Intelligent billboards

You’re standing in front of a billboard. Suddenly, it changes and the screen displays an advertisement for fruit roll-ups, then one for the new Harry Potter movie, and then one for Monopoly.

It’s almost as if the billboard knows what you like.

In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an “intelligent digital billboard.” It scans your face and clothing, as well as the environment around you, to decide what kind of person you are.

In this case, it has recognized that you’re a young boy or girl with a bit of money to spend on movies and games.

If you were a middle-aged man walking in a rainstorm, you might see an ad for raincoats. If you were a stylish 20-year-old woman, you might see an ad for make-up or dresses.

The billboards were invented by a company called NEC.

A small camera above the screen transforms the image of the person into data, which is then analyzed against the unit’s profiles of about 10,000 real people. Based on your clothing, gender and age, height and whether the person is accompanied by children, it figures out what kind of products you might like.

People can also scan the billboards with their mobile phone to receive restaurant menus or other information from the ads.

The billboards are being tested in Japan now, but will soon be coming to North America.

Curriculum Connection
The camera above the billboard screen analyses your face, your clothes, who is standing with you, and your surroundings. In your opinion, is this enough information to know who you are and what you like? Why or why not?

Primary
express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Junior
make judgments and draw conclusions about the ideas and information in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar
Have your students circle or highlight all of the commas in the article. Discuss how commas are used for the following purposes:

1. in lists - “Suddenly, it changes and the screen displays an advertisement for fruit roll-ups, then one for the new Harry Potter movie, and then one for Monopoly.”

2. for thought interruption – “In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an “intelligent digital billboard.”

3. in numbers – “A small camera above the screen transforms the image of the person into data, which is then analyzed against the unit’s profiles of about 10,000 real people.”

4. to separate a city from a country – “In Tokyo, Japan, there is a new kind of billboard, called an ‘intelligent digital billboard.’”

5. to separate two ideas that are in the same sentence – “The billboards are being tested in Japan now, but will soon be coming to North America.”

Extensions
We are surrounded by advertisements on a daily basis. Record all of the places where you might see advertisements during a regular day.

Advertisements come in different forms: in magazines, on television, in newspapers, on t-shirts and on subways. What types of advertisements are the most effective? What makes them more effective?

Police in Manchester use Twitter

The police in Manchester, UK, work really hard.
Image: Wikimedia Commons, Terry.

UK POLICE FORCE TWITTERS FOR ATTENTION

The police force in Manchester, UK works really hard. In fact, they get hundreds of emergency calls every hour.

Even so, the city councillors wanted to cut the police budget. As many as one in four police workers would be eliminated.

The police realized that the politicians didn't understand how hard the Manchester police force was working. So, for 24 hours, they posted every one of the calls that came through on their emergency line to Twitter. (Twitter is a program on the Internet that lets people know, in 140 words or less, what's happening.)

The police figured that if the public and the politicians could see just how many calls they get, and how hard they work, they would be less likely to cut the police budget.

Some of the calls they get are reports of children running away, abandoned animals or suspicious people. However, some of them are quite humorous. In any case, the police have to take every call seriously and check each one out.

Here are some of the emergency calls they posted on Twitter:

• Call 384: Report of man holding baby over bridge. Police immediately attended and it was man carrying dog that doesn't like bridges.
• Call 466: Complaint that builders have turned up to complete work two months late in Bolton.
• Call 749: Call from a member of the public about their car insurance.
• Call 686: Man shouts "you're gorgeous!" to woman.
• Call 1079: Woman reports her horse refuses to come back over bridge.
• Call 1634: Suspicious men carrying a snake, Bolton.
• Call 281: Someone in Salford complains about being woken up.

Curriculum Connection

Websites like Twitter and Facebook are used to send information to a lot of people at once. The police force in Manchester used Twitter to inform the public and the city councilors as to how busy they are. Do you think Twitter was the best way for them to do this? Are there other forms of media that would allow them to send out their message to a large audience in a more effective way?

