Green tree ants are important builders in the rainforest. They're like the worker bees of the ant world. The native forest of Thala Beach Nature Reserve is the natural home of these insects.

    They climb all over the tree that contains their nest and protect it from enemies with great fierceness. The ants are often in the fruiting trees of Tropical North Queensland. When an animal tries to help themselves to some tasty fruit, they find themselves attacked by a powerful, frightening army of green tree ants! Their bite is not very painful but many ants attacking at the same time can be extremely uncomfortable.

    The nests are large and constructed by sticking the leaves at the end of branches together to create a home looking roughly like a globe. Most of the nest construction and weaving is conducted at night. A mature colony of green tree ants can hold as many as 100,000 to 500,000 workers and may include as many as 12 trees and contain as any as 150 nests. Green tree ant colonies have one queen and a colony can live up to eight years.

    However, the ants are so busy that they fail to spot a dishonest figure. There is a spider called the Salticid spider, or the jumping spider, as they are sometimes referred to, which has excellent eyesight and is only active during daylight, weaving a protective covering of silk to spend the night in. Interestingly, the Salticid spider does not look like a green tree ant. Instead, it chemically copies green tree ants' smell. Effectively pretending to be an ant, it goes into the green tree ants' nest, enters the nursery and feasts on their babies. Green tree ants don't have good eyesight and smell everything with their antennae (two long thin parts on an ant's head). Therefore, the ants think the spider is another ant and ignore its presence within the nest.

    Next time, as you wander around Thala's native forest, keep an eye out for these busy little creatures. Look up into the trees and you'll likely spot their nests.

    On October 23, 2016, David Pologruto, a high school physics teacher, was stabbed by his smart student Jason Haffizulla. Jason got straight A's and was determined to study medicine at Harvard, yet this was his downfall. His physics teacher gave Jason a B, a mark Jason believed would undermine his entrance to Harvard. After receiving his B, Jason took a butcher knife to school and stabbed his physics teacher.

    How can someone as smart as Jason do something so dumb? Studies show there is little or no connection between IQ and emotional intelligence.

    During my early university years, I regarded myself as an intelligent guy. I got good marks in mathematics, physics, and other subjects. I thought such skills would surely give me a bright future. After one year of study with decent marks, I began to see two major classes of students. The first category of students turned up to few lectures, partied every weekend, enjoyed a great social life, and did minimal work to pass courses. The second category of students were intelligent and hard workers who got good grades and were very focused on their studies. Surely would these intelligent and hard-working students find the great jobs before the other lazier class of students?

    Not so. Students are often shocked upon graduation that their qualifications are not as important as they once thought. Graduates enter the workforce only to realize that co-workers hate them and less intelligent people are the ones receiving promotions (晋升).

    Educational skills are useless in some industries when interpersonal skills are absent. You can have great ideas, theories, and solve complex problems, but if you cannot effectively communicate with your colleagues, you will face difficult situations. It's not that people dislike you because of your intelligence; it's that people dislike you because you're rude and not understanding. The intelligent person with poor communication skills is unaware of others' emotions.

ZOOKEEPER FOR A DAY

    Go wild with an extreme zookeeping experience!

    The Khaki Extreme program is a wild behind-the-scenes zookeeping adventure like no other! The program offers the chance for 11-15 year olds to see first-hand what's involved in looking after amazing wildlife at Australia Zoo.

    During the guided adventures, you'll gain an understanding and appreciation of what's involved in working in one of the world's most popular zoological and conservation areas, and you'll love getting up close with the awesome animals.

    Whether it's helping keepers prepare diets for the animals, cleaning enclosures (围场) for large animals, or making improved activities for Australia Zoo's wildlife — you will have a chance to get involved at grass-roots level.

    After a busy morning getting up close with wildlife, you can enjoy a specially provided lunch while watching the performance in the world-famous Crocoseum. Then you'll also receive a guided behind-the-scenes tour of the Australia Zoo Wildlife Hospital. Here you'll see the kind veterinary (兽医的) team treating sick and injured native wildlife, and you'll learn what you can do to protect Australia's native wild animals.

    Every season is different and so is our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme program! We'll change the animals and activities each school holiday period to keep it exciting, but with so many great animals on offer, the Khaki Extreme program is always a bunch of fun.

    If reptiles (爬行动物) are more your thing, check our Zookeeper for a Day Khaki Extreme Reptile program. Here you'll have a wild day out with some of Australia Zoo's most scaly (有鳞屑的) and slippery friends. This program may not be available every school holiday period and program dates will be limited. Check the booking page for further details on availability.

    www.australiazoo.com.au

    Open daily 9:00 am—5:00 pm

    Bedtime for some of our animals is 4:30 pm.

    Closed Christmas Day

Recess (课间休息) time has been dropping for many children in America. This drop began the same year the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed. The law aimed to make American education system more internationally competitive by introducing achievement goals for schools. And the goals are gauged (评定) by standardized tests in reading and math. If schools missed their achievement goals, they could be in trouble, including loss of funding.

It's no surprise that teachers have felt the pressure to make sure students perform well on standardized tests. When educators are facing pay cuts, loss of funding to their school and perhaps even the loss of their jobs, it's no wonder that they started questioning if recess was a waste of time. This pressure to bring even more learning into the school day is especially felt by underperforming, low-income schools that are already short of funding.

It may seem strange to send kids out to play when they're falling below state standards, but getting outside for unstructured (散乱的) play may be more helpful than keeping kids in the classroom all day.

"Moving, running and playing outdoors freely have great influence on children. These activities play a role in children's abilities to focus and control themselves throughout the day," Marie Conti says, a famous educator of early childhood education. The mind cannot be educated without using the body. Learning is a whole of thinking and moving," she added.

Recess time makes it possible for children to learn something they can't get in class. Asking other kids to play, explaining the rules of a complex game and ending arguments are all important life lessons that children can only learn if they're given time to play. When something unhappy happens, children can find a way to get back to having fun themselves.

The physical activities kids take part in during recess can also reduce stress levels and allow children to feel more relaxed. In an education system that. Continues to place higher expectations on children to perform to a certain standard, less stress is just what the doctor ordered.

"I'm going to fail!" My best friend cried. She and I had this conversation almost every day while we were in high school.
    The truth was that my friend never failed in any subjects. I just think that she can't accept failures because she lives her life as a perfectionist. What she fails to understand is that a lot of good can come from failures.
    For example, failure can help build relationships. Once I was cooking dinner for a friend, I was tired, and several dishes I tried to make turned out bad. I grew more and more upset until my friend told me that I shouldn't worry. She cared more about our friendship than the dishes. That day, I learned that failure doesn't always make people dislike you. In fact, after she said those words to me, I grew closer to her.
    Failure can make success evermore exciting. Every few years, there would be an important test in the PE class at our school. Students had to run a mile within eight minutes. I was never good at running, so I failed every time until the third year at school. Then I began working out regularly, and yet still failed that year. A few days later, however, the teacher gave me and some other students another chance to run and I got a pass finally! You can't imagine how excitedly I was after that. I felt the memory of the success was as sweet as honey, because I had to overcome failure to reach it.
    Now it's clear to see that failure can teach us good lessons. It's not an end, but it can be a beginning