Using a series of very technical tests, scientists from the French research facility CEA have determined that the Earth's core is roughly 6,000 degrees Celsius. That is approximately 1,000 degrees hotter than the temperature obtained by tests in the 1990s.
These new figures show that the center of the Earth is just as hot as the surface of the sun.
The experiment that supplied the new temperature used X-rays to probe tiny samples of iron at extraordinary pressures to examine how the iron crystals form and melt. The BBC reported that "To replicate the enormous pressures at the core boundary - more than a million times the pressure at sea level - they used a device called a diamond anvil cell - essentially a tiny sample held between the points of two precision-machined synthetic diamonds.
Once the team's iron samples were subjected to the high pressures and high temperatures using a laser, the scientists used X-ray beams to carry out "diffraction" - bouncing X-rays off of the nuclei of the iron atoms and watching how the pattern changed as the iron changed from solid to liquid."
COOL facts about Ice Cream
Did you Know that JULY is National Ice Cream Month in the USA? It was established by President Ronald Reagan, in 1984. National Ice Cream Day is the 3rd Sunday in July. Learn some fun facts about ice cream!

“A learning tool is not a subject of learning. You shouldn’t have to spend time to master a learning tool, it should teach you itself.” – Andrey Bayadzhan
How is technology empowering the next generation of composers?
Andrey Bayadzhan studied music theory with Roman Ruditsa, a composer and music...
You don’t have to go far to realize that we are facing a major shortage of teachers in U.S.schools. News reports show that school districts across the country are scrambling to find qualified teachers to meet fast-growing enrollment at public schools.
The National Education Association has described the situation as “worse than we thought.”
Reasons for the shortage stem from retirement of teachers and teachers leaving the profession.
However, in my opinion, the...
In my last blog, I wrote about the concept of deep learning and how k-12 teachers might work to become the type of teacher that facilitates this type of deep learning.
First, a brief recap: these ideas of deep learning come from Ken Bain, who wrote about three types of students: surface learners, strategic learners, and deep learners. Surface learners are those students just trying to survive. Strategic learners play the system, learning and scoring well enough to get the A. On the...

What are Ways We Already Engage Families?
There are multiple ways to reach families and build those...

In addition to passing your classes, a new law passed in...
In his work on top performing professors, Ken Bain wrote about three types of college students: surface learners, strategic learners, and deep learners. Surface learners are those students just trying to survive. Strategic learners play the system, learning and scoring well enough to get the A. On the other hand, deep learners are also successful but immerse themselves in the learning itself, understanding conceptual ideas, thinking critically and creatively, and becoming adaptative...

The OECD’s Learning Compass 2030, launched today, urges nations to take action and reevaluate the knowledge, life skills, values and attitudes learners need to flourish and contribute to the well-being of their communities and their planet. Experts have argued that global education systems have not changed in hundreds of...

“We use play because play is learning.” – Catalina Gonzalez
Catalina González, founder and director of Literacy4all, begins her story in Colombia. A young school teacher, Javier González-Quintero, was asked to send report cards for his students to their parents. Javier decided this would not work since...