teacher’s guide · • animals have adaptations that allow them to survive in ... looks like...

TEACHER’S GUIDE

pathfinder edition nGpathfinder.orG april 2012

NGPathfinder.org

Dear Educator:

Last month, we annouced our new interactive editions. We hope you’ve had a chance to check out the March issue samples! If not, please visit NGSP.com for instructions to download the app.

Starting with the September 2012 issue, you’ll also be able to subscribe to all seven interactive issues for the 2012-2013 school year.

Each robust, engaging edition offers students the opportunity to immerse themselves in each article.

With videos, audio, photographs, and interactive graphics, the interactive editions add a new level of engagement to the issue.

After you’ve had a chance to explore the edition, we invite you to share your thoughts with us. We want to hear what you liked and how you think we can improve it. We’d especially like to hear how you would use the edition with your class.

Please feel free to send your feedback to me at [email protected].

We know you’ll be as excited as we are!

Shelby AlinskyDigital and Curriculum Editor, National Geographic Explorer

April 2012

National Geographic Explorer, Pathfinder April 2012

Standards in this IssueLiving Colors(Teacher’s Guide pages T1-T8)

• Animals have adaptations that allow them to survive in their environment.

• Animals interact with other living things in their environment.

New Land(Teacher’s Guide pages T9-T16)

• Earth’s landforms change over time.

• Earth’s major systems (geosphere, hydropshere, atmosphere, and biosphere) interact.

Unsinkable Ship(Teacher’s Guide pages T17-T24)

• Historical events shape our understanding of modern life.

• Science and technology affect change on people and their environment.

• Nonfiction texts provide information about historical events.

Look for these icons throughout the lesson:

Interactive Whiteboard Lesson (see www.prometheanplanet.com/

nationalgeographicexplorer) Look for parts of this activity in the free IWB lesson.

Projectable Edition (see ngpathfinder.org) Use the projectable edition of this issue to

enhance this activity.

Website (see ngpathfinder.org) This activity refers to a resource on the website.

e-edition

web

e-edition

web

e-edition

web

NGSP.com

www.prometheanplanet.com/nationalgeographicexplorer

www.prometheanplanet.com/nationalgeographicexplorer

ngpathfinder.org

ngpathfinder.org

Summary

• Animals use their colors in many ways to help them survive.

• Some animals use camouflage.

• Other animals use countershading.

• Some animals also have spots, stripes, or speckles.

• Some animals are able to change their color.

• Some animals use bright colors as a warning to predators to stay away.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• explore how animals use color, both to catch prey and to avoid becoming prey;

• explore conversational tone of writing;

• compare and contrast to aid comprehension.

Materials Needed

• photos of animals that use coloring for hunting or for hiding from predators

• various materials and found objects for art project

• camouflage piece of clothing (e.g., hat, shirt)

• photos of animals in their natural habitats

Resources• Learn more about animal camouflage:

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/animal-camouflage http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/undersea-camouflage http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/mimicry/ziegler-photography

National Geographic Explorer, Pathfinder Page T1 April 2012

Living Colors

pages 2-3

pages 4-5

pages 6-7

pages 8-9

poster

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/animal-camouflage

http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/kids/photos/gallery/animal-camouflage

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/undersea-camouflage

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/undersea-camouflage

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/mimicry/ziegler-photography

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/08/mimicry/ziegler-photography

Background

• Camouflage is when an organism blends in with its environment. It is usually one of two types:

▶ Defensive camouflage is when an organism uses its coloring to hide from predators.

▶ Aggressive camouflage occurs when a predator uses its ability to blend in to take prey by surprise.

• Camouflage works because the outline of the organism blends in with its surroundings. In some cases, a pattern of stripes or spots helps the organism disappear in an area of sunlight and shadow.

• Sometimes the camouflaged animal resembles an object the predator would not pursue. A katydid looks like leaf, while a walking stick insect resembles a brown twig on a branch.

• Countershading is a type of camouflage in which an animal’s back is darker than its underside. Sharks exhibit countershading. When looked at from above, the dark top of the shark blends in with the dark sea floor below it. When looked at from underneath, the shark’s light belly blends in with the sunlit waters above it.

• The opposite of camouflage is aposematic coloring, or the appearance of bright colors and patterns. Animals that have bright colors and patterns are often poisonous or foul-tasting. So the colors serve as a warning sign to predators. Poison dart frogs and monarch butterflies are two animals with this type of coloring.


• Disruptive coloration breaks up the profile of an animal so that is it hard for predators to see. For example, lions usually pick the weakest zebra from a herd and move in for the kill. When zebras start running, their stripes make it hard for the lion to see individual zebras, and lions lose their prey.

Fast Facts

• The skin of the cuttlefish holds about 10 million color cells that can make changes to fit the fish’s background.

• The cheetah’s tan and black fur is easily camouflaged in the tall, straw-colored grass of the African savannah.

• Some nonpoisonous animals use mimicry to fool prey. For example, the bright colors and familiar markings of the monarch tell predators to stay away because the butterfly is poisonous. The viceroy is not poisonous, but it looks so much like the monarch that predators avoid it, too.

Living Colors

Activate Prior KnowledgeBrainstorm Animal Colors

1. Write several colors on pieces of paper. Fold each piece of paper and put it into a small box.

2. Display pages 2–3 of the projectable edition for students. Have them examine the photo and read the article headline.

3. Have a student choose a paper from the box and read the color out loud. Tell students to brainstorm as many animals as they know that are that color. List the animals on the board.

