50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History

50 Questions to Ask Relatives About Family History A great way to uncover clues to your family history or to get great quotes for journaling in a heritage scrapbook is a family interview. By asking the right, open-ended questions, youre sure to collect a wealth of family tales. Use this list of family history interview questions to help you get started, but be sure to personalize the interview with your own questions as well. 50 Questions to Ask Your Relatives What is your full name? Why did your parents select this name for you? Did you have a nickname?When and where were you born?How did your family come to live there?Were there other family members in the area? Who?What was the house (apartment, farm, etc.) like? How many rooms? Bathrooms? Did it have electricity? Indoor plumbing? Telephones?Were there any special items in the house that you remember?What is your earliest childhood memory?Describe the personalities of your family members.What kind of games did you play growing up?What was your favorite toy and why? What was your favorite thing to do for fun (movies, beach, etc.)?Did you have family chores? What were they? Which was your least favorite?Did you receive an allowance? How much? Did you save your money or spend it?What was school like for you as a child? What were your best and worst subjects? Where did you attend grade school? High school? College?What school activities and sports did you participate in?Do you remember any fads from your youth? Popular hairstyles? Clothes? Who were your childhood heroes?What were your favorite songs and music?Did you have any pets? If so, what kind and what were their names?What was your religion growing up? What church, if any, did you attend?Were you ever mentioned in a newspaper?Who were your friends when you were growing up?What world events had the most impact on you while you were growing up? Did any of them personally affect your family?Describe a typical family dinner. Did you all eat together as a family? Who did the cooking? What were your favorite foods?How were holidays (birthdays, Christmas, etc.) celebrated in your family? Did your family have special traditions?How is the world today different from what it was like when you were a child?Who was the oldest relative you remember as a child? What do you remember about them?What do you know about your family surname?Is there a naming tradition in your family, such as always giving the firstborn son the name of his paternal grandfather?What stories have come down to you about your parents? Grandparents? More distant ancestors? Are there any stories about famous or infamous relatives in your family?Have any recipes been passed down to you from family members?Are there any physical characteristics that run in your family?Are there any special heirlooms, photos, bibles or other memorabilia that have been passed down in your family?What was the full name of your spouse? Siblings? Parents?When and how did you meet your spouse? What did you do on dates?What was it like when you proposed (or were proposed to)? Where and when did it happen? How did you feel?Where and when did you get married?What memory stands out the most from your wedding day?How would you describe your spouse? What do (did) you admire most about them?What do you believe is the key to a successful marriage?How did you find out you  were going to be a parent for the first time?Why did you choose your childrens names?What was your proudest moment as a parent?What did your family enjoy doing together?What was your profession and how did you choos e it? If you could have had any other profession what would it have been? Why wasnt it your first choice?Of all the things you learned from your parents, which do you feel was the most valuable?What accomplishments were you most proud of?What is the one thing you most want people to remember about you? While these questions make great conversation starters, the best way to uncover the good stuff is through more of a storytelling session than a QA.

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy

How to Make a DNA Model out of Candy There are many common materials you can use to form the double helix shape of DNA. Its easy to make a DNA model out of candy. Heres how a candy DNA molecule is constructed. Once youve completed the science project, you can eat your model as a snack. Key Takeaways: Candy DNA Model Candy is a fun and edible construction material that is perfect for making a model of DNA.The key ingredients are a rope-like candy to serve as the DNA backbone and gummy candies to act as the bases.A good DNA model shows base pair bonding (adenine to thymine; guanine to cytosine) and the double helix shape of the DNA molecule. Smaller candies may be used to add more detail to the model. The Structure of DNA In order to construct a model of DNA, you need to know what it looks like. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid is a molecule shaped like a twisted ladder or double helix. The sides of the ladder are the DNA backbone, made up of repeating units of a pentose sugar (deoxyribose) bonded to a phosphate group. The rungs of the ladder are the bases or nucleotides adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine. The ladder is twisted slightly to make a helix shape. Candy DNA Model Materials You have several options here. Basically, you need 1-2 colors of rope-like candy for the backbone. Licorice is good, but you can find gum or fruit sold in strips, too. Use four different colors of soft candy for the bases. Good choices include colored marshmallows and gumdrops. Just be sure to choose a candy you can puncture using a toothpick. LicoriceSmall colored marshmallows or gummy candy (4 different colors)Toothpicks Construct the DNA Molecule Model Assign a base to a candy color. You need exactly four colors of candies, which will correspond to adenine, thymine, guanine, and cytosine. If you have extra colors, you can eat them.Pair up the candies. Adenine binds to thymine. Guanine binds to cytosine. The bases do not bond to any others! For example, adenine never bonds to itself or to guanine or cytosine. Connect the candies by pushing a matched pair of them next to each other in the middle of a toothpick.Attach the pointy ends of the toothpicks to licorice strands, to form a ladder shape.If you like, you can twist the licorice to show how the ladder forms a double helix. Twist the ladder counterclockwise to make a helix like the one that occurs in living organisms. The candy helix will unravel unless you use toothpicks to hold the top and bottom of the ladder to cardboard or polystyrene foam. DNA Model Options If you like, you can cut pieces of red and black licorice to make a more detailed backbone. One color is the phosphate group, while the other is the pentose sugar. If you choose to use this method, cut the licorice into 3 pieces and alternate colors on a string or pipecleaner. The candy needs to be hollow, so licorice is the best choice for this variation of the model. Attach bases to the pentose sugar parts of the backbone. Its helpful to make a key to explain the parts of the model. Either draw and label the model on paper or attach candies to cardboard and label them. Quick DNA Facts DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) and RNA (ribonucleic acid) are nucleic acids, an important class of biological molecules.DNA is the blueprint or code for all of the proteins formed in an organism. For this reason, it is also called the genetic code.New DNA molecules are made by breaking the ladder shape of DNA down the middle and filling in the missing pieces to make 2 molecules. This process is called transcription.DNA makes proteins through a process called translation. In translation, the information from DNA is used to make RNA, which goes to the ribosomes of a cell to make amino acids, which are joined to make polypeptides and proteins. Making a DNA model isnt the only science project you can do using candy. Use extra materials to try other experiments!

