2 . When the Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) began last Friday, Steve and Janet Kistler of Hart County, Kentucky, joined in. They’ve done so every year since the now-global tradition began 25 years ago.

For Moira Dalibor, who teaches math at a school, this was the first count. She led a group of students and parents to an arboretum (植物园) for an exercise in data-gathering. They were among hundreds of thousands of people around the world counting and recording over four days. Last year, about 385,000 people from 192 countries took part in the GBBC.

This global data goes into the eBird database used by scientists for research on bird populations, which have declined sharply overall in past decades. It’s part of a rise in “citizen science” projects in which volunteers collect data about the natural world for use by researchers.

Many bird-watchers use eBird year-round, and it has collected huge amounts of data — often between 1 million and 2 million bird checklists a month from around the world in the past couple of years, says Becca Rodomsky-Bish, the project’s leader at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, in Ithaca, New York. “Observing birds is a good way to connect with the natural world. Birds are everywhere. You don’t have to leave your house. They will come. And they’re charismatic because they’re fun and interesting to watch.”

This is how it works: Participants watch birds, whether that means looking out of the window for 15 minutes or taking a longer trip to a nature area. Organizers recommend the Merlin bird ID app to distinguish birds by size, shape, song or other characteristics. Many participants also carry field guides and binoculars (双筒望远镜) along with their phones. They then enter the findings into the eBird app. Those numbers help researchers track the ups and downs of various species, which then help determine the direction of conservation efforts.

Dalibor prepared her classes with information about local species and practiced with the Merlin app. The kids recorded bird sightings with pencils and drawing boards, and parent volunteers entered those numbers on phones.

3 . Four Preschool Winter Stories

In this humorous book, Fox does not like winter. His friends hibernate (冬眠) and migrate, leaving him lonely. Fox gets an idea to make new friends out of snow, but they are not as much fun as his old friends. What’s Fox to do? He decides to fight winter! Get ready to laugh as Fox gets a flame thrower and tries to melt winter. Winter fights back and Fox gets covered in snow. Just then, Rabbit appears. Rabbit teaches Fox to appreciate winter.

One snowy day, the forest animals discover a mitten (连指手套) that a little boy dropped. One by one, the animals squeeze into the mitten to be cozy and warm. Amazingly, the mitten stretches to accommodate even a big bear! But when a little mouse tickles the bear’s nose, the bear’s huge sneeze sends all of the animals flying out of the mitten! The mitten flies through the air and the little boy catches his missing mitten and carries it home.

This is a short, rhyming story about playing in the snow. School is canceled due to snow, so the children put on their winter clothes and head to play! They have a blast sledding and having a snowball fight. They come home cold and wet to warm up with some hot chocolate.

Tortoise is just trying to sleep his way through winter, but all of his animal friends are being too loud. Their excitement with winter activities keeps Tortoise from his sleep, who keeps trying to find the perfect nap spot. When Tortoise tries to use a sled (雪橇) as a bed, he accidentally takes off down the hill! Tortoise discovers that enjoying winter activities with his friends is a lot of fun!

4 . Whales are threatened by a variety of human activities off the West Coast of the United States, including fishing, ship traffic, and pollution. They have bad effects on whale populations, but are rarely addressed by current whale-protection policies in California, according to a study from the University of California, Davis.

The study, published for open access this week in the journal Marine Policy, examines the main causes of death for nine whale species in the California Current Ecosystem, which stretches from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico. The whales considered in the study include gray, blue, fin, minke, North Pacific right, and killer whales.

“We find that it is people that deem fishing causes whale death,” said co-leading author Eliza Oldach. “But a number of human activities have made the modern ocean a really tough environment for whales to survive. We’re excited about efforts that look broadly to rebuild healthy oceans.”

The report found that main contributors to whale death are currently, targeted with relevant policy responses: noise, water quality and marine (海洋的) rubbish. But three other threats-nutritional stress, disease and predation (捕食) -need to also be considered to provide a more whole approach toward managing whale deaths.

“Gray whales migrate (迁徙) over 5,000 miles between their breeding grounds at either end of the California Current,” said co-leading author Helen Killeen. “Throughout their journey, they must pass through a large number of human activities, fighting with changes to their environment caused by climate change.”

The study comes as the California Ocean Protection Council (COPC) aims to develop a plan for achieving zero death for whales in the California Current Ecosystem this year. Achieving such a goal requires understanding the key drivers of whale deaths and opportunities for policy change, the report said.

9 . Jessica Nabongo longs to set foot in every nation. She started traveling at age four, along with her parents on family trips from Detroit, Michigan and completed her mission when she landed in the Seychelles, having visited 195 countries.     1     Along the way, she became a writer, photographer, and passionate advocate for inclusive and ethical(道德的) tourism .

Here she talks to us about her experience and tips for traveling better.

What inspires your adventures?

    2     I have a strong desire to see the differences and similarities in how people live everywhere in the world, even at home in the United States.

Did you ever experience any obstacles?

I don’t believe in failure.     3     Embarrassment isn’t a natural human personality, in my eyes－it comes from socialization. If I fell over in the middle of Grand Central Station, I’d laugh at myself. I firmly believe that every failure in your life is just an opportunity to learn.

    4    

My mother has always said “ humble(使谦逊) yourself.” I appreciate it because when you travel, depending on your passport, depending on your social class, depending on so many different things, you can go to places with a lot of ego（自我）, or you can humble yourself and know that everyone is equal.

What are some things people can do to travel more sustainably(可持续地)?

Single－use plastic is one of the biggest things harming Earth right now, so a lot of my focus is on that.     5     If you’ re in a restaurant and you don’ t have a big appetite, ask for a half portion. It’s about being a deliberate(慎重的) traveler, just taking that extra minute to think how I can have a lower impact on this place that I’ m in and on the planet in general.

Henry once worked in a middle school in a remote area. He loved to teach the teenagers. He worked to understand what his students were thinking and feeling in order to meet their needs. When a student was struggling, he would work harder to show the child that he or she was capable and cared for. He would try everything in order to help every student achieve success in and out of the classroom. But he would never discover that the impact his small act of kindness had on one student after he left the profession to join the navy,

Henry was teaching science then, there was one girl who sat at the front of the class and was filled with typical middle school pain and anxiety. Her name was Mary. She was a newcomer then. She wasn't accepted by the classmates that soon. She was quiet and kept to herself and always writing a journal during lessons. Henry was looking for a chance to give her a hand but had realized this task was tough.

That class Henry decided to look over her shoulder and see what she was writing. On a small piece of paper he   saw the painful words “I am not good enough. I'm ugly. I’m stupid. No one likes me. I hate myself.” The girl was absorbed in her loneliness and sadness and didn't realize she was overseers.

This task was more challenging because he had never seen a young girl was so disappointed and sad. Great teachers knew that putting extra effort, a kind heart and soul into caring for his students made all the difference. Without thinking, Henry snatched (一把抓起) the notebook from her and started writing in it “You're great, you're beautiful, you're intelligent, you're loved”. The opposite of everything she wrote, then handed it back. He smiled at her with encouragement saying nothing.

Mary was surprised at her teacher's behavior. But when she read the words he wrote, tears welled down her face.

Several weeks later, Henry had to left the school to join the navy.

Several years later, when Henry was walking, a woman asked him whether he remembered her.