Seattle Post-Intelligencer The Zone

The Zone features stories, information and activities focusing on a single topic that matters to students. The Zone’s Teacher Guide provides activities for students who want to tap into the lessons a little deeper, exploring The Zone topic in-depth — including activities for ESL students.

The Zone is no longer producing new content, but we have the archives available for your use. The Zone features stories, information and activities focusing on a single topic that matters to students — topics like Washington State history, Financial (FUN)damentals, and the environment. The Zone’s Teacher Guide provides activities for students who want to tap into the lessons a little deeper, exploring The Zone topic in-depth — including activities for ESL students.

Guide for December 2008: Washington State History (PDF 295k)

Guide for October 2008: Discovering the Performing Arts (PDF 2M)

Guide for Sept-Oct 2008: Election 2008: Democracy in Action (PDF 1.4M)

Guide for September 2008: At the Fair (PDF 390K)

Past Zone features:

December 2008: Washington state history
Welcome to Washington (PDF 3M)
Discovering the Pacific Northwest (PDF 3M)
Seattle Stories (PDF 2M)
Sites of our state (PDF 2M)

November 2008: Discovering the performing arts
Introducing the concepts (PDF 2M)
Theater through the ages (PDF 3M)
Putting your mind to music (PDF 3M)
Dancing around the world (PDF 4M)

October 2008: Election 2008: Democracy in action
Voting: then and now (PDF 2M)
Making up your mind (PDF 2M)
How it all works (PDF 3M)
Beyond Election Day (PDF 3M)

September 2008: At the Puyallup Fair
At the Puyallup Fair (PDF 6M)
Straight off the farm (PDF 6M)
Science at (guess where??) the Fair (PDF 3M)

May 2008: Fabulous Finland
Welcome to Finland (PDF 775 k)
Respect for the Land (PDF 756 k)
Designing Finland (PDF 759 k)
Finding Finland in the Northwest (PDF 743 k)

April 2008: Financial (FUN)damentals
Making Our Money (PDF 855 k)
Your Family’s Finances (PDF 881 k)
Credit … Use it Wisely (PDF 850 k)
Go-o-o-o-o Money! (PDF 808 k)

March 2008: Health and Nutrition
Worried about your weight? (PDF 627 k)
Power Eating (PDF 663 k)
What’s in YOUR tank? (PDF 608 k)
What’s in YOUR food? (PDF 735 k)

February 2008: What Makes a Leader?
Follow My Lead (PDF 665 k)
Defining Leadership Styles (PDF 622 k)
The Leadership List (PDF 695 k)
A well-rounded resumé (PDF 715 k)

January 2008: Puget Sound Quest
Saving Puget Sound (PDF 407 k)
A Shore Way to Help (PDF 397 k)
Looking for Answers (PDF 427 k)
Get Busy, Get MUDDY (PDF 388 k)

December 2007: How Humans Lear
How Do We Learn? (PDF 281 k)
Learning is Elementary (PDF 286 k)
How do you know what to learn? (PDF 293 k)
Education of the Future (PDF 294 k)

November 2007: Emergencies — Are You Ready
Emergency! (PDF 674 k)
Have a Plan (PDF 397 k)
I Can Help! (PDF 427 k)
Northwest Emergencies: Be Prepared (PDF 388 k)

October 2007: Envisioning Ecotopia
Our Ecosystem + Utopia (PDF 453 k)
Living in a Greener House (PDF 454 k)
Thinking Globally, Eating Locally (PDF 480 k)
Let’s Make a Deal (PDF 458 k)
Let’s Play Soundopoly (PDF 453 k)

September 2007: The Puyallup Fair — the place that brings people together!
Rodeo Romping Fun! (PDF 696 k)
Get Your Goat! (PDF 714 k)
Country Folk or City Folk: 4-H has lots to offer (PDF 725 k)

