September 2014 ISSN 1010-144x

SEPT

OCT

NOV/DEC

JAN

Teachers,

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

Feature Video: Koala Time

Don’t miss out on the wealth of online resources that come free with your subscription. These include a digital issue, videos, games, and more—all designed for your interactive whiteboard or digital projector. Visit www.scholastic.com/superscience to access these materials. For this issue, you’ll find background videos for all four feature stories, a slide show demonstrating this month’s hands-on activity, a sequencing game, and bonus hands-on and Common Core literacy skills sheets. If you have any questions or comments, you can e-mail us anytime at [email protected]. We’re looking forward to a great year!

SuperScience meets NSES, cCSS & Ngss Standards articles

Life (Habitats): Koala Caretakers Lexile Level 870 Guided Reading Level S Scientific Inquiry: Deadly Glow Lexile Level 760 Guided Reading Level N Earth (Volcanoes): Volcano Alert! Lexile Level 850 Guided Reading Level R Physical (Flight): The Sky’s the Limit Lexile Level 820 Guided Reading Level Q A SUPPLEMENT TO SUPERSCIENCE

National Science Education Standards

Common Core State Standards

Next generation SKILLS SHEETS science www.scholastic.com /superscience standards

Organisms and their environment; populations and ecosystems

Reading Informational Text: 1. Refer to details and examples in a text when explaining what the text says.

LS2C: Ecosystem dynamics, functioning, and resilience

Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry

Reading Informational Text: 7. Draw on information from multiple print or digital sources.

• T6: Scientific PS4A: Wave inquiry activity properties Practices: Planning • Web/Common Core: Integration and carrying out • Bonus hands-on investigations

Changes in the Earth and sky; structure of the Earth system

Reading Informational Text: 4. Determine the meaning of domainspecific words or phrases in a text.

4-ESS3-2: Compare • T7: Research skill solutions to reduce • T  8: Chart skill the impacts of • Web/Common natural processes Core: Vocabulary on humans. in context

Science as a human endeavor; science and technology in society

Writing: 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events.

ETS2B: Influence of engineering, technology, and science on society

• T10: No-Sweat Bubble Test • Web/Common Core: Text evidence

• T9: Map skill • Web/Common Core: Narrative writing

SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014 T 1

PAGE 4

life science

PAGE 8

scientific inquiry

Koala Caretakers

Deadly Glow

Lexile Level 870; Guided Reading Level S

Lexile Level 760; Guided Reading Level N

OBJECTIVE

Learn how and why Australians are trying to save koalas.

SET UP

Use the Internet to obtain and print photos of various traffic signs. Obtain blank paper.

BEFORE READING

1. Hold up one of the traffic signs or display it on a projector. Ask: • What do you observe here? (traffic sign) • What is the purpose of a traffic sign? (to warn drivers about conditions specific to their location) • What does this sign mean? (Answers will vary.) 2. Display the other signs one at a time, and ask students to identify each one’s meaning. 3. Ask students to observe the photo of the koala on page 4. Ask: What is unusual about this koala? (Both arms are in casts.) 4. Tell students the koala was hit by a car because people are moving into its habitat and building roads. On blank paper, have students design their own traffic signs to warn drivers of koalas. Share the designs.

OBJECTIVE

Understand how scientists used scientific inquiry to learn about pitcher plants. Then apply inquiry methods to another question.

SET UP

Purchase a set of UV beads online.

BEFORE READING

1. Bring in various bottles of sunscreen. 2. Pass around sunscreen. Ask: • What does SPF stand for? (sun protection factor) • What does SPF protect us from? (ultraviolet radiation) • What does a higher SPF number mean? (A higher number means protection for a longer period of time.)

AFTER-READING INQUIRY

• Name three reasons why the koala population is declining. (People are cutting down eucalyptus trees. Disease is preventing some koalas from reproducing. Heat waves are making koalas sick.) • How are people in Koala Beach helping koalas? (People do not cut down eucalyptus trees to build homes. Residents agree to drive slowly and not keep dogs as pets.)

1. Show UV beads. Tell students they contain a chemical that changes color when exposed to UV light. 2. In pairs, students will select one of the following questions to investigate: • How does time of day affect the color of the beads? • How do differences in weather at the same time of day affect the color of the beads? • How does applying sunscreen with different SPFs affect the color of the beads? • How do different brands of sunglasses affect the color of the beads? • How do indoor and outdoor light affect the color of the beads? 3. Have students write out a plan of how they will test for and answer their question. Then they can investigate it!

