Project Description

The Homeschool Hangout Zone is the place to come for interesting, fun, even unusual news feeds!  Now before I start detailing the site, let me just say that although the title has "homeschool" in it, this does not mean it's restricted to homeschoolers!  This site is great for students of all ages, as well as interested adults - I have a larger population of adult readers than I expected. Now for the details....

There's a section for each of the basic school subjects, with "Miscellaneous" coming soon, and the news articles are divided into each of these by their corresponding curriculum subject.  Articles are hand-picked for their ''cool, interesting, fun, unusual" appeal; no math worksheets or history dates!  Ever!  If I won't read it, you won't either! (and don't worry - I'm 17, not an ancient professor...yet....?.. :-) 

I also have a GOTCHA! button at the bottom of each post, and I encourage you to use it in collaboration with correctional comments.  This is what you can click if you catch an error in my post, i.e., incorrect fact, dinasour article that practically came off stone tablets it's so old, etc,.

There's a brand-new section I added, just for you - my faithful visitors! - that has a weekly featured country, regions, or state, with fun resources and websites for that area; I've been getting alot of visitors in different areas, which gave me the idea for this. You can also send in your own articles about where you live, which will be featured with the resources articles when it's your area's turn. The area with the most traffic at any one given time is the featured area, so let your friends know about us!

I get alot of new ideas for additions to the site, so keep checking back for new fun things! 

Inspiration

I created this website as a way for people to see that there are more ways to learn things than just with textbooks. News is interesting; it always comes in short bursts, so it never feels like you're working to get to the end of a chapter. I have always been an avid reader of news, and I have learned most of what I know because of this. I just never realized until now. I started falling into that college prep frenzy that hits around mid high school, and I started franticaly planning and organizing exactly how much of each book I needed to read, and how fast. But then I stopped. How much of these dates and facts am I actually going to retain if I go on like this?  Not much, self said.  But how can it be that I already know so much about each subject?  Where did it all come from? "Look within yourself, grasshopper," self said. And that's when it dawned on me. I was answering myself. This was dire! So I gave up textbooks for one week (my college prep frenzy voice just about strangled me) and did my favorite thing - went online to read the news.  The connection started clicking right about here.

And so this website was born! Textbooks are good,they're easy to follow, and they do have alot of useful information.  But they are not an extra limb!  Expand your resources, whether homeschooled, public schooled, or done with school. Who knows - maybe you'll create a revolutionary new way of learning in your school.  :)

Who will enjoy this the most?

Everyone!  Students, adults, parents, teachers, curious people, skepticle people, happy people, sad people....you name it!

The Project

SAMPLE CONTENT:     

(News Articles)

SOURCE: http://homeschoolhangoutzone.blogspot.com    

Why Icicles Are Long And Thin
Mathematical Physics Explains How Icicles Grow

February 1, 2007

— When droplets of melted snow drip down an icicle, they release small amounts of heat as they freeze. Heated air travels upwards and helps slow down the growth of the icicle's top, while the tip is growing rapidly. Knowledge of the mathematical equations that govern icicle growth -- the same that apply to stalactites -- could help in the prevention of icicle formation on power lines.

Read more

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How Much of Your Memory Is True?

New research shows that memories are constantly being re-written by our minds.
by Kathleen McGowan

".....Brunet’s experiment emerges from one of the most exciting and controversial recent findings in neuroscience: that we alter our memories just by remembering them. Karim Nader of McGill—the scientist who made this discovery—hopes it means that people with PTSD can cure themselves by editing their memories. Altering remembered thoughts might also liberate people imprisoned by anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, even addiction. “There is no such thing as a pharmacological cure in psychiatry,” Brunet says. “But we may be on the verge of changing that......."

Read more....

Psychologists: Victorian Novels Helped Us Evolve

Newser Summary)

– Victorian novels didn't just tout moralistic values of 19th-century British society, they helped altruistic genes flourish, a study claims. Evolutionary psychologists say classic characters such as Mr. Darcy and Count Dracula helped instill and promote a sense of right and wrong in society, the

Guardian

reports, specifically the notion that cooperation trumps individual power.

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China's founding legend may not be true

China's founding dynasty may just be a myth, say archaeologists.

In a news report in the current Science, writer Andrew Lawler surveys a decade's worth of discoveries suggesting ancient China sprang from distinct regions, rather than possessing a single national culture some 4,300 years ago. "How China became China is no mere academic topic; it goes to the very heart of how the world’s most populous and economically vibrant nation sees itself and its role in the world," Lawler writes.

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Giant Rat-Eating Plant Discovered in the Philippines

Photos via the BBC

Something about carnivorous plants just strikes the imagination--what kid isn't awed/grossed out by Venus Flytraps when they first see them? To this day, as a (semi) grown man, I still admit to determining insect-eating plants to be "really cool." So what would the world think of a plant that eats rats? We're about to find out--scientists just discovered a new species of a plant that does exactly that in a remote area of the Philippines.

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