4. As a class, discuss reasons why the animals might have that color.

5. Have two or three other students pick colors from the box and repeat the brainstorming process.

Comprehension StrategyCompare and Contrast Coloring

1. Divide the class into small groups. Have each group work together to make a list of how animals use their coloring to survive. Have a photo of an animal in each usage category available beforehand. (Possibilities include: hunting, mating, hiding from predators, warning predators to stay away, communicating)

2. Instruct students to compare their lists with another group and note the differences.

3. Ask all groups to contribute to a class list. A student can write on the board as they call out uses.

4. Read each item from the merged class list one by one. As you read each usage, project an animal using color in that way. Discuss what is happening in the photo with students.


Language SkillConversational Narrative

1. Project the first two pages of the article again. Read the deck out loud as students read along.

2. Tell students that the tone of writing is the writer’s attitude toward the subject or readers. A writer uses tone to express how he or she feels about the subject. Write the following two passages on the board, one on top of the other:

▶ Zoe opened the cellar door to see. It was very dark. She said, “I will not go down there.”

▶ Zoe cracked the door open to check it out. It was pitch black—and scary. “There’s no way I am going down there,” she exclaimed.

3. Point out to students that both examples express the same thing—just in different ways.

4. Ask students to determine how the examples are different in style and feeling, and what the differences are. After briefly discussing, tell students that the first example is very formal and doesn’t express much emotion. The second example is more informal and uses language that is conversational, or that person would use when talking to a friend.

5. Ask students to determine whether the deck is written in a formal or conversational tone. (conversational)

Living Colors

pages 2-3

e-edition

web

Language Skill Conversational Writing

1. Display the projectable edition and point out the last sentence in the introduction (“Let’s look at how some animals use color to survive.”), and read it aloud.

2. Ask students to identify whether this sentence has a formal or conversational tone and how they know. (conversational; It sounds like a person talking to a friend.)

3. Ask volunteers to identify other conversational sentences on pages 4, and highlight them in the projectable edition. (Possible responses: “That’s because it blends in with the bright yellow flower petals.” / “With fresh prey in sight, the spider jumps into action.” / “When a hungry mongoose comes by, the gecko doesn’t move.”)

4. Encourage students to imagine that they are on a nature walk with a guide, who will introduce them to each of the animals in the article.

5. Have students draw a picture of their guide and add speech bubbles giving information about the animals pictured on pages 4-5.

▶ For each photo, students should draw the guide with a cartoon bubble near his or her head telling the reader about each animal.

▶ Students should write conversationally, as if the guide were standing there talking to people on a guided tour.

▶ Remind students that the guide must give actual information about the animal in the photo.

5. Invite students to keep their guide handy and add conversational speech bubbles as they read the rest of the article.


Explore Science—Hands-On ActivityCamouflage Art

1. Ask students why animals use camouflage. (to blend in with their surroundings)

2. Discuss how the animals on pages 4–5 use color for camouflage. (The yellow spider looks like part of the flower; the gecko looks like a twig among branches; the ray’s stomach makes it hard to see against the sunlit surface waters)

3. Divide the class into small groups. Assign each group an object such as a shell, a leaf, or some other object.

4. Challenge students to camouflage their object as part of a piece of art. Provide materials students can use or assign students to bring in materials from home.

5. Students can make their camouflage pieces on a piece of cardboard or construction paper, in a box or diorama, or on clay.

6. Display the works of art in a Camouflage Art Gallery. Have students view others’ projects and discuss the effectiveness of the camouflage.

Explore ReadingCompare and Contrast

1. Compare and contrast camouflage and countershading with students. Remind students that when you compare and contrast, you find the way things are alike and the way they are different.

2. After reading “Hiding in Plain Sight,” have students define camouflage in their own words. Have students read the “Dark and Light” section and define countershading in their own words.

3. Prompt students in thinking about how the two meanings are alike through modeling: I know the animals that use camouflage are all different, but they all do the same thing. They hide themselves by blending in with whatever is around them. So the yellow spider hides on a yellow flower, and the brown gecko hides on a brown tree leaf.

4. Have students use the same type of modeling to determine how the two words are different. Ask for volunteers to do this orally.

Living Colors

pages 4-5

Explore SciencePatterns

1. Display a piece of clothing with camouflage, such as a hat or shirt. Explain in what type of situation a person might wear the piece of clothing. Ask students why they would do this.

2. Model thinking on this question with: When I look at this hat, the colors I see most are green and brown. Why would someone wear green and brown clothing when hunting? I know that people hunt in the woods, and the trees and grass are brown and green. Ask students to continue the reasoning with the other colors.

3. After students read the section “Speckles, Spots, and Stripes,” note that animals such as the leopard and cheetah use their markings to blend in with their surroundings.

4. Project photos of animals such as leopards and cheetahs in their natural habitat. Invite students to comment on the camouflage in each picture.

Explore ScienceVisual Confusion

1. After reading the section “Color Confusion,” lead students through a discussion of how animals such as zebras use stripes to be safe.

2. Project the photo on page 6 in the projectable edition and challenge students to count the zebras. Point out that even when zebras are standing still, it is difficult. Ask students to explain the difficulty. (The stripes blend together and make individual zebras hard to pick out.)

3. Discuss how it would be even harder to pick one in a herd of running zebras.


Explore ReadingCompare and Contrast Different Disguises

1. Lead students in a discussion of the difference between the use of camouflage for hiding (such as a cheetah in tall grass) and the use of visual confusion (such as in a herd of zebra or a school of striped fish).

