1 . Discover Nature Schools Programs

Becoming Bears(Kindergarten－2 grade)

By becoming baby bears, children learn from their “parent” to survive the seasons. Kids will find safety in the spring and learn kinds of food bears eat during the summer, and then create a cave for winter hibernation(冬眠)．After learning the skills needed to survive, students will go out of the cave as an independent black bear able to care for themselves.(1.5－2 hours)

Whose Clues?(3－5 grade)

Kids will discover how plants and animals use their special structures to survive. Through outdoor study of plants and animals, kids will recognize their special structures and learn how they enable species to eat, avoid their enemies and survive. Using what they have learned, kids will choose one species and tell how they survive in their living places.(3－4 hours)

Winged Wonders(3－5 grade)

Birds add color and sound to our world and play an important ecological role. Students will learn the basics of birds, understand the role birds play in food chains and go bird­watching using field guides and telescopes. Students will do hands­on activities. Students will use tools to build bird feeders, allowing them to attract birds at home.(3－4 hours)

Exploring Your Watershed(6－8 grade)

We all depend on clean water. Examining how our actions shape the waterways around us. Go on a hike to see first­hand some of the challenging water quality problems in a city. Students will test the water quality to determine the health of an ecosystem.

·Each program is taught for a class with at least 10 students.

·All programs include plenty of time outdoors. So please prepare proper clothing, sunscreen and insect killers for children.

·To take part in a program, please email dcprogramsmdc.mo.gov.

Chinese net users have found a new way to battle desertification by playing virtual (虚拟的) planting games. Ant Forest,     1     is under Ant Financial of the Alibaba Group, told the Global Times that they had planted over 50 million trees covering about 507 square kilometers across China from 2016 to 2019.

Ant Forest is the first such game in China. In the Ant Forest plan, any activity     2    (consider) low carbon, including walking, taking public transport and online payments, will be converted into virtual “green energy”. The energy will be used to grow a virtual tree in the “forest” of the     3    (user). They exchange     4    for a real tree by paying the corresponding energy. Ant Forest will plant the real trees in spring and autumn each year     5    the help of local authorities in the desert areas. This way of planting trees    6     (recognize) on October 23, 2018 by the National Afforestation Committee as    7    means for citizens to fulfill their obligation of planting trees.

The Chinese government attaches great    8     (important)to the protection of ecosystems. China aims     9    (increase)the forest cover to 23 percent by 2020, and to 26 percent by 2035. A new study using data from NASA satellite shows that the Earth becomes    10    (green) as a result of ambitious tree-planting programs in China.

5 . When it comes to helping students learn and mature, there are several ways to increase their well-being. Although your children may be succeeding in the classroom, there are a few things that you still can do.

Encouraging physical activity is the first thing you can do. More and more children do not participate in sports after school. It’s important for you to encourage mobility with sports that are played after class. You should find sporting equipment, basketball courts and play areas where kids can increase their well-being.     1    

Secondly, you can provide proper nutrition for your children. It’s important for your children to receive proper nutrition both inside and outside of the home.     2     You’d better make it a point to provide enough nutrition for their proper development and growth.

    3     Many parents fail to stop children from using smart phones and computers. There are some institutions that even encourage too much screen time as a way to teach children or keep them entertained. You should help the children remain excited without sitting in front of a screen throughout the day.

Last but not the least, monitoring bullying （欺凌）is also an essential part. Bullying continues to remain a common problem in some schools, making it important that the environment that your children grow in holds a high standard.     4    

It’s important to examine the school life as a whole to determine what factors are missing.     5    . You may determine how well they adjust to the world around them and succeed in life.

6 . Summer Holiday Fun 2017!

The summer holidays are upon us again. Here is our guide to summer holiday fun in Peterborough!

Peterborough Museum

The Age of the Dinosaurs is the museum's main attraction this summer. Get up close to prehistoric creatures via some great hands-on exhibits！Watch out for monsters lurking around every ember！The museum is open from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday to Saturday, and from 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Sundays in August.

Call 01733 864663 for details.

Saxon Youth Club

School holiday fun: Young people aged 13－19 will be able to produce their own music, compete in sports activities, or try their hand at cooking at Saxon Youth Club, Saxon Community Centre, Norman Road, Peterborough every Monday and Wednesday from 3:00 pm. PLUS an aero ball tournament will take place on Thursday, 12th August between 3:30 pm and 6:30 pm.

Call 01353 720274 for details.

Houghton Mill

Through the Looking Glass－a new production of the family favorite on Monday 30th, August. Bring rugs or chairs to sit on and a picnic if you wish to eat during the play. Gates open 5:30 pm, performance 6:30 pm－8:30 pm. Tea room will be open until the end of the interval. Adult ￡ 10. Child ￡7. Family ￡20.

Booking advisable on 0845 4505157.

Farmland Museum and Denny Abbey

Farmland Games: From Wellie Wanging to Pretend Ploughing matches, come and join the Farmland Team. Collect your sporting stickers and create a colorful rosette that is fit for a winner！No need to book, just turn up between 12:00 pm and 4:00 pm on Thursday, 19th August. Suitable for children aged four and above, each child should be accompanied by an adult and all activities are included in the normal admission price. Tickets Cost: ￡ 7 per child.

For further information, call 01223 810080.

7 . Around 1975 books were written about strange occurrences in the Bermuda Triangle, a part of the Atlantic Ocean off the southeast coast of the U.S. They told the stories of planes and ships that disappeared for no understandable reason and were never found again. They told about ships which were found undamaged but with no one on them. According to the books, more than 1,000 people disappeared in the Triangle from 1945 to 1975.

