When the space shuttle "Columbia" was "lost entering the Earth's atmosphere," third graders at the Lamplighter School in Texas became curious about space travel. Using topics of interest and brainstorming exercises based on a presentation by Elaine Scott, author of "Adventures in Space: The Flight to Fix the Hubble,"…

If the organisms in a prairie ecosystem created a newspaper, what would it look like? What important news topics of the ecosystem would the organisms want to discuss? Imaginative and enthusiastic third-grade students were busy pondering these questions as they tried their hands at "ecosystem journalism." The class had recently completed…