2. Ask students to think about how these animals have different methods to disguise themselves.

3. Model the reasoning students might go through for this response:

▶ I know leopards and zebras both have patterns on their bodies to help them survive. When I see leopards and cheetahs, they often seem to be alone. So it is probably easy for them to sit quietly in tall grass so other animals cannot see them. Zebras travel in herds. A herd of 100 zebras cannot just blend into the background. There are too many of them. So….

▶ Have students complete the reasoning process. (So … they have a way to protect themselves in the group. When they run, their stripes blend together, and it is hard for a predator to tell them apart.)

4. Reinforce the ideas of a single animal using camouflage to hide and a group of animals using visual confusion to blend together.

Living Colors

pages 6-7

e-edition

web

Explore ScienceChanging Colors and Moving Colors

1. After students have read the text on pages 8–9, discuss the way animals such as cuttlefish change color to confuse prey.

2. Challenge each student to research and find another animal that also changes colors as a survival skill. Students can work alone or in pairs.

3. Have them prepare a short oral presentation in which they share a photo or illustration of the animal and briefly explain how its ability to change color helps it either hunt for food or avoid becoming food.

Explore ScienceWarning Colors

1. After reading the section “Warning Colors,” discuss why animals use colors in this way, using the mandarinfish as an example. (They do not have strong defenses, so the colors help them by stopping predators from attacking them.)

2. Display the poster. Draw the students’ attention to the warning signs on the left side of the poster. State that when people want to warn of danger, they put up signs like this. As you examine each of the photos, have a student read the caption aloud.

3. Ask students to discuss what type of warning sign each of these animals is giving out. Discuss the purpose of the warning: Does the warning protect the creature, or does it help the creature prey on others? Ask students if they have ever had an experience with any of these animals. If so, ask them to share it.


Explore ReadingMake a Chart

1. Instruct students to go back to the list they previously prepared on how animals use colors to survive.

2. Tell them they can use the ideas as a reference as they complete the Activity Master.

3. Allow students time to share their charts and discuss how they differ. Allow students time to revise their charts, if needed.

Explore WritingUse Conversational Style

1. Allow each student to choose one animal from the poster and, using a conversational style, write about how that animal uses warning colors.

2. Have students also include what the animal’s warning colors tell us about the animal.

Extend ScienceChanging Colors

1. Have students choose a predator from the article, or another animal not mentioned in the article, and research the animals it preys on. Help students identify pairs in which one or both animals use colors.

2. Direct students to write a few paragraphs on how their predator and prey interact, and the part that color plays in the interaction. Remind students to avoid anthropomorphizing the animals in their writing.

3. When they are finished, ask several volunteers to share what they have written. As students share their writing, list each animal they mention on the board and the way in which it uses color. Then lead a discussion about the listed animals and their color usage.

Living Colorspages 8-9

Activity Master, page T7

poster

Activity Master

Living Colors name:

Using Color

in the second column, describe how each animal uses color. put an “x” in the column that shows whether the animal uses its color to catch prey, avoid becoming prey, or both.


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How It Uses Color Catch PreyAvoid Becoming

PreyAnimal

bluestripe snapper

cougar

cuttlefish

gecko

manta ray

roundbelly cowfish

yellow crab spider

zebra

read each question. fill in the circle next to the correct answer.

1. Which animal uses countershading?

A manta ray

B gecko

C zebra

2. how can a zebra’s stripes confuse predators?

A they all run the same way.

B they make it hard to see individuals.

C predators cannot see striped animals.

3. Why do chameleons change color?

A to give birth

B to go into hibernation

C to communicate

4. What can a bright red animal mean to predators?

A the animal is poisonous.

B the animal will make a good meal.

C the animal changes color.

5. Which type of environment would best hide an animal with brown spots?

A green grass and bushes

B tall grasses that are brown or yellow

C underwater caves and passages

Assessment

Living Colors name:


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When swimming together, their stripes confuse predators.

Spots help it blend in with its surroundings.

Moving bands of color scare away predators and confuse prey.

Coloring makes it look like the plants around which it lives.

Countershading makes it blend in with sea bottom or sunlit surface waters.

See-through skin helps it hide from predators.

Blends in with flower petals and then attacks prey.

Stripes of zebras moving in herds blend together, confusing predators.

X

X

X X

X

X

XX

X

X

Activity Master

Living Colors name:

Using Color

in the second column, describe how each animal uses color. put an “x” in the column that shows whether the animal uses its color to catch prey, avoid becoming prey, or both.

National Geographic Explorer, Pathfinder Page T7 A April 2012

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How It Uses Color Catch PreyAvoid Becoming

PreyAnimal

bluestripe snapper

cougar

cuttlefish

gecko

manta ray

roundbelly cowfish

yellow crab spider

zebra


1. Which animal uses countershading?

A manta ray

B gecko

C zebra

2. how can a zebra’s stripes confuse predators?

A they all run the same way.

B they make it hard to see individuals.

C predators cannot see striped animals.

3. Why do chameleons change color?

A to give birth

B to go into hibernation

C to communicate

4. What can a bright red animal mean to predators?

A the animal is poisonous.

B the animal will make a good meal.

C the animal changes color.

5. Which type of environment would best hide an animal with brown spots?

A green grass and bushes

B tall grasses that are brown or yellow

C underwater caves and passages

Assessment

Living Colors name:

National Geographic Explorer, Pathfinder Page T8A April 2012

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Summary

• Volcanic islands form when lava from undersea volcanoes builds up over time and rises above the sea’s surface.

