Getting on the school bus, like the possible dangers around the home, getting on the school bus can also bring its own set of dangers. There are several important safety measures that parents should be aware of when it comes to bus safety.

    Parents should always make sure that someone is taking charge of children at the bus stop to make certain clear ground rules which are in place and are being followed—particularly rules that forbid horseplay in and around the street.

    Teach children to ask the bus driver for help in picking up anything they may have dropped around the bus, as children getting dropped articles are often hit by the bus or another vehicle because they are not seen by the bus driver or by oncoming traffic.

    Children should be asked to take five large steps away from the bus when they get it off, and make sure that the bus driver can see you and look you directly in the eyes to signal it is OK to cross the street. It is still very important that children also look both ways as they cross the street.

    Inform children that they must never speak to any stranger who talks with them first and that they must never accept a ride from any person unless their parents tell them directly that it is OK. Teach kids that adults should ask other adults for help, not kids. If an adult asks a kid for help, that child should get another adult.

    If for any reason a child feels uncomfortable or unsafe at the bus stop they need to bring it to a parent's or caregiver's attention.

Remember, planning ahead is always the best safety measure. Follow these rules and your family will be off danger!

    You may find yourself wondering: do blind people dream? Dream sleep is generated deep within the brain. As it is a function of the brain, and not the eyes, blind people dream as much as a sighted person would. It is interesting that the timing of the blindness in life may in fact influence the content of the dreams, however.

    Research has evaluated the sensory experiences of blind people while dreaming for decades. These findings have been interpreted (解释) within the context of sighted people's experience of dreams. It is useful to consider the content of all dreams to better understand where it differs among the blind.

    Most dreams contain features that are both visual and kinesthetic (related to movement, such as falling). More than half of dreams contain a sound. It is rare for people to describe other sensory experiences, such as those related to smell, taste, and pain. It is estimated that these latter three elements occur in less than 1 percent of dream reports. Interestingly, women more often experience smell and taste in their dreams while men more often report sound and pain.

    Blind people are more likely to report feelings of touch, taste, and smell in their dreams compared to sighted people. This likely corresponds to their waking experience which relies more on these senses. They do not have dramatic differences in dream content, except that they seem to have less aggression in their dreams.

    Despite these subtle differences in dream content, can blind people see when they dream? Some blind people actually can see in dreams, but it depends on when they lost their vision. Individuals who are born blind or those who become blind at a young age (typically by the age of 4 or 5 years) do not have visual imagery in their dreams. On the other hand, those who become blind after 5 or 6 years of age are able to see in their dreams. Therefore, there seems to be a window in the development of the brain in which the capacity to have visual dreams is established.

    As global temperatures rise, trees around the world are experiencing longer growing seasons, sometimes as much as three extra weeks a year. All that time helps trees grow faster. For the past 100 years, trees have been experiencing fast growth in temperate regions from Maryland to Finland, to Central Europe, where the growth rate of some trees has even sped up nearly 77% since 1870. Assuming wood is just as strong today, those gains would mean more timber(木材) for building, burning, and storing carbon captured from the atmosphere. But is wood really as dense as it used to be?

    Hans Pretzsch, a forest scientist at the Technical University of Munich in Germany, and his colleagues wanted to find an answer. They carried out a study of the forests of Central Europe. They started with 41 experimental plots in southern Germany, some of which have been continuously monitored since 1870. Pretzsch and his team took core samples from the trees—which included Norway spruce, sessile oak, European beech, and Scots pine—and analyzed the tree rings using a high-frequency probe.

    They found that in all four species, wood density has decreased by 8% to 12%, they report online in Forest Ecology and Management. “We expected a trend of the wood density like this, but not such a strong and significant decrease,” Pretzsch says. Increasing temperatures, and the faster growth they spur, probably account for some of the drop. Another factor, Pretzsch says, is more nitrogen in the soil from agricultural fertilizer(化肥) and vehicle exhaust. Previous studies have linked increased fertilizer use to decreased wood density. Above all, the study suggests that the higher temperatures—combined with pollution from auto exhaust and farms—are making wood weaker, resulting in trees that break more easily and wood that is less durable.

    “I am getting worried,” says Richard Houghton, an ecologist at the Woods Hole Research Center in Falmouth, Massachusetts, who was not part of the new study. As the density of the samples dropped, so did their carbon content, by about 50%. That means forests may suffer more damage from storms and may be less efficient at soaking up the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) than scientists had thought, Houghton says.

    Beyoncé Knowles can do something that many humans struggle with: sing and dance at the same time. But, it turns out this great ability is not unique to humans. The superb lyrebird, already known to be a gifted singer, can perform coordinated(协调的)song­and­dance routines(一套舞蹈动作)that put most humans to shame.

    The superb lyrebird is one of only two lyrebird species living in Australia, the other named Albert's lyrebird. Male lyrebirds have tails in the shape of an ancient musical instrument when spread out. Like most animals with beautiful body parts, the males use their tails to attract females. Each one sets up a small mound(小丘)on the forest floor, where he walks around proudly and sings. He also shows his tail by holding it over his head.

    Lyrebirds are gifted mimics(模仿者), so their songs combine their own calls, the songs of other species, and sounds they have heard in the forest. That would be enough showing off for other animals, but male superb lyrebirds also dance.

    Anastasia Dalziell of the Australian National University in Canberra filmed 12 lyrebirds in the wild. She found that males only danced during four song types, and that each song type was accompanied by a specific move. “Lyrebirds match different dance styles to different types of songs, ”she says. For example, when the male sang a series of rapid notes he also stepped to the side and held his tail wide. Another song type was accompanied by jumping and moving up and down, with the tail held narrow.

    “Our results suggest that the coordination between song and dance—like movements we see in humans can occur in other animals,” says Dalziell. Female lyrebirds might prefer males that are better at coordinating song and dance, although there is no evidence of that yet.

    Fire fighting is a serious matter. Knowing what to do during a fire can save people's lives. It is important to know the ways you can use and show them to everyone else in the family, such as stairways and emergency exits, but not elevators.

    From the lower floors of buildings, escape through windows is possible. Learn the best way to get out from a window with the least chance of serious injury.

    The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. An average person, hanging by the fingertips will have a drop of about 6 feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way down than to stay in a burning building.

    Windows are also useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed before opening the window. Otherwise, smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked(漏)into the room.

    On the second or third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto cement might end in injury. Bushes and trees can help you to have a soft landing.

Volunteer Day

    What better way is there to enjoy your own hobbies while helping others at the same time? Come to Volunteer Day and choose which activity you'd like to join for the day. See below for a schedule of events on Volunteer Day.

    Volunteer Day schedule:

    7:30a.m.: Meet at the Community (社区) Center for juice and bagels.

    8:00—8:30 a.m.: Choose which activity you'd like to help with for the day.

    8:30 a.m.: Board the bus to your activity site.

    9:00 a.m.—3:30 p.m.: Work as a volunteer.

    3:30 p.m.: Board the bus that will take you back to the Community Center.

    See below for a list of volunteer opportunities for Volunteer Day so you can begin thinking about which activity you might want to join.

    A list of volunteer activities:

    Paint houses: Do you enjoy making art? If so, this volunteer opportunity might be just right for you! Happy Homes is a local organization that provides home repairs for needy people in the form of painting. For elderly or physically disabled people who cannot do repairs to their homes, Happy Homes provides volunteer painters to repaint old homes; outside or in. Happy Homes also provides painters to create beautiful wall paintings inside schools or community centers.

    Plant flowers: Do you enjoy being outside in nature? City Parks Association has many great opportunities for people who love to be outdoors. Help plant flowers and bushes in city parks; help lay paths at Cave Springs Park, or help pick up rubbish around the river banks. These activities are very active, so remember to be prepared with plenty of drinking water!

    Read to children: Do you enjoy working with young children? Do you like books? Love and Learning is an organization that provides volunteers to help children with learning disabilities. Read books out loud to groups of children four to six years old, or read one-on-one with struggling readers seven to eight years old.

    Play with animals: Do you love animals? Lovely Friends is an organization that visits local animal shelters and provides volunteers to spend time with the animals while their cages are being cleaned. Play with puppies, snuggle with cats, or hand-feed rabbits.