Question Sheet: The Disappearing Newspaper

By Science News Explores

SCIENCE

Before reading:

  1. Where do you learn about events in the news? 

  2. Name three newspapers. Name three news Web sites.

During reading:

  1. How has access to the news changed in the last 20 years or so? 

  2. In what ways does writing for a newspaper differ from writing for a news Web

    site? 

  3. What is the Lawrence Journal-World doing to take advantage of new

    technology? 

  4. How is the Northwest Voice changing “our definition of what news is”? 

  5. Explain in your own words “VR panorama photography.” 

  6. What is a blog?

After reading:

  1. Look at three news Web sites. Which one is the best? Why? For examples, see

    news.bbc.co.uk/ (BBC News), www.usatoday.com/ (USA Today), www.cnn.com/ (CNN), or today.reuters.com/news/default.aspx(Reuters). 

  2. Compare and contrast reading a newspaper with watching the news on

    television. 

  3. How do you think most people will get news 10 years from now? How might

    advances in technology change the way people receive news? 

  4. Why might it be important to keep up with international and national news?

    Of newspapers, TV, or Web sites, which one do you think would provide the most

    reliable and up-to-date reports on international events? 

  5. Why might it be important to have many different sources of news and several

    different ways to receive this news? 

  6. Do you think Web sites and the Internet have allowed news to become more

    specialized? Why or why not? 

  7. How do you know if a news Web site provides reliable information?

SOCIAL STUDIES

The United States constitution calls for freedom of speech and of the press. Why is this right important? See www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html (Cornell).

LANGUAGE ARTS

  1. If you were to start a weekly or monthly newspaper at your school, what

    sorts of news would you and your staff report? What other features would this

    newspaper include? What items would you place on the front page? 

  2. Write a newspaper article about some way in which Hurricane Katrina or

    Hurricane Rita had an impact on your community. How would you change the article if you were writing for a news Web site? In this case, what could you add?

MATHEMATICS

To attract readers, newspapers often offer puzzles and brainteasers. Recently, sudoku puzzles have started appearing in many newspapers. In this simple version of a sudoku puzzle, every row, column, and block of six squares in a six-by-six grid must contain the numbers 1 through 6. Using logic, you should be able to fill in the missing numbers.