• New islands also can form when the sea level rises and covers large areas of dry land.

• Movements in Earth’s crust can cause chunks of a continent to break away and form new islands.

• Barrier islands form where ocean waves push sand into piles parallel to a coastline.

• People also build artificial islands.

• Just as natural forces build islands, they also wear islands away over time. Like other landforms, islands are constantly changing features of Earth’s surface.

Learning Objectives

Students will:

• understand how islands form;

• understand how islands change;

• summarize to aid comprehension;

• explore compound words.

Materials Needed

• paper

• pen or pencil

• “Amazing Atoll” poster

• a map of a part of the world that has barrier islands

Resources

• Learn more about how atolls form: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Maldives/

• Learn more about wildlife in Hawaii: http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2005/10/hawaii/liittschwager-middleton-text


New Land

pages 10-11

pages 12-13

pages 14-15

pages 16-17

poster

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/Maldives/

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2005/10/hawaii/liittschwager-middleton-text

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2005/10/hawaii/liittschwager-middleton-text

Background

• Like other landforms, islands are not permanent features of the landscape. Constructive forces form them. Over time, destructive forces wear them down. In some cases, whole islands eventually disappear.

• The process of forming islands occurs over millions of years.

• The islands of Hawaii sit atop a hotspot, a relatively thin area in the middle of the Pacific Plate (one of the tectonic plates that make up Earth’s crust and upper mantle).

• Coral islands form primarily in shallow, warm, clear waters of the tropics or subtropics. They start as coral reefs. The hard exoskeletons of coral polyps are made of calcium carbonate, the mineral in such rocks as limestone.

• The last Ice Age ended about 10,000 years ago. At the time, an ice sheet covered much of the land in the northern hemisphere. When the ice sheet melted, sea levels rose. New islands were created where water rose and covered areas between the highest peaks.

• Rising water also can make islands disappear. In the Maldives, where the islands rise only 1.5 meters (5 feet) above sea level, people are building sea walls to prevent the islands from washing away.

• About 162 million years ago, Madagascar was in the interior of the supercontinent Gondwana. The landmass also included Africa, Australia, India, and Antarctica. Then the landmass broke apart, due to shifts in tectonic plates. About 88 million years ago, Madagascar became an island.


New Land

• Islands can be grouped in two categories:

▶ Continental islands lie fairly close to continents and were usually connected to continents at some point. Greenland off North America, Great Britain off Europe, and Madagascar off Africa are all continental islands.

▶ Oceanic islands are generally smaller than continental islands and are located in deep waters far from shore. They often rise from the seafloor and start as volcanoes or coral reefs. The islands of Hawaii are oceanic islands.

• The islands created in Scotland by rising water (see page 15 of the article) are the Orkney Islands.

• The man-made islands in the Persian Gulf (see page 16 of the article) are the Palm Islands in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

Fast Facts

• In Hawaii, a new volcano is rising from the seafloor. Now 914 meters (3,000 feet) below the surface, the Loihi Seamount is expected to become an island in about 50,000 years.

• Mauna Loa, a volcano on Hawaii’s Big Island, is Earth’s most massive mountain. From its base on the seafloor, it rises 9,144 meters (30,000 feet). That’s taller than Mount Everest.

• Undersea volcanoes create new islands every few years. One formed in late 2011 and is in the Red Sea, off the coast of Yemen. Over time, wind and waves batter them, causing them to erode away.

Activate Prior KnowledgeDiscuss Islands

1. Ask students to describe any island they either know about or have visited. Have students briefly explain why it is an island, and what about it is famous or interesting.

2. Display the projectable edition and page through it with students, previewing the photographs.

3. Ask students to describe what these islands have in common. (Water is an important element of the environment.) Ask them what looks different about each one. (shape from air; topography) Lead students to understand that islands are a kind of landform in which the land is completely surrounded by water.

Comprehension StrategySummarize

1. Instruct students to look at the first two pages of the article and invite a volunteer to read aloud the headline and the deck.

2. Ask each student to take out a piece of paper and pen or pencil. Give students a couple of minutes to write down a summary of the headline and deck. (Possible response: Islands form in many ways.)

3. Break students into small discussion groups. Ask them to discuss the clues that helped them summarize. Urge them to use both the photograph and words to explain. (For example, the headline is “New Land” and the photo shows an island, so students can infer the new land is an island; the deck describes four different actions that can form this new land.)

4. Tell students that once they have read the article, they will have a chance to revisit their summaries to decide how accurate they are and, if needed, revise them.


Vocabulary/Language SkillsCompound Words

1. Review compound words with students. If necessary, remind students that compound words are words made up of two or more smaller words. Remind students that, in a compound word, each word has a meaning on its own. When the two words are combined, they can create new meanings.

2. Explain that compound words come in three forms:

▶ closed, in which the two words are combined to make a single new word. Examples: underwater, schoolhouse

▶ open, in which the two words remain separate. Examples: sand dune, coral reef

▶ hyphenated, in which the words are connected by a hyphen. Example: merry-go-round

3. Ask students to turn to the Wordwise glossary on page 17. Challenge them to identify as many compound words as possible and categorize them by form. (Closed: landform, seamount; Open: barrier island, ocean current; Hyphenated: none)

4. Read the definitions. Then lead a discussion of what each smaller word in each compound word means separately, and how combining them creates the new meaning.

