Using NewsHour Extra Worksheets

Overview: NewsHour Extra worksheets can help students follow along and identify key points in NewsHour science broadcast pieces.

Warm Up: Introduce the topic of the broadcast piece and find out how much your students know.

Main Activity: Hand out the worksheet and have students answer the questions as they watch the NewsHour segment.

Need a DVD of the science segment?: Write to science@newshour.org.

Story: DNA Testing Reunites Families Separated by War, 2/15/07
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/science/jan-june07/dna_02-15.html

Worksheet Questions: (click here for printout)

1. Why did Angela Fillingim's birth mother put her up for adoption?

El Salvador was in the middle of a violent decade-long civil war, and her mother thought that Angela would be safer elsewhere.

2. What does the agency that eventually put Angela and her birth mother in touch, Pro-Busqueda, say is the biggest obstacle to reuniting more families?

They say their work would be easier if the government would release any records that it has of what happened to children and families.

3. What part of the body do the cells that contain the DNA samples Pro-Busqueda uses to match up family members come from? What part of those cells contains the DNA?

The inner lining of the cheek. --The nucleus.

4. How many families have been reuinited in El Salvador via the DNA testing?

70

5. In what other countries is Eric Stover hoping to use DNA testing to reunite separated families?

North and South Korea, Vietnam, Chile, Rwanda and Argentina.

For more NewsHour Science Reports, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/science.

For more science lesson plans and worksheets, go to www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/teachers/science.