CNN 10 5/11/2020 ~ 5/15/2020

Go to cnn.com/cnn10 for latest video*

Monday, May 11, 2020

Quick COVID update. More than 4 million people have tested positive, with hundreds of thousands dying. Most people do recover, but its death rate is higher than the seasonal flu. Over a fourth of cases are in the US, with nearly 1.5 million infections. Beyond that, the jobless rate is now 14.7 %, the highest its been since the Great Depression, as people are laid off and lose jobs. Some artists are using creativity to stay positive. They have drawn what they have been doing in their spare time, for example, the image at left. They encourage us to use creativity, instead of using tutorials. Fog is what happens when clouds condense at low altitude, and you can make your own! Pour boiling water in a jar for a few minutes, pour all but a little bit out, and put a strainer full of ice on top. The cool air on top mixes with the rising hot air to form indoor fog. Did you know that people once hated lobsters? They once washed up on beaches without humans bothering them. Now, lobster fishing is such a big industry that there are tours to watch people catch lobsters.

Tiger Times May Issue 1

Read Ellen Fletcher Middle School's latest student newspaper here!
You can also see our website here.

Reader's Digest May 2020

Reader's Digest May 2020
This week's cover story is about how everything we do online leaves a footprint. Companies like Google and Facebook can track you using cookies, what you look at and search, etc. But there are also other things that can track you. First, your TV. TVs are getting cheaper, but it's partly because the new smart TVs can sell your information, money-makers for the manufacturers. If you read the privacy policies carefully, you may find your TV tracks every. single. pixel. Also a hot topic these days - smart speakers. You may have heard Google Home, Alexa, or Siri burst in on conversations or TV, thinking you called for it. But this is scary. It means the speakers are listening to everything, waiting for its command word. The companies claim they do not use their recordings for profit, but it's best to be wary. Cars are getting smarter, too.

Prisoners of Geography

Prisoners of Geography
By Tim Marshall
Read in 8th Grade
Every nation on this planet has, and always will be, influenced by geography. First, Russia. It is the biggest nation in the world, albeit in an extremely cold region. Here, it faces its first geographic disadvantage. Since it is so far north, the only ocean it has access to is the Arctic. It has no warm-water ports, thereby preventing it from housing a decent navy. And, so that is why Russia has annexed Crimea, for a port. There is also a pizza-shaped piece of land in the west, the Northern European Plain. It is the only way Russia could possibly be attacked, and for all its history, Russia has been wary of it, trying to sway its border nations away from NATO. It does, however, have a strategic advantage in being Europes biggest, sometimes only, oil supplier.