RESOURCE

RESOURCE

Reading and literacy connection

Reading and literacy connection

AFTER READING

Learn about koalas and how you can help them at: www.savethekoala.com Go to www.scholastic.com/superscience to download the skills sheet “Collecting Evidence.” Students use text evidence to support statements about the article. Common Core State Standard Reading Informational Text: 1

Download a bonus hands-on activity about carnivorous plants at: www.scholastic.com/superscience Go to www.scholastic.com/superscience to download the skills sheet “Watch and Learn.” Students integrate information from a video and text on the same subject. Common Core State Standard Reading Informational Text: 7

SuperScience Vol. 26, No. 1 • September 2014 Editor: Mara Grunbaum • Associate Editor: Margaret Mead • Education Editor: Matt Friedman • Art Director: Sarah Irick • Senior Designer: Nicole Hocutt • Senior Production Editor: Kathy Fallon • Senior Copy Editors: Ingrid Accardi, Suzanne Bilyeu • Copy Editor: Troy Reynolds • Photo Editor: Jose Pouso • MAGAZINE GROUP: Executive VP, Scholastic: Hugh Roome • Editorial Director: Patricia Janes • Executive Editor: Elizabeth Carney • VP, Creative Director: Judith Christ-Lafond • Executive Director of Production and Operations: Barbara Schwartz • Executive Editorial Director, Copy Desk: Craig Moskowitz • Publishing System Director: David Hendrickson • Executive Director of Photography: Steven Diamond • Senior Administrative Coordinator: Mirtha Williams • CIRCULATION & MARKETING: VP, Marketing: Danielle Mirsky • Marketing Manager: Leslie Tevlin • Director, Manufacturing & Distribution: Mimi Esguerra • CORPORATE: President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chairman of the Board of Scholastic Inc.: Richard Robinson

T2 SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014

PAGE 10

earth science

PAGE 14

physical science

Volcano Alert!

The Sky’s the Limit

Lexile Level 850; Guided Reading Level R

Lexile Level 820; Guided Reading Level Q

OBJECTIVE

OBJECTIVE

Learn how and why scientists are studying volcanoes in Iceland.

Understand how a record-breaking pilot is inspiring kids to study science.

SET UP

SET UP

1. Obtain a short-stemmed Pyrex funnel and a glass beaker large enough to hold the inverted funnel. Also obtain red food coloring, water, and a hot plate. 2. Place the inverted funnel into the beaker. Pour water into the beaker until the water is level with the bottom of the funnel’s stem. Then add a few drops of food coloring to the water. Place the beaker on the hot plate.

BEFORE READING

1. Turn the hot plate on high heat. Tell students you are demonstrating a volcano. 2. As the water boils, bubbles of steam expand and rise, pushing water up and out of the funnel’s stem. Ask: • What caused the water to spurt out through the funnel? (Adding heat causes the water to expand, increasing pressure. Pressure builds until it reaches a point where it needs to escape. Water escapes through the stem.) • How is this similar to a volcano? (Pressure builds up beneath a volcano. Once enough pressure builds up, magma pushes up a central vent and out the top of the volcano.)

AFTER READING

• Why does Iceland have so many volcanoes? (Iceland sits on top of two tectonic plates that are pulling away from each other. The opening allows magma to rise.) • How are scientists monitoring volcanic activity in Iceland? (Scientists placed high-tech sensors near volcanoes to monitor vibrations and magma movements.)

RESOURCE

1. Obtain a class set of pencils. Cut out pieces of paper that are 5 cm by 15 cm. 2. Take each piece of paper and bring the short ends together into the shape of an airplane wing (no creases). Tape the ends together.

BEFORE READING

1. Give each student a pencil and a wing. Tell students to put the pencil through the wing. Hold the pencil horizontally and let the wing hang by the taped end. 2. Tell students to hold the pencil in front of their mouth and blow at the front of the wing. Ask: What happened to the wing? (The wing moved a little.) 3. Now have students move the pencil slightly below their mouth and blow over the back of the wing. Ask: • What happened to the wing? (The wing flew upward.) • This is called lift. How does lift work? (Flowing air is under less pressure than stationary air. When you blow air over the wing, it creates an area of lower pressure. The higher air pressure below the wing pushes the wing upward.)

