Free Rice

I’m sure this has been posted before but it is making a big impact in my little area of the world right now.



This game came to me via a former student now in high school as something she was personally taking on for improving the world. This is part of her world history coursework and she is required to work on a project that impacts someone else across the world. She found this and has made it a point to sign up as many people as possible to work on the website at a specific time to see if she truly can make a difference. In the end, she did a great job but the website has stuck with me and I have been using it with my class quite a bit.

Do I really make a difference by playing FreeRice?
The rice you donate makes a huge difference to the person who receives it. According to the United Nations, about 25,000 people die each day from hunger or hunger-related causes, most of them children. Though 20 grains of rice may seem like a small amount, it is important to remember that while you are playing, so are thousands of other people at the same time. It is everyone together that makes the difference. Thanks to you, FreeRice has generated enough rice to feed more than two million people since it started in October 2007.

How do I start playing FreeRice?
In the middle of the FreeRice Home page you will see something like:
small means:
littleoldbigyellow
To play the game, click on one of the four definitions (“little,” “old,” “big,” or “yellow”) that you think is correct. If you get it right, FreeRice donates 20 grains of rice to help end hunger. In the example above, you would want to click on “little,” which means “small.” You will then get a chance to do another word the same way. You can play as long as you like and donate as much rice as you like. When you are finished, you do not have to do anything―your donation is already counted.
How does playing the vocabulary game at FreeRice help me?
Learning new vocabulary has tremendous benefits. It can help you:
· Formulate your ideas better
· Write better papers, emails and business letters
· Speak more precisely and persuasively
· Comprehend more of what you read
· Read faster because you comprehend better
· Get better grades in high school, college and graduate school
· Score higher on tests like the SAT, GRE, LSAT and GMAT
· Perform better at job interviews and conferences
· Sell yourself, your services, and your products better
· Be more effective and successful at your job
After you have done FreeRice for a while, you may notice an odd phenomenon. Words that you have never consciously used before will begin to pop into your head while you are speaking or writing. You will feel yourself using and knowing more words.
Total Donations by Date
Date
Grains of Rice


OCTOBER 2007
537,163,380
NOVEMBER 2007
4,768,969,790
DECEMBER 2007
6,948,988,060
JANUARY 2008
4,551,581,980
FEBRUARY 2008
3,893,361,180
MARCH 2008
4,109,191,320
APRIL 2008
5,614,647,060
MAY 2008
4,657,641,260
JUNE 2008
3,043,677,360
JULY 2008
2,046,077,880
AUGUST 2008
1,918,976,960
SEPTEMBER 2008
3,149,870,660
OCTOBER 2008
3,739,408,120
NOVEMBER 2008
3,678,546,760


December 1, 2008
139,808,860
December 2, 2008
157,220,920
December 3, 2008
170,926,880
December 4, 2008
177,606,640
December 5, 2008
174,104,460
December 6, 2008
70,678,180

____________
Total All Dates
53,548,447,710