5. Direct students to look for more compound words as they read the article.

New Land

pages 10-11

e-edition

web

Explore ScienceVolcanic Islands

1. After students read pages 12–13, discuss how volcanic islands form. Ask students to describe how the formation and to identify any examples of volcanic islands islands they know of. (They build up from the seafloor as the volcano erupts and deposits lava; Hawaii, Japan, or the Galapagos)

2. Have each student work with a partner to create a graphic organizer that shows the steps in the life cycle of a volcanic island, from volcanic eruption to flourishing ecosystem of plants and animals.

3. Have students use a sequence graphic organizer like the one below (note that they can add more boxes as needed):

2. Accept any sequence of events that mirrors the article. (Possible sequence: Volcano erupts; Lava piles up; Volcano rises above sea surface; Some rock turns into dirt; Plants and animals move in; Island begins to sink; Island becomes a seamount, or underwater mountain)


Explore ReadingSummarize

1. Have students recall that a summary:

▶ includes the most important points of an article;

▶ is shorter than the article it summarizes and is in the writer’s own words.

2. Divide students into groups of three. Within their groups, have each student summarize one section from pages 12 or 13 and share their summary with their group, revising their summary as needed.

3. Once students have finished revising their summaries, invite students to find another student who summarized the same section. Have students compare their summaries and discuss the information on which they chose to focus.

Language SkillCompound Words

1. Divide the class into teams of three or four students. Challenge each team to find as many compound words as they can on pages 12-13.

2. Direct students to first work individually to list words. After three minutes, have group members share their lists and come up with a master list for their group.

3. Have each group display their merged list.

4. Allow groups to challenge words on other groups’ lists. In the event of a challenge, a group will have to defend why the challenged word is, in fact, a compound word.

5. Decide which group has the longest list of legitimate compound words.

6. For an extra challenge, give teams three minutes to come up with their own compound words. Determine which team thought of the most words.

New Land

pages 12-13

Explore ScienceCoral Islands

1. After students read page 15, discuss the formation of coral islands and atolls.

2. Pair students. Have each student in a pair write three questions based on how these islands form on one sheet of paper. Students should write the answers to their questions on a separate sheet of paper.

3. Ask students to exchange questions with their partner. They will write the answers to the set of questions they receive.

4. When finished answering, students should exchange papers again and have their answers checked by their partner.

5. Choose several volunteers to ask a question from their list to the class. Invite other volunteers to answer.


1. Review the sections “Water Watch” and “Ocean Motion.”

2. Have students summarize how islands are formed by rising sea levels and by the movement of tectonic plates.


Explore ScienceA Closer Look at Atolls

1. Display the poster and have a volunteer read aloud the text at the top of the poster.

2. Move to the diagram, “How an Atoll Forms.” Read aloud the captions under each of the three parts of the diagram, pointing to each image as you read.

▶ After reading aloud and examining the first (top) part of the diagram, ask students to recall the way volcanic islands and coral reef islands form.

▶ After examining the second (middle) part of the diagram, talk with students about why the volcanic island starts to wear away. (Because the volcano is extinct, it no longer adds lava to build up new land. Wind and water cause weathering and erosion; they gradually wear it down.)

▶ Have students look at the third part of the diagram before you read aloud the caption. Ask them where the volcano is at this stage. (Its top has worn down enough to be below the surface of the lagoon.)

3. Tell students to look again at the photo of Bora Bora in the top half of the poster. Ask students which stage of the development of an atoll this is. (the second stage, where the top of the volcano is still visible inside the coral reef ring)

New Land

pages 14-15 poster

Explore ScienceBarrier Islands

1. After students read pages 16–17, discuss the formation of barrier islands.

2. Show students a map of a part of the world that includes barrier islands. One possibility is a map of the United States, with the string of barrier islands along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts visible.

3. Point out the barrier islands. Ask students to infer why the islands have that name. (They form a barrier along the coast that protects areas behind them by absorbing the pounding storm waves.)

4. Note that not every shoreline has barrier islands. Ask students to infer what is needed along a shoreline for barrier islands to form. (a supply of sand) Note that they form parallel to wide, sandy shorelines.

5. Review the fact that barrier islands are formed, in part, by the movement of ocean currents. Define a current as a distinct stream of water that flows steadily in a certain direction on the ocean’s surface or below.

6. Explain that the movement of some currents along the shoreline helps deposit sand that contributes to building these narrow coastal islands.

7. Emphasize that landforms are always changing, so just as islands are built up, they will also be worn down someday. Note that the processes of weathering and erosion break down and carry away the sand and rock that forms islands—just as it does other landforms.


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1. Have students use the Activity Master to summarize how three types of islands form.

2. Tell students to return to the article summaries they wrote after reading the headline and deck. Ask them to use information they learned from reading the article to revise their summary statements, if needed.

Explore WritingWrite a Postcard

1. Ask students to choose one of the islands explored in the article and write a “Wish You Were Here”-style postcard, as if they were on that island and writing home to friends or family about it.

2. Using information from the article, students should describe the island in their message. They should also tell how it formed and why it’s so cool that they wish others could share the experience. Encourage students to do extra research on their chosen island and include that information in their postcard.

3. Invite students to draw a picture of their island on the front of the postcard.

4. When students complete their postcards, display them so everyone in class can share them.

3. Alternatively, invite students to go to the Pathfinder website (ngpathfinder.org) and send an island e-card.

Extend ScienceResearch How an Island Forms

1. Invite students to choose an island that is nearby or one with which they are familiar.

2. Instruct them to research how that island formed.

3. Students should write a short report on its formation, complete with diagrams if the process is one that has several steps that can be explained visually.

