Welcome to Study Hall! The Internet can be a great resource as long as you know how to use it. Here you will find tips for effective web research to help you get the most out of the Internet.
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Maya
Cyber Defender & Databank Supervisor
Because of her unquenchable thirst for knowledge, Maya started out as a librarian. While she loved her job, she wanted to do more to help protect people.
Since Cyber Villains such as Ms. Information and Elvirus can corrupt websites and the information on them, Maya teaches people to protect themselves by using caution when visiting websites and avoiding sites that are not trustworthy.
Give me a fish and I eat for a day. Teach me to fish and I eat for a lifetime
- Chinese Proverb
Anything chocolate
Interests:Browsing bookstores, baking
November 14 2008
Research Challenge: When in Rome...
The name November comes from novem, the Latin word for the number nine. But November is the 11th month of the year in our calendar, not the 9th month, so why is it called that?
November actually was the 9th month in the year in the Roman calendar. Rumored to be created in 753 BC by Romulus, the founder of Rome, the first Roman calendar had 10 months and March was the beginning of the year. This calendar only had 304 days in it and was based on the lunar cycle.
The months of January and February were added to the calendar in 713 BC, bringing the total number of days in a year up to 355. This cycle was eventually replaced by Julius Caesar in 45 BC with a more-accurate 365.25 day year that began in January, called the Julian calendar.
Though some countries still use the Julian calendar, the calendar used throughout most of the world today is the Gregorian calendar. In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII adjusted the Julian calendar to bring it back into synchronization with the seasons and, with the inclusion of a leap year, to hopefully keep it there.
Cadets, your research challenge for the month of November is this: How many other things in our everyday lives were first created by the Ancient Romans? I think you'll be surprised to find out!
posted by Maya
topic: Research Challenge
February 7 2008
Research Challenge: Sources for Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day is a late comer holiday. It wasn't even associated with love and romance until Geoffrey Chaucer's time in the Middle Ages. February, however, has long been a month associated with fertility.
In ancient Rome a Lupercalia festival was traditionally held in the middle of the month. People cleaned their houses from winter grim. The priests would sacrifice animals in a cave that they believed was once the home for the founders of Rome. Young men would then run through the town, slapping women with strips of hide in the belief that it would make them more fertile. Other cultures have similar customs centered around increasing the fertility of the land and the people who live on it.
What other traditions are associated with Valentine's Day? Try using the Internet to research more of the history of this most romantic holiday.
posted by Maya
topic: Using the Web, Research Challenge
November 9 2007
Research Challenge: Meaning of Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving is about more than just a Turkey dinner or pilgrims and Native Americans getting together to share a meal. Did you know that Thanksgiving is also a day of thanks for having the opportunity to peaceably establish a government for the safety and happiness of United States citizens? Or that it is a reflection of a fall festival held since humanity was young?
As the holidays come up why don't you do your own Internet research on them? You may learn something new about the traditions your family regularly holds.
posted by Maya
topic: Using the Web, Research Challenge
September 28 2007
Research Challenge: Ghost Stories
Don't you love ghost stories? I do! I have a contest every year with my students to use the library and the Internet to find the best true ghost story. I am continually amazed by what they find out.
Why don't you try it yourself? See if you can't find something out there that gives you the chills!