Teaching & Learning
Education propels change. Stay up to date on the latest educational developments near you and around the world from preschool to post-grad. Here, you'll find out why equitable quality education is essential for fostering healthy and resilient societies.
Changing lives with Debate Mate
For London trial attorney, Margaret McCabe, debate changed her life. It gave her the confidence to appear in court, to talk, and to argue for a living. She decided to bring debating to youth in London and started the nonprofit Debate Mate. We sat down with McCabe, founder and CEO of Debate Read More...
Simple tips for making homemade fertilizer
Making fertilizer at home is a great option for home gardeners who want to find ways to repurpose their waste and reduce their consumption habits. Making your own fertilizer is the more environmentally friendly choice as it could save you a trip to the store and you avoid the bags and plastic Read More...
The case for setting “rest goals,” and how to do it
BY THE OPTIMIST DAILY EDITORIAL TEAM While living amid a fast-paced environment that has historically stressed productivity and progress, setting rest goals might feel a bit counterintuitive. Most of our goals are centered around doing or accomplishing something. Your goals might involve Read More...
Chicago Connected gave internet to 64,000 children in need
When the Pandemic hit and students went home for school, many lower-income families were disadvantaged due to a lack of reliable internet. In Chicago, many students in lower-income neighborhoods couldn’t get their work done, so the city decided to take action. In March 2020, the city started Read More...
BU-led team aims to treat heart disease by growing new heart tissue
The heart is arguably the hardest-working and most important organ in the body. Starting the moment it’s formed in the womb the heart has to keep working for the rest of our lives. What’s more daunting is that the heart can’t repair itself. Once a ventricle or aorta is damaged, the heart just Read More...
Wildlife Conservation Society builds massive database of Amazonian wildlife
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) scientists have been working on an enormous project: building an extensive database of the wide array of wildlife in the sprawling Amazon Basin. For this study, an international team of 147 scientists hailing from 122 research institutions and nature Read More...
How you can talk to students about returning to school
For students and teachers traumatized by a shooting at their school, or other students and teachers rocked by the news of American school shootings, it can be difficult, even disturbing to return to school. For the concerned parents of worried students, we thought it was important to share the Read More...
Want to keep sharks and beachgoers safe? There’s an app for that
Sharks, as top predators, are a keystone species. This means the balance of whole marine ecosystems relies heavily on sharks' well-being. Protecting and conserving sharks is of the utmost importance, especially since they already face many threats to their survival such as the illegal shark fin Read More...
Pennsylvania schools doubled their solar power in the last two years
Renewable energy production is taking off in the Keystone State. A new report from the nonprofit Generation180 reveals that Pennsylvania schools doubled their solar power capacity over the last two years of the Pandemic. This helped not only the planet but also the schools' bottom line and Read More...
7 sustainable strategies to keep rabbits out of your garden
Most will agree that rabbits are adorable. However, if you’re into gardening as much as we are here at The Optimist Daily, and you live in a region with a thriving rabbit population, your feelings toward these cute furry rodents might be… complicated. Rabbits, mice, squirrels, and other Read More...