Primary
describe how different audiences might respond to specific media texts (OME, Media Literacy: 1.4)

Junior
explain why different audiences might respond differently to the same media text (OME, Media Literacy: 1.4)

Grammar Feature
A colon (:) is a punctuation mark that is used before a list or an explanation. Highlight the use of colons in the article and discuss how it helps readers to understand text.

Extension
Do you think police should have to check out every call that comes in? Why or why not? Use information from the article and your own ideas to support your answer.
Look at the list of emergency calls that the police posted on Twitter. Rank the calls in order from most important to least important. In your opinion, which call do you think was the most serious and why?

Check out this guy!

Dr. Anthony Hutchison is a
former gang member who
traded guns for a guitar.

ON NOV. 3, YOU'LL BE ABLE TO CHECK THIS GUY OUT. LITERALLY.

His name is Dr. Anthony Hutchison, and he’s part of the Toronto Public Library’s “human library event.”

Hutchison is one of 60 “human books” you can check out, just like you would a book from the library. The “books” will be signed out for a 30-minute conversation in a quiet area of the library.

All of the human “books” have very striking life experiences, and thus very interesting stories to tell.

The idea behind the human library is to expand our understanding of people, by getting to meet and talk with them about their lives—lives which may be very different from our own. The concept begin in Copenhagen in the early 1990s to combat prejudice. Countries all over the world now hold human libraries and some even have permanent collections.

Dr. Hutchison, for instance, is a former gang member, illiterate and unhappy. Today, he is a doctor who works with at-risk youth.

“At the age of 15, in 1983, I put down my two guns and my gang colours for a guitar,” he says. “The resources to help me put my life back on track mainly came from a local community public library.”

How did he manage that life transformation? You have an opportunity to check him out for 30 minutes on Nov. 3 and find out.

Other human "books" include:

Rosa, a gay teen; journalist Barbara Turnbull and her service dog Bella; anti-poverty activist Michael Creek, who was homeless; Tibetan Buddhist Monk Tenzin Kalsang; and "Raging Granny" Phyllis Creighton.

Five libraries in Toronto will participate in the one-day pilot project:
Toronto Reference Library (Yonge and Bloor)
North York Central Library (North of Yonge and Sheppard)
Bloor Gladstone Branch (Bloor and Dufferin)
Lillian H. Smith Branch (College and Spadina)
Malvern Branch (Sheppard and Neilson)

Curriculum Connection
“Does anything in this story remind you of anything you’ve seen or heard of?”

“What do you think about this library program?”

“What conclusions can you draw from the events or information presented in the text?”

Primary
Express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (e.g., identify traits they admire in the characters; comment on actions taken by characters (OME, Reading: 1.8).

Junior
Make judgements and draw conclusions about ideas in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar Feature
Bullet point. Bullet points are a text feature designed to help readers gain information quickly and efficiently. With your students, highlight the bullet points and discuss why an author would use bullet points. As well, use metacognitive strategies to illustrate the effectiveness of bullet points.
Extensions
The idea behind the “human book” program is to “expand our understanding of people, by getting to meet and talk with them about their lives—lives which may be very different from our own.” Why do you think it is important to meet and talk with different people? Is there a danger or problem that arises when people stop meeting new people?

Toronto gets new subway trains

Toronto's new trains will be in service
starting this December or January.
Image: www.ttc.ca.

NEW SUBWAY TRAINS IN TORONTO

Toronto is getting some new subway trains.

Not only do they look a lot snazzier, but the new trains will be quite a bit roomier than the old ones. They also have many new features such as light-up subway maps that will display the current stop.

There will be 70 new trains, with six cars each. They will cost about $1-billion. The governments of Canada, Ontario and Toronto are all chipping in money to buy the new trains.

Another neat thing about the new trains is that, although there are six cars in each one, they will all be connected inside. So whichever car you get on, you’ll be able to see (or walk) all the way from the front to the back of the entire six-car train. Between the cars is a flexible strip of floor that you can walk on, which connects the cars but still lets them turn independently.

