Science/Research Skills
Be a Fact Finder! Jack and Annie collect many facts during their research. To make the information easy to find, they created an index–an alphabetical list in the back of the book. Using the index, have students find 10 dinosaurs and list a fascinating fact about each one, including the page number where the fact was found. Students can create a chart to record the information.

Science/Art
Who’s My Kin? Students learn that dinosaurs are classified as reptiles. Have students generate a list of the characteristics of reptiles and of dinosaurs. Then have them compare and contrast present day reptiles, such as snakes, turtles, and lizards, to the dinosaurs and illustrate.

Language Arts
Who’s Who? Discuss the many different types of dinosaurs and the characteristics of each. Have each student write the name of a type of dinosaur on a piece of paper and tape it to another student’s back. Students travel around the room asking each other only "yes" or "no" questions trying to guess the type of dinosaur taped to their back.

Math/Careers
Can You Dig It? Paleontologists are scientists who study dinosaur fossils. Discuss how these scientists locate fossils, and describe the tools necessary for excavation. Place items in a tray and cover them with sand. Use string to construct a grid to divide the areas to be studied. Students can record their findings in a notebook similar to Jack and Annie’s.

Language Arts/Art
What’s in a Name? Jack and Annie learn that dinosaurs are named in various ways. Have students create their own "Sillyaurus" (p. 33) dinosaurs by using different parts of dinosaur names. Ask students to name their dinosaurs and write about what they eat and how to care for them. Then have students draw their new dinosaur creations to exhibit in a classroom Dinosaur Hall of Fame.

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO KNIGHTS AND CASTLES

Health
Please Pass the Salt! Discuss the main food groups of today and compare them with the food eaten during medieval times. Also compare place settings and utensils. Then have students design menus illustrating the similarities and differences between a modern and a medieval feast.

Language Arts/Vocabulary
The Royal Family Feud! Jack and Annie have been studying the concepts of feudalism and social class. Divide the class into teams and have each team create a poster of the social classes represented in a pyramid. Write facts about each social class on index cards. Have students flip the cards and decide which facts apply to which class. The side that first completes its pyramid is the conqueror.

Social Studies/Art
Dressed to Kill! The system of coats of arms is called heraldry. Ask students to list the characteristics that best describe themselves and to choose symbols or pictures that represent those traits, such as a lion to show bravery. Then have them create their own coats of arms.

Customs and Traditions
Is Chivalry Dead? Jack and Annie are amazed at the rules that existed during the Middle Ages. Brainstorm with the class about good and bad manners. Discuss the difference in manners of medieval times and those of today. Which medieval rules should be brought back today, if any? Have students role-play variousscenarios to exemplify chivalrous behavior.

Knights & Castles Crossword
Decisions! Big Decisions! Research helper
Answer key

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO MUMMIES AND PYRAMIDS Social Studies

• Science
• Language Arts
• Math
• Art
• Physical Education

Social Studies
On the Nile!
On a map locate Africa, Egypt, the Nile River, the Sahara Desert, and the Mediterranean Sea. Explain to students that the Nile River is the longest river in the world and flows through the middle of Egypt. Brainstorm activities that would take place along the river, such as boating, hunting, fishing, washing clothes, etc. Why was the Nile River so important to the Egyptians? Why was mud the greatest gift? Look at pictures of this area today and compare it to ancient Egypt. What are the similarities and differences?

Language Arts/Science
Animal Kingdom
Have students study the chapter break "The Animals of Ancient Egypt" on pages 38 - 39. Break the class into small groups to research one of the particular animals listed. Allow each group to present what they learned about their animal. Instruct each group to develop questions that they give answers to in their report. After the completion of the reports, play a review game with the questions.

Math
Pyramid Power!
Build a pyramid from either shoeboxes or tissue boxes. Divide the class into groups and have each group measure the height of one student from that group. Then estimate the number of boxes it will take to build a pyramid the height of that student. Allow students to problem solve and to work cooperatively to piece the boxes together and to record their success and failures. Each group should record the time they start and end. When finished, have students check their estimation. Then have them calculate the weight of their pyramid.
As a follow-up activity, have students compare the dimensions, weight, and number of stones to that of a real pyramid. What tools were used to cut and move the heavy stones? Who built them?

Social Studies/Language Arts
Who Let the Gods Out?
Egyptians worshipped gods and goddesses that were half human and half animal. These animal-like qualities signified the duties that they performed. Have students create their own gods/goddesses by drawing the head or cutting out pictures of animal heads and attaching them to drawn pictures or actual photographs of themselves. Then have students name their god/goddess and write a poem or description of the characteristics and duties performed by their newly created god/goddess.