4. Invite volunteers to share what they have learned with the class.

New Land

pages 16-17



Activity Master

New Land name:

pick three different kinds of islands from the article.

Summarize how each forms.

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed:

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed:

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed:

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1. What is an island?

A a landform made of sand

B a landform surrounded by water

C a landform on the seafloor

2. how are volcanic islands and coral islands alike?

A Both are formed by once-living creatures.

B Both have big mountains.

C Both start on the seafloor.

3. how do rising sea levels create islands?

A ocean currents push rocks into giant piles.

B Coral polyps build bigger reefs.

C rising water floods all but the highest peaks.

4. how did Madagascar form?

A Corals built it.

B it split off from africa.

C people made it.

5. Which type of island forms when sand gets piled up?

A a barrier island

B a volcanic island

C a coral island

Assessment

New Land name:

Volcanic Island

Coral Island

Barrier Island

Other Possible Responses:

Atoll: Volcanoes and coral polyps work together to form an island that looks like a ring. Rising Water: rising sea levels flood low areas and surround higher areas, such as mountain peaks, creating islands. Moving Land: Movements in earth’s crust cause pieces of land to split from larger landmasses and become islands. Man-made Island: people blast rocks and dredge sand, then pile them up on the seafloor to create an island.


Activity Master

New Land name:

pick three different kinds of islands from the article.

Summarize how each forms.

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed: Repeated volcanic eruptions causes lava to pile up in the seafloor. When the mountain of lava rises above the ocean surface, it creates an island.

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed: Coral polyps build reefs. When one grows above the surface of the ocean, it can form an island.

Type of Island:___________________________

How It Formed: Ocean currents move sand and deposit it close to the shore, creating long, narrow islands parallel to the coast.

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Possible Responses


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Assessment

New Land name:


1. What is an island?

A a landform made of sand

B a landform surrounded by water

C a landform on the seafloor

2. how are volcanic islands and coral islands alike?

A Both are formed by once-living creatures.

B Both have big mountains.

C Both start on the seafloor.

3. how do rising sea levels create islands?

A ocean currents push rocks into giant piles.

B Coral polyps build bigger reefs.

C rising water floods all but the highest peaks.

4. how did Madagascar form?

A Corals built it.

B it split off from africa.

C people made it.

5. Which type of island forms when sand gets piled up?

A a barrier island

B a volcanic island

C a coral island


Unsinkable ShipLearning Objectives

Students will:

• explore an historical event;

• monitor comprehension as they read.

Materials Needed

• audio recorder

• two videos: Finding the Titanic: http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-7729-7975/ngc-finding-the-titanic NOAA Titanic Expedition 2004: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7REEnwKOQ

Resources

• Learn more about Titanic: http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/discovering-titanic

• Look for the National Geographic magazine, April 2012, Titanic anniversary article.

pages 18-19

pages 20-21

pages 22-23

Summary

• In 1912, Titanic was the largest passenger ship of its time. Many people thought it was unsinkable.

• Four days into its maiden voyage, in April 1912, Titanic hit an iceberg.

• Titanic was only equipped with 20 lifeboats, not nearly enough for the 2,200 people on board.

• When the ship sank, only 705 of its passengers survived and were rescued by another ship.

• In 1985, a team led by National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Robert Ballard used a robotic submersible to find Titanic resting on the ocean floor.

• Several expeditions have visited the site since then, and some artifacts have been removed. Some people think the site should be protected, but so far, its fate has not been decided.

http://video.nationalgeographic.com/video/national-geographic-channel/all-videos/av-7729-7975/ngc-finding-the-titanic



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7REEnwKOQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Z7REEnwKOQ

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/discovering-titanic

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/photos/discovering-titanic

Background

• As its name suggests, Titanic was a huge ship, the largest that had been built up to that time.

• Titanic was about 270 meters (883 feet) long—the length of almost three football fields. It was also 28 meters (92 feet) wide and almost as tall—from its keel to the top of its smokestacks—as an 18-story building.

• Titanic started its voyage in Southampton, England, on April 10, 1912. It then stopped in Cherbourg, France, that same evening to pick up additional passengers. It made another stop in Queenstown, Ireland, before heading for the open Atlantic Ocean and New York City on the afternoon of April 11.

• On Titanic’s fourth day at sea, April 14, the ship received several warnings about icebergs. Then at 11:40 p.m., a lookout in a crow’s nest spotted an iceberg directly in the ship’s path. The message was sent to the bridge. The engines were immediately put in reverse.

• The evasive maneuvers did not work. The ship was too close and moving too fast. It struck the iceberg and tore several gashes in its side.

• The “unsinkable” Titanic was designed to stay afloat, even if it started to take on water. The hull was divided into 16 huge compartments, separated by large steel bulkheads. If any compartment started to take on water, massive doors would slam shut and seal it off.

• Even with the compartments sealed off, the water overflowed into other compartments, as none of the compartments walls were sealed up to the ceiling. Eventually the weight of the water was too much. The unsinkable ship broke in half and sank.


• The ship was designed to carry 32 lifeboats, but its owners reduced them to 16 (and 4 collapsibles) to make the deck look less cluttered. That meant the ship did not have room in its lifeboats for all 2,200 passengers. Only 705 passengers survived its sinking.