AFTER READING

• What two records did Barrington Irving break? (Irving was the youngest person and the first AfricanAmerican to fly solo around the world.) • How is Irving helping kids study science and engineering? (Irving runs a program called Experience Aviation that teaches kids to build planes, robots, race cars, and hovercrafts.)

RESOURCE

Watch a volcano animation at: http://news.bbc .co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7533964.stm

Learn about other African-American aviators at: http://airandspace.si.edu/explore-and-learn/topics /blackwings/

Reading and literacy connection

Reading and literacy connection

Go to www.scholastic.com/superscience to download the skills sheet “Word Detective.” Students use context clues to define unfamiliar vocabulary. Common Core State Standard Reading Informational Text: 4

Go to www.scholastic.com/superscience to download the skills sheet “Taking Off.” Students write about a trip they would like to take. Common Core State Standard Writing: 3 SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014 T 3

scientific inquiry

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

Investigate It! Scientific inquiry is a logical approach to studying problems and discovering new things. The steps below are one way scientists can investigate something that interests them. After reading “Deadly Glow” (pp. 8-9), use evidence from the article to explain how scientists used scientific inquiry to study carnivorous plants.

Scientific Inquiry 1. Make an observation about something interesting. 2. Propose a research question. 3. Form a hypothesis—an educated guess that may answer the research question. 4. D  esign an experiment to test the hypothesis. Experiments have a variable (a characteristic that changes) and a control (a characteristic that doesn’t change).

5. Gather and interpret data. 6. Make a conclusion, or a summary of the results. 7. Come up with further questions to investigate. Start again!

1. What question did the scientists want to answer? ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

3.

2. Identify the variable and the control in the

4. How would you take this experiment further? ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

experiment.



________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

T4 SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014

What was the scientists’ conclusion?

________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

PERMISSION GRANTED TO REPRODUCE FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. ©2014 BY SCHOLASTIC INC.

NGss: comparing solutions

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

What’s the Solution? In “Volcano Alert!” (pp. 10-13), you read that volcanic eruptions happen often in Iceland. Scientists and officials have come up with different ways to reduce the negative effects of volcanic eruptions on people. Use the Internet to research the solutions below. Decide which solution you think would be the most helpful. Then explain your findings in the space provided.

• Educate the community so everyone has a survival kit and an evacuation plan. • Dig deep trenches around the volcano to contain lava. • Don’t build homes and businesses near a volcano. • Spray lava with seawater. • Build barriers to redirect lava flow. • Create firebreaks to reduce the spread of fires.

Write a brief paragraph describing the solution you picked.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ Write a brief paragraph explaining why you think this solution is the most helpful one from the list.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________ PERMISSION GRANTED TO REPRODUCE FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. ©2014 BY SCHOLASTIC INC.

SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014 T 5

chart skill

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

Comparing Volcanoes In “Volcano Alert!” (pp. 10-13), you read about Iceland, one of the most volcanically active places in the world. The chart below shows characteristics and examples of three common volcano types: shield, composite, and cinder cone. Study the chart, then answer the questions that follow.

Common Volcano Types shield

composite

cinder cone

Description

broad and dome-shaped; up to 200 km (125 mi) wide

very tall with steep sides; about 1-10 km (0.6-6 mi) wide

short with steep sides; often less than 1 km (0.6 mi) wide

Lava

thin and watery

thick and sticky

thick and sticky

Typical Eruption

relatively quiet and gentle; lava travels far from the opening before cooling

explosive and violent; lava flows slowly down the sides as ash shoots high in the air

explosive but small; lava is thrown high in the air, breaks into fragments and falls

Examples

Mauna Loa (Hawaii) Olympus Mons (Mars) La Cumbre (Galápagos Islands)

Mount Fuji (Japan) Mount Hood (Oregon) Mount Etna (Italy)

Parícutin (Mexico) Crater Lake (Oregon) Sunset Crater (Arizona)

Shape

Source: LiveScience.com

1. Which type of volcano has the smallest width? ________________________________________ 2. What is the difference between the eruptions of composite and cinder cone volcanoes?



