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Lessons for

Grades 1-4
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for Grades 5-8

Feb. 17, 2025
Feb. 10, 2025
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For Grades 5-8 , week of Feb. 17, 2025

1. CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

New York City’s Mayor, Eric Adams, was charged with serious crimes like bribery (taking money for favors), fraud (lying to get money), and getting illegal donations from other countries. He said he was innocent and was supposed to go to trial soon. But something unusual happened. A top official in the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Emil Bove, told prosecutors to drop the case against Adams. He said it was because Adams needed to work with President Trump’s administration on immigration policies, like helping with mass deportations (sending undocumented immigrants out of the country). The prosecutor leading the case, Danielle Sassoon, thought this was wrong and unfair. She believed there was clear evidence Adams had committed crimes. She refused to drop the case and quit her job instead. Other prosecutors quit, too, because they felt the government was trying to use the law to get Adams to help Trump’s political plans. Now, a judge named Dale Ho has to decide whether to let the charges be dropped. Judges almost always agree when prosecutors want to drop charges, but this situation is strange because it seems like politics is involved instead of just the law. Some people think this is an example of the government abusing its power, while others believe Adams is being treated unfairly. Either way, it’s causing a lot of conflict in the Justice Department, which is supposed to stay neutral and follow the law. Look up the role of the Justice Department in the United States. Write a paragraph summarizing whether you think this story is a departure from the department’s role to enforce laws fairly, no matter who the person is. Discuss with your class and listen to each other’s different perspectives on the topic.

2. SEVERE WEATHER

Right now, different parts of the United States are dealing with dangerous weather events. In the Eastern U.S., states like Kentucky, Tennessee, and West Virginia are facing heavy rain and melting snow, leading to severe flooding. Some areas could get up to 8 inches of rain, and officials are warning people to stay off the roads. In California, areas recently burned by wildfires were hit with heavy rain, causing mud and rockslides. The city of Sierra Madre saw homes and cars damaged as mud rushed down hillsides. Even though the rain has stopped, the ground is still unstable, and more mudslides could happen. Meanwhile, a powerful polar vortex is pushing freezing Arctic air into parts of the northern U.S. Cities like Denver are preparing for extremely cold temperatures, while ski resorts in the Rocky Mountains are getting buried in snow, making travel on mountain roads dangerous. These events show how different types of extreme weather can happen at the same time, impacting communities across the country in different ways. Choose one of the weather events from this story (floods, mudslides, and polar vortexes/extreme cold). Look up what causes it and what dangers it brings for people living in affected areas. Write a short article, imagining your audience is the community affected by that weather event right now. Summarize what you learned and give readers tips on staying safe.

3. AVIAN FLU’S SPREAD

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) just released a study showing that bird flu (H5N1) might be spreading from cows to people without being noticed. This is a new problem because bird flu usually affects wild birds and poultry, but now it’s showing up in dairy cows. Some veterinarians (animal doctors) who worked with cows were found to have antibodies for the virus, meaning they were infected, but they didn’t even know it—they had no symptoms. The study suggests that there are probably more human infections than we realize, especially among farm workers. Since many people don’t get tested, and the government has had problems collecting and sharing data, it’s hard to know how bad the spread really is. This worries scientists because if bird flu mutates and starts spreading easily from person to person, it could cause a serious outbreak. Some researchers are also concerned that the government slowed down important health reports, which delayed getting this information out. Now, health experts are saying we need better testing and tracking on farms to catch infections early and prevent the virus from getting worse. One of the important ways we can help prevent public health crises is virus tracking. If you oversaw this, how would you track a virus that’s spreading on farms? Write a paragraph about what approach you would take in this situation and how you would communicate your plan to both people involved and, optionally, the public.

4. BID REJECTED

Elon Musk, the billionaire who helped start OpenAI, is fighting with the company’s CEO, Sam Altman, over how the company should be run. OpenAI was started as a nonprofit organization in 2015 to develop artificial intelligence (AI) technology safely for the public good. But later, OpenAI created a for-profit company so it could raise billions of dollars to build more advanced AI. Musk left the company in 2018 after arguing with Altman about control. Now, OpenAI is trying to shift even more power to its investors, like Microsoft, which Musk doesn’t like. He and other investors offered $97.4 billion to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit side. But Musk just said he’ll drop the offer if OpenAI agrees to stay a nonprofit and not sell its assets to investors. This fight is about more than money. Musk believes OpenAI is losing its original mission of helping everyone, while Altman believes OpenAI needs investors to stay ahead in the race to build powerful AI. OpenAI is also trying to raise $40 billion to reach a $300 billion value, so this disagreement could affect its future. Look up the differences between a nonprofit, which focuses on helping society, and for-profit company, which focuses on making money for investors. Do you think AI companies should be nonprofits to benefit the public or controlled by companies that can raise a lot of money and move fast, even if they focus more on making money? Write a paragraph about your opinion, using at least two examples of how the model you chose would be more beneficial.

5. SPENDING STRUGGLES

A recent poll shows that many Americans believe the U.S. government is spending too much money overall, but they also think some important programs like Social Security, Medicare (health insurance for seniors), Medicaid (health care for low-income people), and education aren’t getting enough funding. This creates a challenge—people want the government to spend less, but they also want it to spend more on certain things that help them. One area where most people agree the government spends too much is foreign aid—money sent to help other countries. However, many Americans don’t realize that foreign aid is actually a very small part of the budget (about 1%), even though they guess it’s a lot more. There are also some political differences. Republicans tend to want more money spent on the military, border security, and Social Security. Democrats usually want more money for education, health care, and programs to help people who are struggling financially. Right now, President Trump and his adviser Elon Musk want to cut government spending, including cutting money for education and the military. But the poll suggests that many Americans don’t agree with cutting those things. They would rather see more money going to programs that help everyday people. Think about the categories talked about in this story: social security, health care, schools, defense and weapons, protecting our borders, and helping other countries. If you had to divide a total of 100% of funds into those categories, what percentage would each get? Write your “budget” and a paragraph explaining your reasoning.