Toronto's old subway trains will continue
to run on the Bloor line.
Image: spacingtoronto.ca

And, there won’t be poles in the middle of the cars any more. That will also give passengers more room to move around. There will still be lots of poles along the sides to hold onto.

The new trains will begin running, on the Yonge (north-south) line, in December or January, although riders may see them being tested in the tunnels before then. The old cars will be moved to the Bloor (east-west) line or retired.

Curriculum Connection
The new subway trains will cost 1 billion dollars. That is a lot of money! Do you think this is money well-spent? Explain your answer using evidence from the text and your own ideas.

Primary
express personal opinions about ideas presented in texts (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Junior

make judgments and draw conclusions about ideas in texts and cite stated or implied evidence from the text to support their views (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar Feature

A noun is a part of speech. It can be a person, place or thing. Some nouns that are in the article are: subway (thing), Toronto (place), floor (thing).

Ask your students to circle all of the nouns in the article.

Toronto's subway line - this map shows
the Yonge line and the Bloor line.

As a class, discuss which nouns are proper and which are common. Explain that proper nouns must always start with a capital letter.

Extensions
Why do you think it is important for a city to have a public transit system?

If you were on the planning committee for the new subway, are there any other features that you would add to improve the new subway cars?

How much is 1 billion? Use drawings, numbers or manipulatives to show this amount.

Toronto gets new subway trains

Note to teachers:
This version of the article, “New Subway Trains in Toronto,” is a shorter version of the same article, and it contains simpler words. Similarly, the curriculum connection, grammar and extension activities are simplified.

This version of the article could be used by ESL students, early readers or students on modified reading programs.
We created a second article so that you can more easily differentiate in your class. With this article, students can access the same article content but at a level that is appropriate for early readers.

NEW SUBWAY TRAINS IN TORONTO

Toronto is getting some new subway trains.

The new subway trains will look a lot nicer.
Image: www.ttc.ca.

The new ones look nicer. They will also have more room inside. And they will have new, light-up signs that tell you what stop you’re at.

There will be 70 new trains, with six cars each. They will cost about $1-billion.

In every train, all six cars will be open inside. So you will be able to see (or walk) all the way from the front of the train, to the back. The cars will be joined by a flexible strip of floor that you can walk on.

The old trains used to have poles in the middle of each car. The new cars do not. That will give riders more room to move around. There will still be lots of poles on the sides to hold onto.

Many of the old subway trains will still
run on the Bloor subway line.
Image: spacingtoronto.ca.

The new trains will begin running on the Yonge line in December of January. Riders may see some trains being tested in the tunnels before then. The old cars will be moved to the Bloor line.

Curriculum Connection
When we read, we often make pictures in our minds in order to understand. This is called visualization.

After reading the article, draw a picture of what you think the new subway car will look like. Label your picture to show all of the new parts of the subway car.

Primary:
identify a few reading comprehension strategies and use them before, during, and after reading to understand texts, initially with support and direction (OME, Reading: 1.8)

Grammar Feature
A noun is a part of speech. It can be a person, place or thing. Some nouns that are in the article are: subway (thing), Toronto (place), floor (thing).

Toronto's subway map, showing the
Yonge and Bloor lines.

Ask your students to circle all of the nouns in the article.

Extensions
Why do you think it is important for a city to have a public transit system?
If you were in charge, is there anything else you would add to make the new subway cars better?
How much is 1 billion? Use drawings, numbers or manipulatives to show this amount.

New health guidelines: five and 15

FIVE AND 15

Canada’s Health Minister wants everyone to remember two simple numbers: “five” and “15.”

You’ll hear a lot about five and 15 in the coming months. They’ll be in ads, on websites, on posters in the grocery store and on foods themselves.

What does five and 15 mean? It has to do with how nutritious food is. Five means “a little” and 15 means “a lot.”

When you look at the list of “Nutrition Facts” printed on food items in the grocery store, you’ll see that each nutrient is given a percentage. It tells you how much of that nutrient is in a product, compared to how much you should have of that nutrient for the entire day.