• This April marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of Titanic. In 1985, Robert Ballard and his crew set out on a research ship and discovered the remains of Titanic on the sea bottom in the North Atlantic. A robotic device equipped with a camera discovered the ship’s wreckage. Many expeditions have visited the wreck since then, and thousands of artifacts have been removed.

• While some people want to continue to explore Titanic for artifacts, others prefer it to be left as it is.

Fast Facts

• Titanic cost $7.5 million to build in the early part of the 20th century. It would cost about $400 million to build it today.

• It took the equivalent of a small town to build Titanic—about 14,000 workers in all.

• Almost all of the lifeboats on Titanic were lowered into the water before they were full.

• Most of the survivors of Titanic were women, children, or adults accompanying a child because the captain ordered that women and children be evacuated first.

Unsinkable Ship

Activate Prior KnowledgeHow People Traveled 100 Years Ago

1. Lead a discussion about the way most people travel long distances today. Ask if people traveled the same way in the early 20th century, when Titanic made its voyage. (Students should understand that the only way to cross the ocean then was by ship.)

2. Inform students that Titanic was making a voyage from England to the United States. Ask them how long they think that trip would have taken in 1912, when Titanic left port? (several days) For comparison, tell them a flight from London to New York today is only about 5-6 hours.

3. Point out that Titanic was a luxurious boat, and it would have been very expensive to book passage on it—or on any ocean liner of the time.

4. Ask students to infer how the cost of traveling long distances by boat and the amount of time required affected the amount of travel to far-away places. (Students should infer that fewer people traveled at that time because it took too long and was too expensive.)


Comprehension StrategyMonitor Comprehension

1. Display pages 18–19 of the projectable edition for students. Have a volunteer read the headline and deck aloud.

2. Based on that information, ask students to summarize what they believe happened to Titanic and why it happened.

3. Instruct students to write their prediction summaries on a piece of paper. Collect the papers.

4. Read prediction summaries aloud after students finish the article so they can find out how close to actual events they were.

Language SkillWriting in the Present Tense

1. Tell students to look again at the first two pages of the article. Point out that the deck says:

▶ It’s April 14, 1912.▶ [the] Ship steams toward disaster . . .

2. Ask students to identify the tense in which the deck is written. (present)

3. Ask students why a story about something that happened 100 years ago would be written in the present tense. (It makes the story of Titanic more exciting and immediate because it is written as if you are reading the events as they are happening.)

Unsinkable Ship

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pages 18-19

Explore Social StudiesInvincibility

1. Ask students what it means when we say something is invincible. (nothing can harm or destroy it)

2. Discuss with students whether a feeling of invincibility is very realistic and why they think so. Talk with students about how feeling invincible might make someone behave. (It might make people behave more recklessly or take less caution because they do not think anything can happen to them.)

3. Return to a discussion of Titanic by telling students that people thought she was invincible. It was supposedly an unsinkable ship.

4. Point out that the ship had many wealthy passengers on board and cruising was glamorous. Wealthy and powerful people were on a glamorous voyage on an unsinkable ship. No one ever imagined there could be a problem.

5. Explain to students that Titanic only had enough lifeboats for half of its passengers. Ask students why the ship’s owners probably thought that was not a problem. (They did not think lifeboats would ever be needed.)

6. Note that many of the lifeboats left Titanic with room for additional passengers. Some people refused to leave the ship because they thought it would not sink. Discuss with students whether a feeling of invincibility contributed to the death of some passengers.


Explore Social StudiesCommunication Then and Now

1. Remind students that it was several hours between the time Titanic hit the iceberg and when it sank. It was several more hours before a rescue ship reached the people in lifeboats floating in the Atlantic.

2. Ask students if they know why it took so long. (Communication and transportation were not as advanced as they are today.)

3. Remind students that in 1912, there were no Coast Guard vessels, no search planes or GPS to locate the ship, and no helicopters to help evacuate people. Ships also did not have sonar to monitor the ocean bottom or other equipment to locate objects in their path.

4. Ask students to recall what Titanic used to scan the waters for icebergs rather than sonar. (a person in a crow’s nest)

5. Discuss with students the measures that would be taken today if a passenger ship was in trouble. (Possibilities: quick location of the ship by GPS; constant communication to determine the situation; Coast Guard and naval rescue ships would speed to the area; ships would have enough lifeboats for all passengers.)

Explore ReadingMonitor Comprehension by Retelling

1. Instruct students to write a summary that retells the article so far. Students should do this from memory, without consulting the article as they write.

2. Have students exchange their summaries with a partner and compare them. Tell them to discuss details that both included versus the ones that only one of them included, and talk about why they made certain choices.

Unsinkable Ship

pages 20-21

Explore Social StudiesWomen and Children First?

1. Tell students that when Titanic began to sink, the captain gave the order that woman and children should be given priority in the lifeboats, and men should go last.

2. Note that because of this, many more women and children survived the Titanic disaster than men.

3. Discuss this decision with students. Ask students to consider why the captain ordered women and children to evacuate first. Ask students if they think this decision is fair, and why they believe as they do.

4. Extend the conversation by asking students about what they think they would have done if they had been among the passengers. As a male passenger, would they have stood on a sinking ship and waited while women and children got into the lifeboats? As a woman, would they have gotten into a lifeboat without their husband or father?

Explore ReadingMonitor Comprehension by Retelling

1. Examine the text and diagram on page 22 that describe the sinking of Titanic, step-by-step.

2. Have students use the Activity Master to summarize the ship’s sinking in their own words.


Explore Social StudiesDebate the Fate of the Wreck of Titanic

1. Show students the two videos (see links on page T17) on the Titanic wreck as background for the discussion.

2. Discuss the discovery of the wreck with students. Pose the following questions: Do they believe finding Titanic was important? Now that it has been found, what should be done with it?