________________________________________ ________________________________________ ________________________________________

4. Viscosity is how resistant a liquid is to flowing. Which type of volcano in the chart has the least viscous lava? Which details in the chart gave you your answer? ______________________________



5. Which volcano is more likely to put people at risk of breathing in ash: Mount Fuji or Mauna Loa? Why?___________________________________

3. Which volcano example in the chart is located

________________________________________ ________________________________________

on a planet other than Earth?



________________________________________________

________________________________________



________________________________________________

T6 SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014

PERMISSION GRANTED TO REPRODUCE FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. ©2014 BY SCHOLASTIC INC.

map sKILL

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

World Traveler In “The Sky’s the Limit” (pp. 14-15), you read about pilot Barrington Irving’s solo flight around the globe. On his next adventure, Irving will pilot a plane from Washington, D.C., to 12 different countries. At each of his 30 stops, he will embark on a science-related expedition. Study the map of Irving’s planned trip below. Then answer the questions that follow. ARCTIC OCEAN

Alaska

RUSSIA Bering Sea

ASIA

UNITED STATES

JAPAN

CHINA

CANADA

PACIFIC OCEAN

NORTH AMERICA

Washington, D.C.

ATLANTIC OCEAN

PHILIPPINES PALAU EQUATOR

PAPUA NEW GUINEA

INDONESIA

map: jim mcmahon

INDIAN OCEAN AUSTRALIA AUSTRALIA 0

2,000 MI

0

3,000 KM

SOUTH AMERICA

New Caledonia (FRANCE)

NEW ZEALAND

1. In which of the following countries will

4. When Irving takes off to fly northeast

Barrington Irving stop only once?

A Australia B Japan

C Papua New Guinea D Indonesia

2. After New Zealand, where will he stop next?

A Australia B Indonesia

C New Caledonia D Palau

3. During which flight will he travel northeast?

A B C D

from Japan to Russia from China to the southern Philippines from Australia to New Zealand from the southern Philippines to Indonesia

PERMISSION GRANTED TO REPRODUCE FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. ©2014 BY SCHOLASTIC INC.

across the Bering Sea, which country will he depart from?

A Canada B Russia

C Japan D China

5. Not including his takeoff and landing in Washington, D.C., how many places will Irving stop in North America?

A five B six

C seven D eight

6. True or false: Irving will visit four continents.

A true

B false

SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014 T 7

READING COMPREHENSION

Name: ________________________________ Date: ____________________

No-Sweat Bubble Test Directions: Read each question below, then use the article “Koala Caretakers” (pp. 4-7) to determine the best answer. Completely fill in the bubble next to the best answer. 1. In which country is the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital located?

A B C D

United States Portugal South Africa Australia

2. What is the primary food that koalas eat?

A B C D

spinach coconuts eucalyptus leaves all of the above

6. What is the purpose of koala traffic signs?

7. Which of the following is true about how people are trying to help koalas?

3. Today, what is the main reason koalas are

A t o designate koala viewing areas along the road B to point out koala crosswalks C to warn drivers to slow down for koalas D to indicate that a koala hospital is ahead



A Volunteers are planting new eucalyptus trees. B Scientists are developing medicines to protect koalas from disease. C People near koala habitats are agreeing not to keep dogs as pets. D all of the above

losing their habitat?

A L  and is being used to build businesses and homes. B People hunt koalas for their soft fur. C Koalas are starting to eat different types of food. D Disease has left koalas unable to reproduce.

8. Why is Koala Beach such an unusual place?

4. Why is it dangerous for koalas to live close

A S  and dunes naturally separate people from koalas. B Koalas and people live side by side. C The neighborhood contains five koala hospitals. D The population of koalas there has increased in recent years.

to people?

A B C D

They can be attacked by pet dogs. They can be hit by cars. They can get lost in new neighborhoods. both A and B

5. What is a baby koala called?

A B C D

joey cub kid jane

T8 SuperScience Teacher’s Guide • September 2014

9. What does the term thrive mean?

A to grow successfully C to threaten B to shrink in size D to hibernate

10. Which events do scientists believe are becoming more common in Australia because of climate change?

A high tides B volcanic eruptions

C heat waves D solar eclipses

PERMISSION GRANTED TO REPRODUCE FOR CLASSROOM USE ONLY. ©2014 BY SCHOLASTIC INC.