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Emphasis on: reading comprehension, history/sequence, map skills, motivation for discussion
Students learn about the first Cousteau voyage aboard Calypso to the Mediterranean Sea.
Before reading: Ask students to locate the Mediterranean Sea on a world map or globe. Ask if they know the names of any other seas and if they can locate them. (Caribbean Sea, Red Sea, Bering Sea, Dead Sea, etc.) Then ask students to locate the oceans. Ask students if just by looking at the map they can tell any differences between an ocean and a sea. Then explain that the largest bodies of water are the oceans. At the edges of the oceans, there are smaller stretches of salt water called seas. (Seas are the second largest bodies of water.) Seas like the Mediterranean are almost completely surrounded by land. (If students locate a gulf or bay, explain that they are bodies of water that penetrate into the land, and that gulfs are larger than bays.)
Word to teach: Teach the word "expedition" in context as follows: "Captain Cousteau and his crew went on an expedition to the Mediterranean to study the sea creatures there."
Discussion Questions: What animals did Captain Cousteau find in the Mediterranean? What was his hunch about dolphins and porpoises that turned out to be correct? What sea creature did the crew members not want to touch? Why not? What were they worried about? What about the octopus surprised them? What did the octopus do when it tried to get away? (It squirted ink at them.)
Ask students why Captain Cousteau found it interesting that an octopus could build a home. Ask students if they ever witnessed an animal doing something which made them realize the animal was smarter than they originally thought. (Their pet found its way home, was able to locate food, etc.)
PAGES 9-10 ACTIVITY
PASSPORTS,
PLEASE
Emphasis on: reading comprehension, motivation for discussion
Students get their own "passport" to keep and have stamped after reading upcoming issues of Dolphin Log. (Click here for a printable passport.)
Discussion Questions: Ask students if they know what a passport is. Explain to students that a passport is a legal document allowing a citizen of one country to leave and enter another. (Note to teacher: If you have a real passport, it might be fun to bring to class, to show students what an actual passport looks like, and how similar their Cousteau Team passport is.) Ask students why they think a passport needs to be renewed every few years, and why a photograph is necessary. For fun, ask students where they would like to travel if their passports were real. Have them locate the places they name on a map or globe.
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Reproducible
Teaching
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