Australia & Oceania

Australia Quiz: States & Territories and Capitals (printables)
Oceania Quiz: Countries and Territories (printables)

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind

The non-fiction book read by Sadie and Cyrus has been adapted into a feature film and it is now available on Netflix! The film is directed by the Nigerian-British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who also wrote the screenplay. The film is based on the memoir of the same name, written by William Kamkwamba. As a boy, William taught himself how to build a wind turbine to provide his small village in Malawi with electricity.

Here is Michael Phillips' review of the film in The Chicago Tribune.

Here is an NPR interview with Ejiofor on the making of the film.

Here is a TED talk with William about his wind turbine project.

If you watch the film please record your thoughts in the comments. Also, if you're looking for a good non-fiction book to read, consider reading William's book!

New Fantasy Books Reviewed in New York Times

The New York Times has reviewed 4 new fantasy novels. Check them out here!

Western Hemisphere

#1: South America: Countries and Capitals (printables)
#2: Central America: Countries and Capitals (printables)
#3: Caribbean: Countries only (printables)
#4: Canada: Provinces & Territories and Capitals (printables)

Asia

Asia Quiz #1 (Country and Capital)

Asia Quiz #2 (Country and Capital)
Asia Quiz #3 (Country only)
Asia Quiz #4 (Country only)

Thank You Cards

Africa

Africa Quizzes: Countries Only
Africa Quiz #1: Southern Africa
Africa Quiz #2: Central Africa
Africa Quiz #3: West Africa
Africa Quiz #4: Northern Africa
Africa Quiz #5: African Cities

Printables can be found here.

South Africa Links

The State of Our Planet 2018

"How Extreme Weather is Shrinking the Planet: With wildfires, heat waves, and shrinking sea levels, large tracts of the earth are at risk of becoming uninhabitable. But the fossil fuel industry continues its assault on the facts," by Bill McKibben, The New Yorker, November 26, 2018.

This is essential reading from environmentalist Bill McKibben.

Blogging Links #2

Music and Random Pop Culture (Gabriel)
Ava's Book Blog (Ava B.)
The Crafted Book (Ren)
Art, Music, and Writing (Danni)
On the Asphalt (Wynter)
Rayhan's Past Trips (Rayhan)
Super Cool Games (Ben)
Logan's Movie Reviews (Logan)
The Dogs With a Blog (Ali)
Friends Fun (Ava C.)

Disney Talk (Jada)
Sophia's Ocean Life Blog (Sophia K.)
Paige's Eddsworld Blog (Paige)
Written and Read (Natasha)
Character Profiles (JuneLin)

My Opinion (Tre)
Worldwide Animals (Jasmine)
My Review Blog (Elise)
Movie Review (Cyrus)
Art, Kpop, and Music (Willa)
Flying with RC Model Aircraft (Kevin)
Eva's Blog (Eva)

Europe

Quiz #1: Western Europe Countries
Quiz #1: Western Europe Capitals

Quiz #2: Northern Europe Countries
Quiz #2: Northern Europe Capitals

Quiz #3: Southern Europe Countries (countries only--no capitals on this quiz)

Europe Printable Maps: You can print these to help with studying.

Sixth Grade 2018-2019

Politics Links

FiveThirtyEight's Senate Forecast
FiveThirtyEight's House Forecast
FiveThirtyEight's Governors Forecast

New York Times' House and Senate Live Polls

New York Times, Oct. 26: "Stacey Abrams, a Daughter of the South, Asks Georgia to Change"
Washington Post: "In Deep Red Tennessee, Republicans are anxious about the U.S. Senate race"
Washington Post: "Trump ties, Supreme Court fight, loom over North Dakota race"

Blogging Links

The Passage Redtail (Dorianne)
GeoGeek (Tre)
Film Fun Forever (Cedar)
Harper's Baking Blog (Harper)
Ava's Book Blog (Ava)
Sienna's Cooking (Sienna)
Art, Kpop, and Music (Willa)
Flight with RC (Kevin)
Sammy's Horse View (Sammy)
Br'er Blog (Ian)
Everything Sports (Felix)
The RPM Counter (Stuart)
I Survived Anxiety (Danni)
Safari Sunset (Eleanor)
Books and Me (Corrina)
Puppy Party (Aunika)
Delilah's Experience (Helen)
Which Game Should I Play? (Gabe)
Todd the Dog (Livvy)
Breathtaking Travel (Sophia)
Worldwide Animals (Jasmine)
Random Things Nick Does (Nick)
Nature: Caught on Camera (Kate)
Game Review (Tyler)

Seterra Links

Use these links to practice for Geography Quizzes!

Continents & Oceans Quiz

Cities Quiz #1: States
Cities Quiz #1: Cities (Re-take date: Oct. 5

Cities Quiz #2: States
Cities Quiz #2: Cities (Quiz date: Oct. 12)
(Note: This quiz includes Annapolis, Maryland, which does not show up on Seterra.)

Cities Quiz #3: States
Cities Quiz #3: Cities (Quiz date: Oct. 19)

Cities Quiz #4: States
Cities Quiz #4: Cities

Cities Quiz #5: States
Cities Quiz #5: Cities

Cities Quiz #6: States
Cities Quiz #6: Cities (Quiz date: January 18, 2019)

2018 Sways

 Ali
Amelie
Angelique
Anna
Annie
Ava
Cedar
Corrina
Dorianne
Eleanor
Elise
Estelle
Ethan
Felix
Helen
Ian
JuneLin
Kate
Kira
Levi
Livvy
Merak
Natasha
Orion
Preston
Sarisha
Sienna
Sophia H.
Sophia OK
Stuart
Tre
Tyler
Zachary

Gerrymandering

Pennsylvania's Supreme Court created a new Congressional map for Pennsylvania. This map erases the extreme gerrymanders from the previous map and makes several districts more competitive. You can read about the new map here.

The New York Times has a fascinating interactive map feature which compares the old Pennsylvania districts with the new ones. Check it out here.

Finally, here is some interesting analysis from The New York Times about what the new map means for Democrats and Republicans.

#NeverAgain

Christine Yared is a 14-year-old freshman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. She wrote an op-ed piece in The New York Times, which you can read here.

Two sixteen-year-old girls organized a "lie-in" in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. on Monday. You can read about the event in The Washington Post here.

Emma Gonzalez helped galvanize the #NeverAgain movement with her heartfelt speech at a Fort Lauderdale rally. If you have not watched the speech you can watch it here.

How did the teenage survivors from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School organize their movement so quickly? These two pieces cover the origins of the movement: the first is from Buzzfeed and the second is from The New Yorker.

Welcome to Gacekblog 2017

Gacekblog is a supplementary resource for Mr. Gacek's classes. You will find links and posts related to Geography, Politics, Literature, Soccer, Popular Culture, Kombucha, and various things Mr. Gacek finds interesting.

Gacekblog is not a homework blog. Homework due dates for Mr. Gacek's classes can be found on TeacherEase.

Welcome to NOVA!!

To learn more about the above map, click here.