3. Organize a debate among students about the fate of the wreck and the artifacts found in and around it. Note that some people think the ship is an important part of history and artifacts from it should be recovered and placed in museums. Others believe it is a gravesite, and it should be left alone out of respect to those who died there.

4. Divide the class into groups of four or five, making sure that different points of view are represented among the people in each group.

5. Allow students class time to debate within their group what should be done with the ship.

6. Come together as a class and ask if anyone’s mind was changed during the debate.

7. Ask for a show of hands to find out what most people think should be the fate of the wreck. Ask volunteers to share their reasons.

Explore WritingShift from Present to Past Tense

1. Display pages 22–23 of the projectable edition. Direct students’ attention to the last paragraph under the “Every Man for Himself ” subhead and the first paragraph under the “In Search of Titanic” subhead.

2. Ask students to state what is different about the way these two paragraphs are written. (The tense shifts from present to past.)

3. Ask students why the writer made the choice to shift tenses here. What would be the advantage in telling the story? (At this point, the telling of the story of Titanic is finished and the action is over. The “In Search of Titanic” section is more informational, so there is no need to write it as if a story is being told.)

Unsinkable Ship

pages 22-23


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Extend ScienceUnderstand Buoyancy

1. Explain that although Titanic was supposedly unsinkable, it could not defy the laws of science.

2. Tell students that liquids exert an upward force on objects such as ships that float on them. This is called buoyancy.

3. The surface area of the object determines the force of buoyancy. Whether an object stays afloat depends on how the upward buoyant force compares with the downward force determined by the object’s mass and gravity—its weight.

4. A ship will stay afloat as long as the upward buoyant force of the water under it equals or exceeds the downward force exerted by the weight of the ship.

5. If the density of the ship increases, its weight increases. This is what happened when Titanic began to take on water.

6. As more water poured into the ship, it became heavier. The spaces that were filled with air became filled with denser water.

7. At a certain point, downward force exerted by the weight of the ship became greater than the buoyant force the water exerted on it. That is when Titanic sank.

8. To check students’ comprehension of this principle, have them take turns with a partner summarizing and retelling their explanation of why Titanic sank.

Extend ScienceDesign an “Unsinkable” Boat

1. Challenge students to succeed where Titanic’s designers did not by designing an unsinkable boat.

2. Explain to students that they must first remember the principles of buoyancy that keep ships afloat.

3. With those principles in mind, have them sketch their designs and include extended captions that explain its features and why they believe these features will keep the ship from sinking.

4. Discuss and critique the designs as a class.


Extend Social StudiesResearch Titanic Passengers

1. Remind students that many famous people of the time were passengers on Titanic. Among them were:

▶ Thomas Andrews▶ John Jacob Astor IV▶ Molly Brown▶ Jacques Futrelle▶ Benjamin Guggenheim▶ John Hays▶ Isador and Ida Straus

2. Have students choose a Titanic passenger to research.

3. Students should gather information on that person’s life and why he or she was famous during that time.

4. They should also research the passenger’s fate. Was he or she a survivor, or did that person go down with the ship?

5. Have students share their results, or use the information in the Extend Writing activity.

Extend WritingWrite a First-Hand Account

1. Have students use their research on a Titanic passenger to write a first-person account of the night of the ship’s sinking.

2. Explain to students that this means they will write with the pronoun I and tell the story through the passenger’s point of view.

3. To extend the activity, tell students they will be newspaper reporters writing an article the day after the ship’s sinking. Have students pair up and interview each other about “their” experience on Titanic. Use an audio recorder to have students record their interviews.

Unsinkable Ship


Activity Master

Unsinkable Ship name:

the diagram below shows what happened when Titanic sank. Write a caption that explains what happened in each step.

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1. What object did Titanic hit?

A a rock

B a reef

C an iceberg

2. Why weren’t many passengers worried about the accident at first?

A they believed it was a hoax.

B they thought the ship could not sink.

C the captain told them nothing was wrong.

3. Which part of the ship flooded first?

A the bow

B the stern

C the smokestacks

4. Which statement is true of Titanic’s passengers?

A none survived.

B almost all survived.

C fewer than half survived.

5. What happened to Titanic after the accident?

A it was repaired and was used for several years.

B it sank and was discovered on the sea bottom years later.

C it broke up as it sank and the pieces were never found.

Assessment


First, the lower sections flooded one by one.

The bow started to sink as the sections filled with water.

Two smokestacks snapped off as they went underwater.

The weight of the bow going under caused the ship to break in half.

The bow sank first. Then the stern sank.


Activity Master


the diagram below shows what happened when Titanic sank. Write a caption that explains what happened in each step.

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Assessment



1. What object did Titanic hit?

A a rock

B a reef

C an iceberg

2. Why weren’t many passengers worried about the accident at first?

A they believed it was a hoax.

B they thought the ship could not sink.

C the captain told them nothing was wrong.

3. Which part of the ship flooded first?

A the bow

B the stern

C the smokestacks

4. Which statement is true of Titanic’s passengers?

A none survived.

B almost all survived.

C fewer than half survived.

5. What happened to Titanic after the accident?

A it was repaired and was used for several years.

B it sank and was discovered on the sea bottom years later.

C it broke up as it sank and the pieces were never found.

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