Calypso travels to Seychelles
Emphasis on: reading
comprehension, motivation for discussion.
In this article, students read about
the Cousteau expedition to the Seychelles Islands. (Click here
to print out a passport for the Seychelles stamp.)
Vocabulary Preview:
encrusted, lumbering.
Word to teach: Teach
the word linger in context as follows: "When the
ballgame was over, my brother wanted to linger outside
the ballpark to try and meet the players."
Before Reading: Ask
students if they ever saw the movie Titanic.
Ask them what they think it would be like to find a
shipwreck. What condition do they think the ship would be in?
What do they think it would look like? Then tell students
they are about to read about the next Cousteau expedition, to
the Seychelles Islands where, among other things, they
located the shipwreck the Thistlegorm.
Discussion Questions:
What was interesting about the
appearance of the shipwreck Thistlegorm? (Her hull was
encrusted with pearl oysters.)
What did the Cousteau crew say about
this shipwreck? (It was the most beautiful one they ever
explored.)
What did Captain Cousteau do with the
film they shot of this ship? (He used in his Academy
award-winning film, The Silent World.)
How big did Frédéric Dumas say the
fish they spotted was? (Dumas claimed the fish was "as
big as a truck.")
What type of fish was it finally
identified as? (A wrasse.)
How much did they imagine it weighed?
(They imagined it weighed as much as a ton.) For fun, have
students find pictures of wrasses on their computers or in an
encyclopedia.
What was the Cousteau crew lucky enough
to witness on the island of Aldabra? (Green sea turtles were
laying eggs on the beach.)
What is special about Aldabra today?
(It has been designated a World Heritage site. It is also
home to the greatest population of giant tortoises in the
world.)
Follow-Up Ideas:
1. Explain to students that the purpose
of World Heritage sites is to "make sure that future
generations can inherit the treasures of the past."
Students can also go to Unesco's World Heritage website and
learn how to build their own "protected site."
Website address: http://whc.unesco.org/nwhc/pages/kids/main.htm.
2. Have students write a short
fictional story hypothesizing why they think the Thistlegorm
might have sunk.
3. Have students find the Cousteau
team's next expedition spot, Assumption Island, on a map or
globe.
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Reproducible
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