US cold war foreign policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

US cold war foreign policy - Essay Example When the Berlin Wall started to fall in November 1989, it represented the beginning of the end of a nearly 45 year conflict. All over Eastern Europe, millions of people cried out for freedom. Within two years, the Soviet Union dissolved and so too had the Cold War.Many in the West called this a victory with many praising U.S. President Ronald Reagan and his aggressive, military policy towards the Soviet Union. Francis Fukuyama called it the end of history.1 Others looked to the future with U.S. President George H. W.Bush speaking about a 'new world order'.2 Yet, the absolute victory Fukuyama spoke of is misleading. Bush's vision of the future is tainted by 'new' elements, Osama bin Laden, that are directly linked to the policies of the Cold War. To understand our Cold War policies and their effects requires us to examine some of the earliest documents of this conflict. This includes George Kennan's "Long Telegram" and his "Mr. X" article as well as Walter Lippman's response. NSC-68 a nd The Ugly American will also be analyzed. Together, these documents provide the necessary foundation from which to more completely understand how the Cold War ended and why.When Germany surrendered on May 7, 1945, it ended World War II fighting in Europe. Almost immediately, though, the Soviet Union and the United States of America started to establish radically different policies in respect to recently liberated European counties. By 1946, tension between the former war allies started to mount. George Kennan, a member of the U.S. State Department stationed in Moscow, wrote a letter to Secretary of State James Byrnes describing the Soviet Union and her ambitions in the midst of this tension. In his "Long Telegram", Kennan argues that the "Kremlin's neurotic view of world affairs is traditional and instinctive Russian sense of insecurity."3 Kennan separates the Russian people from the ruling class, and, more importantly, finds complexity in the policy positions of the Soviet Union. Further, while the Soviet Union is insecure, Kennan believes that the Soviet Union thinks slowly in respect to international conflicts and internal stability is of particular importance to the regime. Accordingly, Kennan suggests that the United States should engage the Soviet Union on many fronts; diplomatic, economic and military. Kennan finishes the telegram with a note of caution: "the greatest danger that can befall us in coping with this problem of Soviet communism is that we shall allow ourselves to become like those with whom we are coping."4 In 1947, Kennan wrote an article for Foreign Affairs under the name 'Mr. X'. In "The Sources of Soviet Conduct", Kennan offers a more compact version of the 'Long Telegram'. Kennan argues that the United State must lead the 'fight' against the Soviet Union. However, he only uses the words 'military' and 'conflict' once and argues that the United States should apply "a cautious, persistent pressure toward the disruption and, weakening of all rival influence and rival power."5 Further, Kennan notes that "the United States has it in its power to increase enormously the strains under which Soviet policy must operate."6 This, though, did not mean solely military engagement. Walter Lippman responded by arguing that the United States should "concentrate our effort on treaties of peace which would end the occupation of Europe."7 Unlike Kennan, Lippman believed that recent Soviet actions demonstrated that it was a much more violent country, prone to aggressive international behavior. Accordi ngly, Lippman took a more militaristic stance again the Soviet Union and the concept of containment. Then, in 1950, the U.S. policy towards the Soviet Union was more officially codified in 'NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security'. While using Kennan as a starting point, the document leans more towards Lippman's conception of the Soviet threat and has a more militaristic response. NSC-68 argues for a "rapid and concerted build-up of the actual strength of