According to some writers, there were no natural explanations for many of the disappearances, so they suggested other explanations. For example, some strange and terrible power exists in the Triangle. According to another writer, people from space are living at the bottom of the Atlantic, and sometimes they need human sailors and airmen for their research. These ideas were not scientific, but they were good advertisements. The books about the Bermuda Triangle were immediate successes.

However, the books give little evidence to support their unusual ideas. In addition, they ignore at least three important facts that suggest natural reasons for many of the occurrences. First, messages from some of the ships and aircraft which later disappeared give us evidence of problems with navigational instruments. Similar stories are told by officers who were on duty on planets and ships which finally managed to come through the Triangle without disaster. Second, the weather in this part of the Atlantic Ocean is very unpredictable. Dangerous storms that can cause problems even for experienced pilots and sailors can begin suddenly and without warning. Finally, the Bermuda Triangle is very large, and many people, both experienced and inexperienced, sail and fly through it. Perhaps the figure of 1,000 deaths in thirty years shocks some people, but, in fact, the figure is not unusual for an area of ocean that is so large and that is crossed by so many ships.

The evidence which exists, therefore, supports one conclusion about Bermuda Triangle: We do not need stories about people from space or strange unnatural powers to explain the disappearances.

8 . Years ago when Sam Haskell was nine, a television commercial attracted his attention. P&G (宝洁公司）had launched an ad campaign with the “Cheer Man”, a character who visited neighborhoods around the country. If he rang your doorbell and you had a box of Cheer (a brand name of P&G’s detergent) or even something like “Cheer” written on a piece of paper, you’d receive ten dollars.

Sam was convinced the Cheer Man would come to his home in Mississippi. He made a three-foot by four-foot sign with the Cheer logo and hung it in his bedroom. He was ready, and he told his classmates and everyone he talked to that the Cheer Man was coming to his house. People laughed at him, but his mom kept encouraging him to dream. Time went by and the advertisement was no longer on TV. Sam stored the sign in his closet — but he still believed the Cheer Man was coming.

The next summer, when Sam was ten, he went to a neighborhood birthday party. Playing soccer on the lawn, they heard what sounded like someone shouting through a megaphone. As the noise got closer, they saw it was a car with a loudspeaker on the roof — a man was yelling, “Cheer! Cheer! Cheer…is here!”

Sam watched in awe. The car was still several blocks away, but he knew in his heart that it was going to his house. Sam ran home, grabbed his sign and rushed back outside holding it over his head. His heart pounded in excitement.

And then, just as he’d dreamed, the Cheer Man stopped in front of his house, walked up to Sam and said “You get the ten dollars.”

Young Sam learned a valuable lesson that day about believing in a dream. He discovered that everything is possible. The knowledge paved the way for Sam’s future as a television executive and producer in Hollywood. In 2007, TV Guide named him one of the 25 Most Innovation and Influential People in Television over the last quarter-century.

9 . The 23rd April is World Book Day, but do you know that it is also Shakespeare Day? Everybody has heard of Shakespeare, but do you know how many plays he wrote?

Shakespeare's plays have three kinds: tragedies , comedies and histories, His most famous play is the tragic story of Romeo and Juliet, which deals with two young lovers who are not allowed to marry by their parents. Other tragedies include Hamlet, Othello, and Macbeth.

Shakespeare's comedies include Much Ado About Nothing, A Midsummer Nights Dream and Twelfth Night. Twelfth Night is a play about unclear identities. Two twins are shipwrecked(遭海难）and the sister, Viola, dresses up as her brother, Sebastian, who she thinks is dead. It's funny, because the brother reappears and there's a big love problem going on: Viola is in love with the Duke, who is in love with Olivia, who falls in love with Sebastian except that she doesn't realize that Sebastian is actually Viola dressed up! Everybody falls in love with the wrong person, but it is all made right in the end.

The history plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra, Richard Ⅲ and Henry V are based on the lives of real historical people. In Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra becomes Antony's girlfriend and Antony becomes so crazy about her that he loses controlof the army. Cleopatra kills herself in the end and Antony kills himself too.

Shakespeare's plays can be very difficult sometimes. Some of the themes they deal with are heavy, so they almost always include a lighter subplot with characters who are not so important. They are often used in tragedies to lighten the mood of the play and to keep the audience interested in the main plot.

10 . One afternoon, I was walking with Evan on the second floor. I talked on and on and Evan walked_________in front of me. As we turned a corner, Evan_________me and said the ten words. “Why are you talking to me? I’m not your friend.” Those were the exact words he said to me that day. I stood there_________. He kept walking and never looked back. I__________to my next class with tears coming up in my eyes.

We__________spoke to each other after that. I_________into a shell, like a turtle, to hide from the world. For the rest of my time in middle school, I didn’t__________myself to get close to anyone. I push away most of my friends_________being hurt again. I avoided unnecessary________.

It wasn’t until high school that I was able to__________my head out of my shell and begin_________people again. But even today, I am still__________in choosing who I open up to. It takes me a very long time to warm up to_________.

I was twelve then. I was too trusting and I took what Evan said_________. Maybe he was having a bad day__________maybe I was talking too much. In my view, what he said to me that day__________the course of my life. but if weren’t for that_________, I wouldn’t have met my best friends in high school.

I understand that, in middle school, we were all young. I’ve been able to_________all the people who bullied me, but for some__________I can’t seem to forgive Evan. Those words that day hurt me more than anything. I believe that one day I’ll be________enough to forgive Evan too. But right now I’m still that twelve-year-old running down the hall with tears filled with his eyes.