The Children's Theatre Ed Pack (2007)
Society and Environment
IDEAS FOR TEACHERS
Investigation, Communication and Participation
· Arctic Peoples activity
Place and Space
· Continents, Oceans and Seas: What continents are visited in the performance? What body of water is between Europe and North America? What continent is the North Pole on?
· Arctic Peoples activity
Resources
· If Hemlock were to succeed in freezing the world, what are some resources that would need to be protected for the future? What are some resources that we need to protect for the future now?
· Create a list of resources and have the students choose which type of resource it is: natural or man-made; renewable or non-renewable.
Culture
· Arctic Peoples activity
Time, Continuity and Change
· Using the research from the Arctic Peoples activity, construct a timeline of the major events in their history.
Natural and Social Systems
· Look at the life cycles, food chains and food pyramids of the animals in the play (eg. fox, wombat, numbat, possum, dog, cat, etc)
· What is the difference between a rule and a law? Once you know the answer, pretend you are the Snow Queen and make up any rule or law you want for your subjects. Now, thinking about creating a rule or law that ensures the safety and rights of your subjects. Come up with 3 new rules/laws.
· The Snow Queen is a monarch. Monarchy is a type of government. What are the characteristics of a monarchy? Another type of government is a democracy. What are the characteristics of a democracy?
Active Citizenship
· The Australian and English animals work together to find out what is happening to the children. Come up with ideas of how you can work with your friends and family to help clean up the globe (eg. recycling, global warming, etc).
(Atkinson, A., Cohen, B., Conti, L., Loreck, T., Szczecinski, S. & Weigand, K. (2001). Society and Environment 1. Melbourne: Pearson.)
Earth is a big place. To find our way around it geographers have devised many different methods of studying the surface of the Earth. The main method is the use of maps.
What is a Map?
A map is a visual way of looking at a place on the Earth’s surface from above. Maps are usually for places of all shapes and sizes. A map could show features as different as the camping areas of a national park, the perimeter of a station property, the seating of a basketball stadium and the location of schools in a metropolitan area. Maps are useful because they allow us to find our way to and around places much more easily.
The main features of a map are:
· A border
· Orientation (north, south, east and west)
· Legend (this is sometimes called a key and is a list of symbols on the map)
· Title (to tell us what it is about)
· Scale (because part’s of the Earth’s surface are too big to draw in their exact size, maps are drawn to a smaller scale).
An easy way to remember this is by a simple word: BOLTS – Border Orientation Legend Title Scale.
Finding Places
One of the most useful maps to have is a street directory. A street directory (or road map) uses a set of numbers or letters (sometimes both) around its border to help us find places. These are called grid references. Grid references are similar to a game of battleships in that they use horizontal and vertical lines to give the position (coordinates) of features on the map.
Latitude and Longitude
Finding places in the world is just like using a street directory. Cartographers draw a gigantic grid system of imaginary lines over the Earth. These lines are then able to pinpoint exact locations. These lines are called lines of latitude and longitude.
Lat is flat. This is an easy way of remembering that lines of latitude are flat (horizontal) across the Earth. These imaginary lines run from west to east across the Earth and are called parallels of latitude. The most important line of latitude is the equator (0°N and S) which divides the Earth into halves called hemispheres. Australia is in the Southern Hemisphere. Canada is an example of a nation in the Northern Hemisphere.
Lines of longitude are the opposite to lines of latitude in that they run in a north-south direction looping around the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. These lines are called meridians of longitude after the Prime Meridian which is the most important line at 0°E and W. This line divides the Earth into two different halves – the Western and Eastern Hemispheres.
Learning Activities
Imagine you are a cartographer (mapmaker) who is designing a map for new students to your school. Your map will need to be bright and colourful and easy to read. You will need to:
· Walk around your school and make a detailed list of all its features
· Draw your own symbols for each feature (eg. toilets, canteen)
· Work out a scale for your map and give your map a title. Remember BOLTS!
Battleships, space invaders and many modern computer games work on the same principles as latitude and longitude. They have a grid of squares with a system of letters and numbers to pinpoint the location of, for example, the battleship. Your task is to create a game using latitude and longitude to help other students practice this skill.
· Using a piece of 1cm graph paper draw a square.
· Mark in all of the lines on the square.
· Divide your square in half both ways and mark in the Equator and the Primer Meridian.
· Mark in North, South, East and West Hemispheres.
· Work out the rules and object of your game and play with a partner.
1. Using the Western Australian map in your atlas to find the latitude and longitude of these places. Remember, latitude is always listed first.
Perth
Broome
Bunbury
Northam
Halls Creek
2. Now use your atlas to find the latitude and longitude of these places found around the world.
London
Malaysia
Vancouver
Yellowknife
New York
3. Have a go at coming up with some places for a partner to find. Make sure you write down the coordinates yourself!
(Sunday Times, May 20, 2007 page 70)
A simple do-it-yourself experiment shows one way to desalinate water.
Materials
2 – two litre plastic bottles, one painted black
water
salt
30cm clear plastic tubing
Directions
1. Stir ½ cup of salt into one litre of water and pour the mixture into the black bottle.
2. Attach tubing to the necks of the two bottles and secure with duct tape.
3. Leave the bottles in the sun with the black bottle on a slightly higher surface than the clear one.
4. Fresh water will gradually move through the plastic tube, leaving a salty residue in the black bottle.
(some activities taken from: Haslam, A. & Parsons, A. (1995). Arctic Peoples. London: Two-Can Publishing.)
What was it like living in the Arctic hundreds of years ago? What is Arctic life like now?
There are many different groups of Arctic peoples (eg. Inuits and Yupiks) and each has their own way of life. Make sure to take this into consideration as you are doing your research.
Use the following questions and suggestions to help you with your research.
What is the Arctic climate like?
· Seasons
· Temperature
· Vegetation and wildlife
· Clothing
· Shelter/homes
What roles and responsibilities did the men and women have? What was their everyday life like (both in the past and present)?
What hunting methods and tools were used?
What was used for transportation?
What did their diet consist of? What cooking methods were used? How/did they preserve any food?
What was their means of entertainment?
What does their language and alphabet look like?
What types of arts and crafts are Arctic people know for?
When, how and why did they make contact with people outside of the Arctic?
