The students are having their chemistry class. Miss Li is telling the children what water is like. After that, she asks her students some questions, “Boys and girls! What is water? Can you tell me?" She waits for a few minutes, but no one answers her. Then Miss Li asks again. “Why don't you answer my question? I tell you what water is like, right?”

    Then a boy puts up his hand and says, “Miss Li, you tell us that water has no color and no smell. But I think that water is something that is black when I wash my hand in it.” All the students begin to laugh. Miss Li laughs too. Then another boy puts up his hand, Miss Li says “What do you think, Wang Bing?” The boy says:” Miss Li, where can we find water that has no color and no smell?”

    “Why do you say so?” Miss Li asks.

    “The water in the river behind my house is always black and it has a bad smell.” answers the boy. And most of the children think he is right.

 “I am sorry to hear that, children.” says the teacher. “Our water is getting dirtier. That is a problem. All of us must try our best to make it clean again.”

                                       Rocky Mountain Summer Adventure Camps Bring Learning to Life!

    The Museum of Idaho Rocky Mountain Adventure Camps are available for students aged 6-14. Participants will have amazing outdoor experiences combined with adventure and fun. Space is limited to 20participants each session and registration is not complete until payment has been received by the Muse um of Idaho. Registration fee is non-returnable.

    Junior Adventure Camp

    Children aged 6-9 (must have completed first grade).

    We'll conduct experiments, go on field trips, and discover the fun and excitement of science! This year, we will learn about colonial（殖民主义的）science to go along with our exhibit, America's Revolution!

    Instructor: Chloe Doucette

    Dates: June 27- June30

    Time: 9:00 a.m. --noon

    Cost: $75 per child, $60 per child for MOI members, $50 each additional brother or sister

    Original Camp

    Children aged 9-12 (must have completed third grade)

    Original Camp is for children who are ready for an exciting full-day outdoor camp. Participants visit various habitats and ecosystems as we explore eastern Idaho. Well go bird watching, hiking in the mountains, and lots more!

    Instructors: Alana Jensen, Jerry Petty

    Dates: July 18- July21

    Time: 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m.(9:00-6:00 on the last day)

    Cost: $150 per child, $125 per child for MOI members, $100 each additional brother or sister

    High Adventure Camp

    Youth aged 11-14 (must have completed fifth grade)

    High Adventure Camp is for youth who are looking for an amazing summer adventure! This outdoor camp is full of exciting physical challenges and involves participants in even more in-depth activities than the Original Camp. This year, students will study how rattlesnakes experience the outdoors!

    Instructors: Chloe Doucette, Mike Winston, Jerry Petty

    Dates: August 8- August 11

    Time: 9:00 a.m. -4:00 p.m. (9:00 -6:00 on the last day)

    Cost: $150 per child, $125 per child for MOI members, $100 each additional brother or sister

    Participate in both Original AND High Adventure for only $200! Call522-1400 ext. 3002 to take advantage of this great offer. If you have any questions about the Museum of Idaho's education programs, contact Chloe Doucette, Education Director at (208) 522-1400 ext.3002.

    An analysis of almost 50 years of competitions—including Eurovision Song Contests and world skating championships—has found that contestants are more likely to win if they are among the last to appear before the judges.

    The study by an American university appears to provide scientific proof that the best man, or woman, does not always win. It found that, on average, the last competitor to appear in the Eurovision Song Contest was more than twice as likely to win as the one who went on first.

    The first rounds of figure—skating championships, for which the running order is selected at random, showed more dramatic results. The final skater had a 14 percent chance of victory, making him or her more than four times as likely to win as the first skater.

    The study showed a gradual worsening of chances for competitors who appeared earlier in the running order. A contestant who appears first in a contest is two percent less likely to win than one who appears second. A contestant who appears second is two percent less likely to win than one who appears third, and so on.

    The findings are published in the March issue of Acta Psychologica, a scientific journal. Robert Hardman, a senior lecturer in psychology at London Metropolitan University who specializes in the science of decision-making, said that the results were interesting. He suggested that the effect was caused by the limitations of the human memory.

