As recently as 20 years ago, the California condor was on the brink of extinction, but thanks to a remarkable conservation effort, an estimated 234 of the huge birds are now living in the mountains in the center of the state. But they remain endangered. The latest peril is a wind-energy project in the Mojave Desert, which has windmill turbines that a condor could fly into. It has not happened yet, but conservationists have expressed horror that developers of the project have been assured they would not face criminal charges if one of the blades were to kill one of the birds, whose wingspan is almost 10 feet wide. Endangered species often are in the news. As a class, find and read a story about one in the eEdition or online. Use the story to write a short creative story or poem describing the dangers this species can face.

Condors Face a New Peril

Not Too Cold for Planet Mars?

ABCs of PDFs

At Age 80, Atop Everest

With Leo in Space

Bacteria that are able to reproduce at a record low temperature of -15 degrees Celsius have been discovered in the permafrost in the Arctic region near the Earth’s North Pole. The extremely cold environment was believed unsuitable for all forms of life, but researchers believe these organisms are capable of thriving at even lower temperatures. The discovery raises the possibility that forms of life may exist on other planets in our solar system, including Mars, and on moons of the planets Saturn and Jupiter. That’s why America’s NASA space agency offered its assistance to the Canadian research-ers working on the bacteria project in the Arctic. Science discoveries often make news. Read one as a class from the eEdition or Internet. Write a paragraph explaining why the discovery is important and whom it will affect most.

An 80-year-old from Japan who has had four heart surgeries is the oldest person to conquer Mount Everest, the world’s highest mountain. It was the third time that Yuichiro Miura had reached the Everest summit, but he now holds the record as the oldest climber. He was accompanied by his son, two other Japanese climbers and six Nepali sherpas on his climb, and — speaking by satellite phone from the

summit — said reaching the top was “the greatest feeling in the world.” His record is already being challenged. Nepal’s Min Bahadur Sherchan, 81, is making plans to climb the 29,029-foot peak. Nearly 4,000 climbers have reached the Everest summit since Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay first reached it 60 years ago in May 1953. Climbing Mount Everest is an adventure many people want to have. In the stories, photos and ads of the eEdition, find an adventure you would like to have. Write a paragraph explaining why you would like to have this adventure.

The Portable Document Format, or PDF, is a great way to share a document, because it can be easily accessed by a variety of computer programs and the document can’t be changed. To make a PDF of an eEdition page or section, click the Download button. Next, choose the pages or sections to download. Finally, click “download selected PDF.” The PDF can now be easily printed or e-mailed. Choose a section of the eEdition that would be helpful in a current school assignment. Use the instructions above to save the section as a PDF. From the PDF, choose an article to write about. Write your opinion about this issue, citing facts from the article.

A Russian living in the European region of Monaco will go into outer space with actor Leonardo DiCaprio, thanks to his high bid in an AIDS research fund-raising event at the Cannes Film Festival in France. Vasily Klyukin, 37, will spend three days training with DiCaprio before blasting off on a Virgin Galactic space flight. DiCaprio signed up for a flight with the private Virgin Galactic company and agreed to the auction to raise money for charity. As a class, talk about reasons you would like to take a space flight. Then draw a comic strip for the eEdition showing and explaining why you would like to fly in space.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions.

Common Core/National Standards: Defining and investigating issues and problems using a variety of resources, including technol-ogy, to explore and create texts; understanding the operations and functions of technology systems and becoming proficient in them.

Common Core/National Standards: Engaging effectively in a range of collaborative discussions; using drawings or visual displays when appropriate to enhance the development of main ideas or points.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Interest in storm chasing has surged, as amateurs with video cameras jockey with seasoned professionals to see who can get the closest and most dramatic images of tornadoes and other storms. Yet storm chasing is not a sport — it’s dangerous. In the Oklahoma tornadoes recently, it proved fatal for Tim Samaras, his son and a colleague. The elder Samaras was a scientist well known for his appearances on the Discovery Channel’s “Storm Chasers.” He also had founded an organization that studied tornadoes and had contributed research to professional journals. Violent weather makes news throughout the summer months. Find a story about a tornado, thunderstorm or other severe weather event in the eEdition. Write a paragraph or short essay describing the risks posed by this weather, and ways to keep safe.

Storm Chasing is Perilous

Mom’s the Breadwinner

Adjective Search

This Yacht’s a Pain in Spain

Rapid-Reaction Force in Africa

In four out of 10 American households with children under 18, Mom is not only the primary caregiver, she’s the primary breadwinner, too. In these families, according to a Pew Research Center analysis, the mother is either the sole or primary earner — a ratio that has quadrupled since 1960. It’s become more acceptable and expected for married women to join the work force and more common for single women to raise children on their own, the survey notes, and women’s attitudes toward work-ing have changed as a result. In the eEdition, find a story about a working woman. Write a paragraph explaining the challenges she faces in her job. Write a second paragraph, detailing additional challenges she would face if she were the prime caregiver for a family as well.