Science
The Farmer on the Nile
The Egyptians were great farmers and relied very heavily on the flood cycle of the Nile. Hold a discussion about the importance of flooding, planting and harvest. Address the question on page 18, "Why was the Black Land so good for farming?" Have students research what items the Egyptians would have planted and harvested, and then ask them to illustrate the cycle of their farm year. Discuss what type of climate and soil is needed to grow various crops. Decide as a class what would be a good choice of plant to grow in the classroom and then begin your very own harvest. Keep science journals to track the growth of each plant.

Physical Education
Human Chariots
Chariots were a main form of transportation in ancient Egypt. Have a day outdoors and hold human chariot races. Two students are needed for each race. One child places his hands flat on the ground and the second child grabs the others' legs. All human chariots begin at the starting line and race to one end. Then they switch positiona and head toward the finish line. The first human chariot across wins.

Download printable activities for Mummies and Pyramids:
Scribe for 'Hier'
Recipe for Papyrus
Gods and Goddesses Match Game
Answer Key

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO PIRATES

• Language Arts
• Research
• Social Studies
• Map Skills
• Graphic Sources
• Following Directions

Language Arts/Research
Will the Real Buccaneer Please Stand?
Have students research true facts about pirates. Then have them write those facts and some nonfacts-or legends-about pirates on separate strips of paper, marking them "F" for fact or "L" for legend. Place the strips in a treasure chest and ask three students to pick slips from the chest and read each aloud. Have the class vote on who they felt presented the most true pirate facts.

Social Studies/Map Skills
"X" Marks the Spot!
Discuss the significance of grids and how the pirates would have benefited from using a grid when locating buried treasures. Provide students with their own grids and have each of them draw an imaginary island. Have them draw objects that would be on the island, including an "X" to mark the spot of a treasure chest. With a partner, students can play a modified form of the board game Battleship, where they try to locate the different objects on their opponent's island. Or, collect and then randomly pass out the islands to the class. Have each student give the coordinates of the items drawn on the island that they were given.

Language Arts/Graphic Sources
Shiver Me Timbers!
Study the chapter "Pirate Ships". Have students draw and label the parts of a sailing ship. Reference pages 62 and 63 or click here. Discuss why pirates would be attracted to their type of sailing ship (sloops, schooners, brigantines, or barques). Display the ships from least to greatest masts.

Language Arts/Following Directions
Knot so Fast
Pirates sailed the seas and had to be good sailors in order to attack other ships and gain control of them. To be quick and efficient for their surprise attacks, they mastered knot tying to keep the sails up. Students can learn how to make different kinds of knots. Use this link to untie the secret of knot tying: http://www.realknots.com/knots/index.htm
Assign each student a different type of knot to learn to tie and provide string. After the students have learned the art of tying their knot, they can teach a classmate how to do it.

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO RAIN FORESTS

• Science
• Social Studies
• Language Arts
• Math
• Health
• Art
• Theater

Science/Social Studies
Where in the World Are the Rain Forests?
Post a world map in the room so children can see where the rain forests are located, as well as their vastness. (Use the map in the book as your source of information.) With your class, locate and discuss the Equator, the Tropic of Cancer, and the Tropic of Capricorn. Although there are rain forests in other parts of the world, this book focuses mainly on the tropical rain forests.

Just How Big Is the Rain Forest?
The biggest tropical rain forest is the Amazon Rain Forest in South America. It is larger than the states of Texas, California, Colorado, Florida, Nevada, Arizona, Oregon, Minnesota, and Alaska combined. Using a map, have students locate and cut out the outline of each of these states and place them together to visualize the enormous area they are studying!

Language Arts
Who's at Home in the Rain Forest? A Knock Knock Riddle Exercise
Have students research the different species of animals in the rain forest and place them under the correct heading using an Attribute Web. They then can create Knock Knock Riddles for their favorite rain forest animal. Write three clues about the animal on the back of a folded picture of a rain forest animal. Write three clues about the animal on the back of a folded picture of a rain forest animal. Cut out a rectangle to show just the eyes of the animal. When you open the folded paper, the whole animal is revealed.

Math/Science
How Does It Measure Up?
Rain forest creatures and plants come in all sizes and shapes. Have students choose an animal or plant and compare its height with those of other classmates. Have a contest to discover which is the largest, which is the smallest, etc. Ask students to find other things in the classroom or on the playground that are approximately the same height/length. This information can be recorded on a class chat and used in word problems.

Language Arts/Theater Arts
Once Upon a Time
Storytelling plays a major part in the rain forest. It is a tradition that stories are passed down orally from generation to generation by the Mbuti and Yanomami tribes. Have the students pick a rain forest animal and incorporate the facts that they have learned about the animal into a fiction story. The students can celebrate their stories with a storytelling festival.

