Final Leg of M. Arronax's Journey

The final chapters of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea provides much fodder for the curious mind. If you're just now joining us on the out of book journey check here and here for the other installments.

• Different varieties of whales make their appearance in this last section. Visit the American Cetacean Society to satiate your need to know. They have fact sheets, resource lists, and curriculum. You have to give your email address to access some sections, but the information is good enough to risk getting a little junk mail. I particularly like the Cetacean Breath Chart and the breath holding activity that goes along with it.
• Atlantis - Interesting passage in the book and there are many books if you want to add information. Atlantis: The Legend of a Lost City by Christina Belit is one that we were able to get from our library.
• Volcanoes - Interestingly enough we started studying volcanoes and volcanic rocks about the time we got to this section of the book. I'll do a separate post since it is part of our planned science study this year.
• Honeybees - We didn't do much here because the children have been helping with the beekeeping duties since they were three. But possibilities exist since bees are such interesting insects, not to mention productive.
• Penguins - If you haven't seen it already, be sure to watch March of the Penguins. Though the movie only tracks emperor penguins, the Antarctic is shown in its bitter cold, unforgiving beauty. Did I mention how much I like Morgan Freeman's voice? Watch Happy Feet, too. It makes me smile.
  
• While you're still shivering, snuggled in front of the television, watch Eight Below for a view of scientists working in Antarctica. Then talk about the South Pole and how you know when you make it there. Nemo used chronometers, barometer, and lenticular glass.
  
• Icebergs - Here is a wonderful lesson (much more than one lesson) combining icebergs, Antarctica, and penguins. The resources are fabulous!! My children are fascinated by icebergs.
• The Giant Polyps - K is obsessed with this. Unfortunately, the creatures in the book don't have a scientific basis. We did look. We found these giant squid pictures and information.

If I had not been enjoying this book along with my children and reacting to their curiosity, planning a more cohesive study using the book as a Charlotte Mason living book spine would have been possible. Reading a book without prior knowledge has its benefits too, because you can truly let your children lead. Sure, I had the bright idea to plot the journey, but we studied freely roaming in and out of the science of the fiction, never overwhelming either child with schoolish study, but providing enough library books, or web resources to answer those questions so freely asked.

As with all good books they lead to other good books. We are now reading The Mysterious Island because inquiring minds want to know, "What happened to Captain Nemo?" In fact, K has all of Jules Verne's books on his to be read list.

More 20,000 Leagues

We have been having a blast with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. In fact here are a few more interesting side trips we took. Don't forget the first ones if you are just joining me on this journey.

• The Great Barrier Reef - Complete with diving sounds, submerge yourself in this very cool resource to get a realistic impression of the reef, not to mention information on predation and parasitism, competition, and commensalism and mutualism. Have fun on your dive. Then, see how much you know.
  
• How Pearls are Made - This Field Museum of Chicago resource is thorough, beautifully done, and age appropriate.
  
• Virtual Sri Lanka(Ceylon) - This site has more information than we can use for this study. In fact, with the literature, myths, religion, history, geography, economics, and art you could study Sri Lanka for a year. And it is all free. I would supervise with this site since there is link after link after link. Though we haven't found anything objectionable, it is not a made for children site.
• Sharks - Obviously there is a ton of information in the library and on the Internet and I think we will see it all by the time we get through. The children just can't seem to get enough. I like this lesson plan as a starting point (just because it's fun), then choose anything from this list. In the book the shark mentioned was a black-tipped shark. There isn't as much available for this particular species, but a more generalized study seemed appropriate given the somewhat fictionalized account (they are rarely as big as M. Arronax described) of the shark's size and mouth. Here is a lesson about the shark's bad reputation. One of the links (go to photos) on this page shows the black tip and its place in the World's Most Dangerous Sharks competition.
• The Rea Sea - Though this resource is not as polished as some of the others, you can find pictures of all the fish and coral mentioned in the book.
• Dugongs - National Geographic comes to the rescue again, with this fact sheet including video. Be careful not to get trapped in the video room. They are all wonderful.
  

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

I know it's summer, but the learning opportunities are so fantastic with this book that I haven't been able to resist throwing in a few tidbits of more structured learning. K chose 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea last time we went to a bookstore and since I had never read it, we decided to do the book as a family read aloud so I could hear it too.

We read Jules Verne's Around the World in Eighty Days a couple of years ago and had a lovely terrestrial trip. Now we get to see the aquatic world.

This book has many somewhat technical passages that can be difficult for the younger members of the family, but there are so many opportunities to add information and resources that even the youngest child can have fun.

First you need a refresher course on latitude and longitude. Here is a lesson plan that has great information. When you are done you will be able to plot your underwater course on a map. We are doing this now and I must say it is great fun. We are using our globe and some map dots. Here is Jules Verne's map in the event you want to check to see if your course is the same.

So far the Nautilus has remained in some well know currents. Since we are traveling with the currents, it doesn't hurt to take a side trip to learn more about them.

Of course you will want to look at the flora and fauna under the sea, especially the creeps of the deep. Check the websites on this page and here are a few of the books we have checked out from our library.

• Ocean by Robert Dinwedle and Fabian Cousteau
• Exploring the Deep Dark Sea by Gail Gibbons
• The World Beneath the Sea by Susan Harris
• Kingfisher Voyages: Oceans by Stephen Savage
  

My son is super interested in submarines. Take a look here and here to satiate that natural curiosity. How Things Work also has good information, too.

Since we like to do a bit of art with everything, I also checked out Ralph Masiello's Ocean Drawing Book.

We have only gotten half way through the book. Think of all the trails we can follow by the time we get to the end. The possibilities are as truly endless as the ocean.

If your crew is not ready for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, try the books and resources at this website which is designed for the younger life learner.

Geography 2006

This entry was originally posted at my other site, Twice Bloomed Wisteria.

Geography is one of our least formalized studies. We read books about the countries we visit in history. We also study geography in science. This year, in our most formalized study, we read Kon Tiki by Thor Heyerdahl and Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne and plotted the course of their travels on a map. However, we frequently don't have a subject named geography on our plans. I really like plotting the course of characters on a map and reading a bit about each of the locations, but unless I find another great living geography book, we will go back to studying geography within history and science. No matter how we study geography, these are a few of the resources we use a lot:

• World of Where is a wonderful computer map study aid, which lets you test by countries, states, provinces, or cities. View Political borders or physical world. You have the solar system, too! It even has a spoken mode for those youngest learners. All this and the price is right at only $11.95!!
• Borderline is a fun card game that helps make connections between states in the USA or countries in Africa, Europe or the World. You don't have to know geography to play but you will definitely learn some.
• National Geographic Magazine with all the wonderful images, maps, and thoughtful articles is still a bargain monthly geography curriculum, especially when used with the web site to find articles relating to your area of study or to locate or see a map. There are also great resources at the Xpeditions site
  
• A wall map is essential and luckily we subscribe to National Geographic and get one each year.
• Uncle Josh's Outline Maps CD-ROM is a great resource with 125 printable maps in pdf format. I like these because you get both historical maps and more recent images.
• NEA State by State Booklist provides a listing of books that will help you read across America. I know this is no help for Canadians and Europeans.

I know I've probably forgotten something. Does anyone else have favorite resources?