing to have their brains scanned and studied--we are learning a lot more. Until now, scientists thought the cerebellum was only responsible for helping us keep our balance and fine motor control. So when one gets drunk and fails a police walking test or can't touch the tip of their nose, that is the cerebellum impaired. (Kids: try walking in a straight line; that is your cerebellum helping you out.) But now we also know that the cerebellum is like the fine tuner to most of our other functions. Other parts of the brain enable us to do things-- like telling us when to walk or speak or feel an emotion--but the cerebellum fine tunes that and helps us do it well -- walk well, speak in an understandable way, or show empathy. For instance, one person in the study who was born without a cerebellum could walk, talk, think and express some feelings, but none very well. In a conversation, he speaks slurred and can only say basic things, like "how are you? how was your day?" But if the conversation progresses beyond that, like someone saying "I felt sad today. My friends were mean to me," his brain cannot process the next step of where to take that conversation. Or if he were driving, he could drive in a straight line, but could not process what to do if a car honked at him and a bus pulled in front of him and he had to figure out what to do next.
   

Israel Leads World in Desalination

Article: Israel has just completed a new industrial facility that never stops working. It is the world’s largest ocean water desalination plant, providing clean water to 20% of Israel's homes. Built by a private Israel company for the Israeli government for $500 million, it uses an engineering process called reverse osmosis to produce clean water from sea water cheaply and on a larger scale than ever before. And its energy consumption is among the lowest in the world for large-scale facilities. Right now 700 million people don't have enough clean water and in ten years, this number will be 1.8 billion. Israel may be showing the world a solution. By 2016, 50% of Israel's water is expected to come from this plant. Why is it important that desalination be inexpensive? 

  

Music Copyright Case

Article: An interesting court case is just wrapping up in LA. Robin Thicke and William Pharrell, from the hit 2013 song "Blurred Lines," are being sued by the estate of Marvin Gaye, for copying his song. Robin Thicke admits that Marvin Gaye's 70s song, "Got to Give it Up" was an inspiration when making the song "Blurred Lines." But Thicke claims he didn't steal the song or plagiarize it. If he did, he would have to pay Marvin Gaye's estate a lot of money for a type of stealing. Kids: How would this be stealing? The trial has focused on what is the difference between being creatively inspired by another work of art and actually stealing that work of art.

Listen to the two songs and then decide: did Thicke and Pharrell steal Gaye's song or simply become inspired by it? What would you decide if you were the jury? And also consider: if "Blurred Lines" hadn't been the huge hit that it was, would Gaye's estate even care? Listen: Gaye's song and Thicke's song (PG video shown here; not the headlines making nude one).

Eat More Bamba, Study Shows

Article: Do you have any allergies? Any food allergies or intolerances, in particular? Do you know anyone with a peanut allergy? A new study says that many, if not most, peanut allergies can be prevented by feeding young children food peanuts starting at an early age, before they turn 1 through age 5. For years, parents and pediatricians have done the opposite--avoided giving kids peanuts thinking that that can cause peanut allergies, until after age 3. But this study proves the opposite. Ask you parents: when did you first have peanuts? Since 1997, the number of kids allergic to peanuts have quadrupled! No one knows why. The study was so conclusive, doctors are going to rewrite guidelines, encouraging early introduction to peanuts. And because peanuts can cause kids to choke, guess which is the best way to introduce peanuts? Bamba!

Bonus question: Why are peanut allergies such a big deal? Because they can be fatal after very few exposures.

   

      

Mayor of Jerusalem Saves the Day

Article: The mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, is a former IDF paratrooper and therefore a trained combat fighter. He was on his way to work with his bodyguard yesterday when he saw a commotion. He saw someone hurting someone else (parents: feel free to edit this however you want based on your kids' ages. It was an Arab stabbing a Jewish man on a street in Jerusalem). The man being hurt was holding up his tefilin bag to prevent the bad guy from hurting him and was yelling at everyone to run away to safety. The mayor and his bodyguard jumped out of their car, ran to the scene and tackled the bad guy, taking him to jail. Imagine that happening in your city!

Yemen's Remaining Jews in Trouble

Article: In the last few weeks, Yemen, a Muslim country south of Saudi Arabia (Kids: find on map), has been taken over by terrorists. The US recently evacuated all embassy staff. Jews have lived in Yemen for thousands of years, some believe since biblical times. Jews have lived in Yemen even before the Muslims came. While thousands of Jews used to live in Yemen, all that remains of Jewish life now are cemeteries, thousand-year old stone homes in hillside villages, and a few families. Those Jews still there--a little more than 50, most of whom are children--are regularly harassed with expressions like, "Dirty Jew," when they go to the market. They stay in their homes as much as they can. In 2007, militants told Jews in Saada they had 10 days to leave or else. Nevertheless, the Jews remain proud. The boys all wear earlocks/peius, to show they are Jews. The remaining Jews are looking to go to Israel or the US. All are looking to leave. Within a few years, there will likely be no Jews left in this country that once had thousands.

See article for pictures. Kids: look at how the Jewish children are dressed. Do they dress like you? Why not? How does our clothing reflect our society?