May 2007: Focus on Japan
Jazzed about Japan (PDF 721 k)
Going Global (PDF 758 k)
Japan: Where the future is NOW (PDF 756 k)
Japan Culture: Where the modern and the traditional coexist (PDF 734 k)

April 2007: The Indian Experience
What does it mean to be “Indian?” (PDF 846 k)
Northwest Indians: Keeping Nature’s Balance (PDF 840 k)
Know Your Local History (PDF 784 k)
The Legacy: What is tribal sovereignty? (PDF 816 k)

March 2007: It’s a Jungle In Here
Welcome to the Zoo (PDF 463 k)
How Do You Do? (PDF 447 k)
Protecting Our Wildlife (PDF 820 k)
The Nitty Gritty of Running a Zoo (PDF 423 k)

February 2007: Energy & You
The Long Journey – Electricity (PDF 704 k)
Global Warming (PDF 712 k)
A can-do attitude (PDF 858 k)

January 2007: Thinking Locally: How Government Works
How WA State Gov’t Works (PDF 308 k)
The Marriage of Local Gov’t (PDF 328 k)
The WA Legislature (PDF 444 k)
Voting (PDF 614 k)

December 2006: Life in the Puget Sound Basin
Nature’s Funnel (PDF 775 k)
Where Will Everyone Live? (PDF 412 k)
15 Places To See Before You Graduate (PDF 324 k)

November 2006: Focus on India
India (PDF 321 k)
Marriage at Your Age (PDF 308 k)
Monsoon: Friend or Foe? (PDF 311 k)
Elephants (PDF 338 k)

October 2006: What’s in Puget Sound?
Let’s Dive In (PDF 277 k)
There’s More Than Fish in the Sea (PDF 278 k)
I Love Pods (PDF 357 k)

September to October 2006: Archaeology Close to Home
Kennewick Man (PDF 558 k)
How Old? (PDF 428 k)
Archaeology (PDF 415 k)

September 2006: The Puyallup Fair: Traditional to Techno
Listen Up (PDF 401 k)
Beyond Cows and Crops (PDF 386 k)
If Your Heart’s in Art (PDF 400 k)

April 2006: Disaster: It's Only Natural
A Degree of DISASTER (PDF 1,147 k)
Whose FAULT (LINE) is it? (PDF 868 k)
The BIG Storms (PDF 2876 k)
VOLCANO (PDF 684 k)

March 2006: Managing Money
Marvelous Money (PDF 218 k)
Gen P (PDF 226 k)
Considering Credit (PDF 222 k)
Making Money (PDF 220 k)

February 2006: Take a Hike
Take a Hike (PDF 1212 k)
Healthy Hiking (PDF 1,066 k)
Leave No Trace (PDF 1219 k)
Happy Trails (PDF 1245 k)

January 2006: Cyber Stuff
Nets and Webs (PDF 1044 k)
Finding Stuff (PDF 1129 k)
Connecting Computers (PDF 945 k)
Cyber Junk Food (PDF 605 k)
Look Ma, No Wires (PDF 1788 k)

December 2005: Get it Write
Techno Teen Talk (PDF 602 k)
Letters Last a Lifetime (PDF 608 k)
Spontaneity, Speed and Style (PDF 665 k)

November 2005: Constitution Close-Up
An Exercise in Compromise (PDF 962 k)
Balancing the Branches (PDF 1,113 k)
Judges - Tellin' It Like It Is (PDF 940 k)
HOT Issues, HOT Debate (PDF 1,111 k)
First and Foremost (PDF 1,118 k)

October 2005: Bio-Medicine
Gee Whiz - Genome (PDF 938 k)
Predictive, Preventive, Personalized (PDF 528 k)
Biology's BIG Picture (PDF 1,297 k)
Stem Cells are Super Cells (PDF 813 k)

September 2005: FAIR Facts, Foods and Fibers
A FAIR Amount of Water (PDF 1,591 k)
FAIR-ly Fantastic Food (PDF 906 k)
CHIC Sheep (PDF 1,665 k)

