You will need the following items:
- The Green Book by Jill Walsh
- The following materials to create a pizza box oven:
one large box
one pizza box, small
old newspapers or other insulating materials
black construction paper
cardboard
aluminum foil
drinking straw
scissors
heavy-weight clear plastic laminate (often available in schools)
*avoid using any materials that could give off toxic fumes when heated, such as duct tape andstyrofoam pellets.
- pencil/paper
- evaluation sheet
Before You Read
We will complete the following two activities before reading
the story, The Green Book:
1. The Green Book deals with a community of people who must find another place to live. When they leave their planet, they are only able to take certain items with them. Brainstorm, on a sheet of paper, places you have imagined going. While you brainstorm, list some materials you would need to survive when you reach your destination. Share these ideas with a partner.
One survival technique that can be used is a type of solar oven. To see more about this survival technique click on Pizza Box. We will make the solar cookers out of pizza boxes in class. This same technique is used in third world countries to help provide them with an economical way of preparing food and pasteurizing water. To learn more about one of these countries and how they use solar cookers click on Kakuma.
2. The community we will be learning about will be going on a journey to space. To explore space and planets in our solar system click on Solar. Choose a planet you would like to visit , and in a Venn diagram we will develop facts about the planet. You will write facts you learn only in science fiction books about planets and facts that are in both science fiction books and are true of the planets.
While You Read
After reading page 592 of your basal I want you to describe how the new planet these people have landed on compares to earth. Does the terrain of the planet match the terrain of earth or is it completely different? Make a prediction about what you think may happen to these people in the rest of the story. We will come back to these predictions at the end of the story. We will record the predictions on a classroom bulletin board and see which ones can be confirmed at the story's conclusion.
After You Read
1.When we have finished reading the story you will be required to choose one of the following questions and respond to it using information from the story:
Would you want to set out on a four-year voyage to an unknown planet? Explain your answer.
Will people be allowed to do things their own way on the planet Shine? Why or why not?
What are the most important tasks facing the travelers once they land on their new planet?
2.On Shine, certain people were chosen to do specific jobs. Each job was essential to the community's survival on the planet. Imagine our class was leaving earth and traveling to another planet. What kinds of things would we need to consider before leaving earth, and what would we need to consider when we landed on our new planet? Who will be in charge of the various jobs on our new planet? What will be our source of entertainment? How and what will our planet be named? These are things we will consider in developing our own classroom planet. You will be required to work as a class to develop this planet completely. This means you need to designate people for specific jobs. You will have to form some sort of government to complete specific tasks. I want you to document everything that takes place. You will also be required to make replicas of objects that can be found on your planet. You will have one week to complete this task.
Beyond What you Read
1.When we have our community completed I will ask you to make a classroom web page documenting your community. Each member of the class will have a part in the web page. I will walk you through the steps for developing our web page. When we are finished, I will attempt to publish the page for everyone to see. Click on web to begin developing this page.
2.Listed below are other books which also involve people traveling into space. To see more about these books, click on the book title you would like to look at.
A Wrinkle in Time
Evaluating the Learning
Each of you will be given an evaluation sheet to evaluate class participation in designing your planet. You will evaluate your own learning as well. I have provided a sample of the evaluation sheet.
Did all the members of your group participate? Did you enjoy this project? Do you feel like you had some input on the project? Do you feel like other classes would enjoy this project? YES
YES
YES
YES
NO
NO
NO
NO
Additional Comments: