January Internet Facts Hunt Directions: Use the links provided to find the answers to the questions. If a link is broken, use your online research skills to find an answer.

1. You might have been traveling in a car during the holiday season.
Did you wear your seat belt EVERY time? I did!

Check out the Seat Belt Use and Daytime Percent of Unrestrained Passenger Vehicle Occupant Fatalities, Figure 1 chart (graph). (PDF)

By what percentage did the seat belt use rate change from 2000 to 2017?

Based on the chart, what impact has the increased use of seat belts had on passenger occupant vehicle fatality?

Consider the Seat Belt Use Rate in State table.
What was the percentage of use in your state in 2006?

By how much did it change in 2013?

Which state had the lowest rate for seat belt wearing?

By how much was the seat belt compliance rate in the highest state different from your home state's rate?

By how much did 2012 seat belt usage in your state vary from the 2006 usage figure?

Please, buckle up!

2. Diagrams are a great way to organize information.
Check out this diagram. Answer the questions.

a. What is the topic of the diagram?

b. List two facts that the subjects have in common.

c. List one disparity for each subject. (What is a disparity? Look it up.)

d. Name something you could compare/contrast this way.

Just for fun - How to make a diagram using a computer

3. Become a fact "expert" on one game of the Winter Olympics.
Name and describe the sport.

4. The most important thing that you can do to keep from getting sick is to wash your hands.
Dr Ignaz Semmelweis discovered this fact in 1846. But his fellow doctors would not listen.
Even today hand washing by health care providers is a problem.

Write three (3) examples of situtations where you should wash your hands.
(Beside each example place a + plus sign, if you usually do wash your hands in that example.

After handling animals or animal waste. +

a.

b.

c.

5. What is the NIST? (Use your online research skills to find it.)


a. What do they do there?

b. Why is that important?

The taxpayer funded budget of NIST in 2013 was $1,406,000,000. By 2019 it had declined to $986 million.


6. Review - How do you add fractions with different denominators. Take notes as necessary. Other video - Mathflix
(You can stop the movie, if you need to, by clicking the double upright bars button located at the bottom left corner of the video window.)

After the big snow storm, you decided to shovel snow to earn money. In the morning, you shoveled for 1/2 hour.
In the afternoon, you got serious shoveling for 5/8 hour. Before she pays you, your Mom asks, how long did you shovel in total?

Write a step by step explanation about how to add 1/2 + 5/8.

7. Do you have snow? Do you wish you did? Perhaps you wish you didn't.
Whatever your thoughts may be on snow, you can learn lots about snow at the NSIDC All About Snow site.

For example, compare a blizzard and a squall. Would you say they are antonyms or synonyms?

8. Homonyms are words that are spelled and pronounced the same, but have different meanings.
Consider the word - draft. In winter, I think of draft as meaning an unwelcome, cool breeze in a room. At school draft often refers to something you are in the process of writing.

Use this online dictionary to identify more meanings of the word - "draft". How many meanings did you find?

Use your online research skills to uncover answers:

9. He was born January 17, 1706. He was an author, a publisher, a candlemaker, an inventor, a humorist,
a scientist, a statesman, a father and a revolutionary. You know him.
Who was he?

What is his most famous experiment?

10. Listen to Marissa discuss: Coping With An Autistic Brother: A Teenager's Take
What is a challenge for their family?

"Who is rich? He that rejoices in his Portion." ~ Ben Franklin

Done already?*

*Challenged by Math or science? Explore MathFlix - 1,000 free Math instruction videos
*Finally - Fun math videos Math Dude
* Extend your efforts: Science Observation Skill Builders - try a wintery one

* Great Backyard Bird Count - participate in Citizen Science project What will you need to participate?

Explore the How Shocking web project.	Outstanding African Americans
How do you spend your time?	Emancipation Proclamations Activity
Learn about making charts and graphs	Highway Safety and You - explore - evaluate - act
Benjamin Franklin Quotes	Try the Winter Facts Scavenger Hunt
Ice Stories - Dispatches from Polar Scientists	Compare New Years Celebrations diagram project
January Civics Activity	Decode the snow message

In the spirit of Thomas Paine - released to public domain by Cynthia J. O'Hora updated 12/26/2024, posted Dec 24, 2001

Save a tree - use a Digital Answer Sheet: Highlight the text of the questions on this web page, copy them - Edit .. Copy. Open a text document or word processing document. Paste the questions into the blank document. Answer the questions in the word processing document in a contrasting color ( not yellow) or font (avoid fancy fonts like: , Symbol, or . Save frequently as you work. I do not like losing my work. You will not like it either. Put your name and the date in a header. Bad things happen. Retain a copy of your work on your computer. Submit your assignment via a class electronic drop box or email attachment. Proof your responses. It is funny how speling errors and typeos sneak in to the bets work. Make Your Own Printed answer sheet