May 2005: Explore Your Port
Gateway to Alaska (PDF 304 k)
It's a bird, it's a plane! (PDF 1,998 k)
Trading places (PDF 281 k)
Balancing buisness with happy habitat (PDF 291 k)

April 2005: Immigration
What does American look like? (328 k)
America the magnet (330 k)
Where in America? (517 k)
Prosperity and prejudice (330 k)

March 2005: Money Matters
Who needs money? (257 k)
Debit, get it? (275 k)
Using credit wisely (1286 k)
Making money (1705 k)
Getting rich 101 (1748 k)

February 2005: You Are What You Eat
Food is fuel (354 k)
Vital vitamins, mighty minerals (398 k)
Fueling the human machine (361 k)
The skinny on weight loss (1740 k)

January 2005: Get a Life
Charting your career (954 k)
School is cool (197 k)
Turning to trades (226 k)
Got the nerve to serve? (211 k)

December 2004: Real Life Survivor
Thoughts of survival (546 k)
Safe surfin' (437 k)
Getting along (1,089 k)
Self defense means common sense (479 k)

November 2004: Check out the Library
Libraries: as big as your imagination (804 k)
Homework help in the half the time (499 k)
Books are just the beginning of your fun (374 k)
Librarians are leading the way (620 k)

October 2004: Wild Land, Working Land
Extraordinary estuaries, magnificent mud (1,433 k)
Goin' wild in the city (7,691 k)
Rural resources are really remarkable (1,992 k)
Majestic, magnificent mountains (1,875 k)

September 2004: Puyallup Fair Potpourri
Food for the future (2,139 k)
Listen up (1,602 k)
Domestic bliss goes high-tech (2,135 k)

May 2004: Infection Connection
Body breakdown (541 k)
Wearing the family genes (216 k)
Viruses are not your friends (451 k)
Infections: avoiding and outsmarting 'em (728 k)

April 2004: Polar Dinos
A chilling tale (219 k)
Early life (218 k)
Some like it cold (211 k)
Rocks talk (180 k)

March 2004: Common Cents
A penny for your thoughts (199 k)
Check it out (822 k)
Credit, get it (543 k)
Making money (542 k)
Getting rich 101 (501 k)

February 2004: POWERful Choices
Wonderful, wet water (5.9 M)
The sound of water (630 k)
Surfing the food web (403 k)
Our stressed out sound (513 k)

January 2004: POWERful Choices
Sunshine & energy: forms, fuels and shower power
(516 k)
Clever consuming, comfy conserving and circuit breakers (368 k)
Energy smart schools, electrifying ideas and clean green power (324 k)
Future fuels, amazing abodes and bright light ideas
(504 k)

December 2003: Space
Stargazing, Simple to Sophisticated – Space Station Science (480 k)
Our moon: modules, rockets and rocks (652 k)
Commercialism, communications and cool space spinoffs (408 k)
Earth to Mars: probes, potential and possibly people (352 k)

November 2003: Leadership
Leadership linguistics — and livin' out loud (362 k)
You gotta have style: Qualities that define a leader (339 k)
What do leaders look like (try a mirror) (297 k)
Is anybody listening? Making your voice heard. (293 k)

October 2003: Hong Kong
Plenty of people, a touch of history, a sip of tea (364 k)
Touring the town: temples and tai chi (369 k)
Trade and typhoons: dragons, dollars and dances with dolphins (5 mb)
HK spirit food, fai chun, festivals and pharmacy (619 k)

September 2003: Down on the Farm
Farm animals: meat, milk and way more (360 k)
Eggsceptional chickens and carnival science (696 k)
Farming is a family affair and fascinating food factoids (331 k)
Aquaculture: fish farming and salmon ranching (937 k)
It's not dirt cheap: food costs, safety and the environment (288 k)