Social Studies/Health
If Your Can't Take the Heat, Get Out of the Kitchen
The rain forest climate is very steamy. We use hundreds of products from the rain forests each year, and some are found right in our kitchens, or homes. Have students create a survey to find these exotic products. The survey can be used in a spreadsheet for date gathering or in creative writing on how these products are used.

Language Arts/Science/Art/Theater Arts
Save the Rain Forests!
As a culminating activity, brainstorm with your students all the different ways that the message "Save the Rain Forests!" can be spread (radio, TV, magazines, billboards, bumper stickers, speeches, interviews, etc.). Students can work alone or in groups to develop a marketing strategy, including displaying posters in the school and giving short speeches over the PA system or to other classes.

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO SPACE

• Language Arts
• Science
• Research
• Art

Getting Started
Biography and Autobiography
Review the term nonfiction and discuss how a large portion of nonfiction deals with people. Introduce the word biography by writing the word on a card or on the board so that the class can see it. Discuss that the prefix bio means life. A biography is the story of a person's life written by another person. Add the prefix auto. Ask the students if they have ever seen auto before-e.g., automatic, automobile, etc. The prefix means of or for oneself. A person writes an autobiography about himself or herself. A collective biography is a collection of information on the lives of two or more people. Ask the students if they have ever read about another person or written a story about themselves. Have they heard of Galileo, Sir Isaac Newton, Neil Armstrong, or Sally Ride?

Science and Research
A Time Line Study: Could Copernicus and Galileo Be Friends?
Chapter 1 discusses the beginning of astronomy over 2000 years ago. As a class, design a time line that would cover from 2000 B.C. to today that will be used throughout the study of this book. Adding machine tape is inexpensive and easy to store. Once you have measured out the tape, you may want to expose only the time period being discussed in each point of your lesson. TimeLiner software is an alternative to the adding machine tape.

Science and Research
Information Power- One Small Step
Work with the school librarian to plan a scavenger hunt in the library. This is a fun way to teach your students to locate the sections of the library and the types of materials that will be helpful in your studies of space. Since most libraries have Internet access, the librarian can print a list of available materials to use in your planning.

Create 5-10 stations in the library. Prepare a list of questions or tasks, one for each station. Assign partners and have each pair travel from station to station. Have bonus questions available for students in case all of the stations are busy.

Example:

1. Find the online card catalog. How many books does your library have on the planet Saturn?
2. Find an unabridged dictionary. What is the definition of asteroid?
3. Find an encyclopedia. What volume has information on the planet Pluto?
4. Find books on space located in the 520s. Write down the title and the call number of a book on constellations.
5. Find a science dictionary. Find the definition of comet and write a sentence using the word.
6. Find a biography. (Hint: Biographies have the number 92 or the letter B on the spine, plus the first three letters of the person's last name.) Write down the title and the call number of a book on Sally Ride.

Science and Art
Postcards from Space
Using research gathered from the book and other sources, have each student design a postcard. On the front, he/she should illustrate where they are in space. On the back, he/she should share the facts in first person narrative. Students can start by using the Astronomy for Kids Web site at: tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3645/eclipses.html?tqskip=1
If your class is truly Internet-savvy, students can e-mail virtual postcards to one another by logging on to: www.windows.ucar.edu/cgi-bin/tour.cgi/cool_stuff/postcards.html

Language Arts/Science/Art
Stargazers
Reread the pages on constellations. Have students investigate the mythology and history of their favorite constellation by visiting different Web sites, such as Constellation Mythology at: www.coldwater.k12.mi.us/lms/planetarium/myth/index.html or Fairfax County Public Schools Planetarium Web site at:
www.fcps.k12.va.us/DIS/OHSICS/planet/index.htm

With the information gathered, each student should prepare a composition about the history of a constellation or write an original story about it. Have students design their constellations on black construction paper, use a hole puncher to cut out the patterns, and then back the black paper with yellow construction paper to represent the light. Star stickers are an alternative to the hole puncher.

Science/Research
Mission Impossible
After reading Chapter 9, have students work in groups to research the Apollo mission of their choice. The Apollo Program Web site at www.nasm.si.edu/apollo/ is a great place for them to get started. Hand out the Apollo Notebook worksheet for the groups to record information in an organized manner. Once the research is done, have each group present their Apollo mission to the class as if it were a news conference.

Language Arts/Science
Got Space?
After reading about the future of space exploration in Chapter 9, divide the class into groups and have them design their own space city. The project developers will brainstorm the requirements for life in space. This would include housing, food, transportation, sanitation, and rules. The groups can decide on the duration of their stay; it can be for a vacation or for a longer period of time.

CONNECTING THE CURRICULUM TO TITANIC