For instance, if it says a product contains 4% Fat, it means it contains four per cent of the fat you should have in a whole day.

According to the new five and 15 rules, if a nutrient is five per cent or under, the food contains “a little.” If it’s 15 per cent or more, the food contains “a lot.”

So if you want more fibre in your diet, look for foods containing more than 15 per cent of the daily allowance of fibre.

On the other hand, if you’re trying to cut down on sodium, look for foods that have less than five per cent of the daily allowance of sodium.

The new guidelines will help consumers better understand how the foods they buy can affect their health. A new ad campaign about “five and 15” will begin in December.

Curriculum Connection
“What questions do you ask yourself to make sure you understand what you are reading?”

“How do you know if you are on the right track?” “When you come to a word or phrase you don’t understand, how do you solve it?” “How do you figure out what information is important to remember?” “What do you do when you get confused during reading?”

Primary
Identify, initially with some support and direction, what strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).

Junior
Identify the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers, or in a reader’s notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).

Grammar Feature
Number words. When writing, how do you know when to write the word for a number or the digits? The rule that most writers follow is: numbers less than 10 are written as words and numbers 10 or over are written as digits.

“What does five and 15 mean?”

“… four per cent of the fat you should have in a whole day.”

Extensions
Do you think the new ad campaign will be effective and help people eat better? Why do you think so? Where should these advertisements be shown in order to be as effective as possible?

Brave Canadians honoured

The Medal of Bravery.

(Image: Wikimedia
Commons, Dreamafter.)

AWARDS FOR BRAVERY

Last week, 52 Canadians received awards for bravery. They were given the medals by our new Governor-General, David Johnston, at a special ceremony in Ottawa.

Here are some of the people who were given awards:

* Thomas Manuel won the Medal of Bravery for protecting his wife and three grandchildren from an intruder. He made a rope out of bedsheets and shirts and got everyone out of the house safely. Once outside, Manuel was shot several times by the burglar, who was later caught and arrested. Manuel is from Fort Good Hope, Northwest Territories.

* Sergeant Bryant Wood of the Port Hope police force received the Star of Courage and the Medal of Bravery for saving people in two separate house fires. Last year, Sgt. Wood was sent to an apartment building, where he found the first and second floors in flames. He and another officer opened a window and through the thick, black smoke they pulled a man and two women to safety. Another woman refused to leave because she was searching for her cat. Wood climbed inside and carried the woman to safety. The smoke was so thick he couldn’t see, but his partner called to him from the window and he followed his partner’s voice until he got outside.

* Deborah Chiborak of Winnipeg rescued an elderly woman trapped under her motorized scooter in the path of a train.

* Casey Pierce of Calgary won a Star of Courage for rescuing a couple whose canoe tipped on a lake in the Rockies.

The Governor-General offered the medal winners, “the thanks of a grateful nation. We are fortunate to have such heroes in our midst.”

Related links:
Article on the CBC website about the medals ceremony.
Canada Gets a new Governor-General.

Curriculum Connection
The people who received the medals of bravery were described as “heroes.”

As a class, write a list of characteristics/adjectives that describe a hero.

Identify heroes that you know from books, magazines, movies and the media. Describe these heroes and explain whether you think they are heroes based on the list created by the class.

Primary
extend understanding of texts by connecting the ideas in them to their own knowledge and experience, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6)

Junior
extend understanding of texts by connecting, comparing, and contrasting the ideas in them to their own knowledge, experience, and insights, to other familiar texts, and to the world around them (OME, Reading: 1.6)

Grammar Feature
Bullet points are used throughout the article. Bullet points are generally found in non-fiction, rather than fiction writing. They help to make writing clear, easy-to-read and organized.

Help your students identify bullet points in the article, and discuss why they are used.

Encourage students to find non-fiction resources in your class that contain bullet points.

Extensions for Primary and Junior
When Johnston gave the heroes their medals, he explained that they are special because not everyone would have done what they did.
Do you think this is true? Use examples from your own life to explain your answer.
Why do you think people don’t always help other people in need?