    "When people make comparison, they aren't really able to make a lot of fine-grade discrimination. When contestants appear at the beginning of a contest, judges have little to compare them to and are perhaps cautious about the scores they give." he said.

    "Later on, when judges are able to compare the contestants to those that have gone before, they might give more extreme marks because they feel more confident about their judgments."

    It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle.

As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade—or so we thought, as she didn't mention it again. We bought the latest fashionable Baby Sitter's Club dolls, a holiday dress and some beautiful story books. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she proudly announced that she "really wanted a bike more than anything else."

    It was just too late, what with all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts. We could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. "What if I make a little bicycle out of clay and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?" Her dad asked. The theory, of course, being that since that is a high-ticket item and she is "such a big girl", it would be much better for her to pick it out. So he spent the next five hours painstakingly working with clay to make a tiny bike.

    Three hours later, on Christmas morning, we were excited for Rose to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud.

    She looked at me and then at her dad and said, "so does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?"

    Beaming, I said, "Yes."

    Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, "I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike."

    At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle on the planet!

    My wife and I went to this vegan(严格的素食主义的) restaurant to give it a try. As we were eating our pepper and salt tofu, a young lady named Debra walked in. She wasn't aware that the place is vegan and was looking for some meat. My wife and I talked up the place and invited her over to try some of our tofu. Debra tried it, nodded and went out.

    After a few minutes, she and her mother both walked back in. We were having the rest of our meal at that time, so we told her what we had ordered. Debra then asked the waitress to just repeat our order for them. Next, Debra said. "And we want to pay for their meal", pointing to my wife and me. We tried to say no, but Debra wouldn't listen.

    That was not the end of it. Hugs were in order. Debra came over to our table and my wife got up to hug her. Debra hugged my wife and put $ 100 into her hand. My wife firmly said NO, but Debra insisted. Debra kept talking about our kindness, and we did the same about hers and her mother's. With tears in the eyes, the workers were blown away by this whole exchange between four strangers. I left the waiters and waitresses a tip that would cover all of our meals and we were on our way.

    I've been witnessing so much kindness, especially over the last few years, as I began to pay more attention. We now have a new favorite restaurant and every time we go there my plan is to pay for someone else's meal.

    A university in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has installed facial recognition systems in classrooms to monitor students' behavior, sparking a heated debate online. China Pharmaceutical University recently installed the systems in two pilot classrooms as well as school gates, dormitory entrances, the library and laboratory buildings.

    Xu Jianzhen, director of the university's library and information center, told TbePaper.cn that the systems will help teachers check student attendance and monitor behavior during the lectures. "In the past, some students just checked their attendance and ditched the class or asked other students to check the attendance for them. Now with facial recognition, that would no longer be a problem," he said. "The moment you enter the classroom, the camera will monitor you all the way through and can tell how long you lower your head, whether you're playing with a smart phone, whether you're dozing off or reading other books," he added.

    The news has raised wide debate on Chinese social media, with many questioning if the cameras will violate students' privacy. A Sina Weibo user said: "I oppose such methods, and it is not clear whether the systems are developed by the school itself or by third parties. If it is the latter, is there any regulation of security? Where will the information be sent and stored?"

    Gan Xiangsi, a senior student from the university, said she welcomed the systems being applied in dormitories and libraries as this can help prevent personal belongings being stolen，but it is not necessary to use such technology in the classroom. "If the teacher teaches well，the students will be interested," she said. "On the contrary, this kind of monitoring will make everyone feel resistant."

    China Pharmaceutical University is not the first university to use facial recognition technology on campus. Many universities across the country have installed cameras at campus entrances to ensure safety. But many are also hesitant when it comes to applying such technology in classrooms.

    "This issue has been debated for quite a long time," Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, told China National Radio. According to Chu, teachers and students who are under observation might not behave as they normally would since they know they are being watched. "Cameras should not be installed in classrooms merely for effective teaching purposes," Chu said, as teachers are also being observed. He agreed that "students' privacy needs to be protected". He also said that not putting classrooms under control is an important principle. "If you don't follow this principle, students will falsify and disguise their state of listening，and teachers may also not perform as well. Then real teaching will not occur," he added.