As an “austerity measure,” Spain’s King Juan Carlos offered to hand over to the Spanish government the $27 million, 136-foot yacht he received as a gift 13 years ago. But the businesspeople who paid for the yacht declared they wanted it back if he were going to do that because the gift had stipulated that it was only for the royal family of the European nation. The yacht is anchored off the island of Majorca, where

the royal family has a palace and vacations every summer. Those contributing to its purchase included hotel owners and bankers with links to Majorca and other islands in gratitude for the king’s help promoting the island resorts. The king’s yacht was an extravagant gift. Pretend you had unlimited money and wanted to buy an amazing gift for someone. Search the eEdition and Internet and pick an item that would make an extravagant gift. Write a poem, rap or rhyme explaining why you like the item and to whom you’d like to give it as a gift. Name the person you’d like to give it to in your title.

The Search and Advanced Search features of the eEdition are a great tool for finding information. They also are a great tool for building vocabulary and word power. Adjectives are colorful words that can make your writing stronger and more effective. Adjectives describe people, objects and ideas. Many adjec-tives end in the letters “ive” or “able.” Use the search features of the eEdition to find adjectives used to make writing more effective or colorful. Remember to leave a space after the “ive ” or “able ” when you search to make sure you find only words in which those letters are at the end of the word. Share words as a class. Use three words in complete sentences.

Leaders of nations in Africa are creating a military rapid-reaction force to deal with regional coups, rebellions and wars, so that nations can reduce reliance on outside troops and funds. So far, South Africa, Uganda and Ethiopia have pledged to contribute to the new African Capacity for Immediate Re-sponse to Crises, created under auspices of the African Union. Violent turmoil is taking place in several African nations. In the eEdition or online, find out what these conflicts are, and how they are being dealt with. Write a summary of one situation.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas.

Common Core/National Standards: Using technology tools to enhance learning and increase creativity; becoming proficient with the use of technology; describing the impact of technology use on individuals at home, at school and in the workplace.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task, purpose and audience; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; demonstrating understanding of figurative language, word relationships and word meaning.

Critics have not been kind to the movie remake of “The Great Gatsby.” Opening-weekend ticket sales were not promising, but since then the movie has become a box-office hit. It is now expected to take in as much as $330 million worldwide, plus about $200 million from DVDs and showings on cable channels. Whether that will be enough for the movie to turn a profit, however, is uncertain, since the film by director Baz Luhrmann was extremely expensive to make. “The Great Gatsby” is a flashy retelling of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic 1920s novel that stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire. In the eEdition or online, find a review of “The Great Gatsby” or another movie that is popular this summer. Then review a movie you have seen, giving specific evidence from the film why you liked or disliked it.

‘Great’ After All?

How White the Teeth

For Beach or Pool

Darkness in Pakistan

Blasphemy or Freedom?

State dental boards all over the country are battling against teeth whitening services offered in salons and spas and at mall kiosks. Teeth whitening has become a multibillion-dollar industry, but dental boards insist it should be performed only by dentists and dental hygienists. By policy or statute, at least 14 states have defined teeth-whitening services as a practice of dentistry, but a law firm representing teeth-whitening services in Alabama and other states describes it in the context of hair braiding, micro-dermabrasion and permanent makeup procedures. In a broader sense, it is seen as part of a wider debate over the limits of occupational licensing and the leeway given to professional boards. As a class, discuss teeth whitening and who you think should be allowed to do it. Then do some research and write a short editorial for the eEdition detailing your opinion.

Electricity shortages have reached crisis proportions in the Asian nation of Pakistan. In major cities, lights go off for at least 10 hours a day and in rural areas, up to 22. In protest, Pakistanis have been demonstrating in the streets. Doctors and nurses have picketed outside hospitals where lack of clean water has forced cancellation of operations. Morgues struggle with decomposing bodies. Generators are

straining badly, or in some cases, blowing up from overuse. There are many causes for the problem, including decrepit power plants, crumbling transmis-sion lines and, perhaps most importantly, Pakistanis not paying their bills. Without the payments, there is not enough money to run or repair electric systems. Pakistan is often in the news. In the eEdition or on-line, find a story about living conditions in Pakistan. Write a summary of conditions and share with the class.

With hot weather arriving, lots of people are thinking “beach” or “pool.” You can use the eEdition to shop for your beach and pool needs because it includes ads as well as stories and photos. Make a list of five things you would need to have fun at a beach or pool. Then search the ads of the eEdition to find at least two examples of each item. Record the higher and lower price for each. When you have completed your “shopping,” add up all the lowest prices and all the highest prices to get overall totals for lowest and highest prices. Then subtract the lowest total from the highest total to determine how much you would have saved by be-ing a smart shopper with the eEdition.

A decline in religious freedom has resulted in rising bigotry and sectarian violence around the world, the U.S. State Department declares in a new report. The report singles out eight countries for egregious and systemic repression of reli-gious rights, and warns of a proliferation of laws against religious “blasphemy” in several countries, including some under-going political transitions after the Arab Spring. The report paid special attention to the nations of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Pakistan, Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. In the eEdition or online, find examples of laws involving religious rights in other countries. Write a summary of how one law affects life in its country.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing opinion pieces on topics or texts, supporting a point of view with reasons and information.

Common Core/National Standards: Reading closely what a text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing opinion pieces on topics and texts, supporting a point of view.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; writing informative/ex-planatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly; using a variety of technology tools for data collection.

Common Core/National Standards: Conducting short research projects that build knowledge about a topic; citing specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas.

Common Core/National Standards: Producing clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization and style are appropriate to the task; integrating informa-tion presented in different media or formats to develop a coherent understanding.