Problem: Ashleigh Fraser and Leah Guskjolen, both 18, wondered why they would not be allowed to wear nail polish or artificial nails during their training to become certified nursing assistants. But when they asked, the only response which they got was that "rules are rules." Not satisfied, the teens decided to explore the issue themselves.

For their new study, Ashleigh and Leah, seniors at Willcox High School in Willcox, Arizona., borrowed materials from the hospital where they had been trained as nursing assistants. Ten nurses there agreed to give them little scrapings off the top side of their nails. Half of the participants had natural nails. The other half wore nail polish or fake nails on top of their natural nails. The teens grew bacteria from the scrapings on plates; these are plastic dishes with a gel that feeds bacterial growth.

Natural nails produced an average of 4.3 bacterial colonies. In contrast, scrapings from nail polish or artificial nails produced an average of 17.5 colonies! Leah and Ashleigh had their answer to the question. Only natural nails are allowed because polished or artificial nails tend to harbor far more bacteria. The germs could be dangerous to sick patients.

Leah notes that they are not the first to look at nails in a medical setting. Still, she says, "It is something that should be taken much more seriously than it is." To emphasize that, she points to the large list of similar studies she and Ashleigh uncovered during their research.

When nurses touch patients, they often wear gloves, but many small tasks are performed bare-handed. The teens hope to raise awareness of how dangerous artificial nails can be in the medical setting. "What shocked me," Leah says, "is how unconcerned some of the nurses were. They did not think their nails were dangerous." Ashleigh agrees and observes that to preserve their manicures , nurses with polish or fake nails tended to scrub less vigorously when washing their hands. Their nails might look nice, but this might contribute to the large numbers of germs that hang onto their nails.

Ashleigh has never really liked nail polish, so she will not have to change much to pursue her dream of being a surgeon. But the results have reminded Leah, who wants to be a nurse, to give up her artificial nails for good. "They are very pretty," she says, "I love them." But now that she knows the risks they can cause, she admits that for a health professional they just are "not worth it."
1. What question did the two 18 year olds have?
2. Who were they?
3. Their names?
4. What did Ashleigh want to become?
5. After that?
6. What about Leah?
7. What was the answer they received to their question?
8. Did they find an answer themselves?
9. What was it?
10. On average, how much more bacteria do fake nails produce?
11. What's one of the reasons for this?
12. Who helped them with this research?
13. How did they help?
14. How did they collect the bacteria?
15. Were they the first to do a study like this?
Answer: 1. why they were not allowed to wear nail polish
2. teens
3. Ashleigh Fraser and Leah Guskjolen
4. certified nursing assistants
5. unknown
6. nurse
7. unknown
8. Yes
9. bacterial colonies
10. 13.2 bacterial colonies
11. bacteria
12. Ten nurses
13. give them little scrapings off the top side of their nails
14. unknown
15. No

Q: Odisha (; formerly Orissa, ) is one of the 29 states of India, located in eastern India. It is surrounded by the states of West Bengal to the north-east, Jharkhand to the north, Chhattisgarh to the west and north-west, and Andhra Pradesh to the south. Odisha has of coastline along the Bay of Bengal on its east, from Balasore to Ganjam. It is the 9th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. It is also the 3rd most populous state of India in terms of tribal population.

Odia (formerly known as "Oriya") is the official and most widely spoken language, spoken by 33.2 million according to the 2001 Census.

The ancient kingdom of Kalinga, which was invaded by the Mauryan emperor Ashoka in 261 BCE resulting in the Kalinga War, coincides with the borders of modern-day Odisha. The modern state of Orissa was established on 1 April 1936, as a province in British India, and consisted predominantly of Odia-speaking regions. April 1 is celebrated as Odisha Day. The region is also known as Utkala and is mentioned in India's national anthem, "Jana Gana Mana". Cuttack was made the capital of the region by Anantavarman Chodaganga in c. 1135, after which the city was used as the capital by many rulers, through the British era until 1948. Thereafter, Bhubaneswar became the capital of Odisha.

Answer the following questions:
1. What country is Odisha in?
2. What part of India?
3. Was it always known by that name?
4. What was it?
5. When was Orissa created?
6. As what?
7. Of who?
8. What is the capital of Odisha?
9. When did it become the capital?
10. What is the language in Odisha?
11. Is that the official language?
12. How many people speak it?
13. Where does that number come from?
14. What is on it's north border?
15. What about the on the west?
16. What's on it's south side?
17. Does it have any water nearby?
18. Which body of water is it?
19. Where does its coastline run?
20. How many states are in India?
A: 1. India
2. eastern India
3. no
4. Orissa
5. 1 April 1936
6. a province
7. British India
8. Bhubaneswar
9. 1948
10. Odia
11. yes
12. 33.2 million
13. the 2001 Census.
14. Jharkhand
15. Chhattisgarh
16. Andhra Pradesh
17. yes
18. the Bay of Bengal
19. from Balasore to Ganjam
20. 29

Problem: There once was a little monkey who lived in a zoo. He was a tiny brown monkey, smaller than all of the others. He was quieter than the others too. He was so quiet, in fact, that his mommy monkey made him wear a small blue bell around his neck so that she could find him. Even when the little monkey was very quiet, whenever he moved, the bell would jingle and his mother could find him.

One day, this little monkey had been running around under the yellow sun for a long time, with his bell going "jingle jingle." He started to feel tired. But the other monkeys were still having fun and making a lot of noise. They were yelling and banging things together. The little monkey wanted to find somewhere quiet.

Finally, he knew what to do: he took off his blue bell. He hung it on a branch. Then he sneaked out of his cage in the zoo. He waited. He was very quiet and small. He waited until a young girl came walking through the zoo. She was with her mother and father. Then he jumped into her red backpack. He was so small that she didn't know he was there. The girl and her mother and father got in their car and went home.

When the girl got home, she set down her backpack. Her brother thought he saw her backpack moving. Her sister thought she heard something. But nobody knew that a tiny, sleepy monkey had come home from the zoo. He was happily sleeping in the girl's backpack in her quiet house, away from all the other noisy monkeys.
1. What color was the monkey?
2. Where did he live?
3. Was he the same size as the other monkeys?
4. What did his mother make him wear?
5. Where?
6. Why did she make him wear it?
7. Why was he hard to find?
8. Why did the small monkey want to get away from the other monkeys?
9. Where did he put his bell?
10. What did the girl have on?
11. Who else was with the girl at the zoo?
12. Did any of them see the monkey hop into the backpack?
13. Did they take him home?
14. Who noticed movement in the backpack?
15. Was the monkey awake when they discovered him?
Answer:
1. brown
2. a zoo
3. No
4. small blue bell
5. his neck
6. so that she could find him
7. He was so quiet
8. wanted to find somewhere quiet
9. on a branch
10. red backpack
11. her mother and father
12. No
13. Yes
14. Her brother
15. No