CYRFactbooks L3 TN Full

Factbooks:
Why is it so?
Level 3
Introduction
Thanks and Acknowledgements

Factbooks: Why is it so? Teaching Notes written by Brenda Kent
The author and publishers are grateful to the following contributers:
Hilary Ratcliff: Editor
Jean Glasberg: Consultant Editor
Claire Lawrence: Science Consultant
Contents
Introduction
Why Does Water Freeze?

Topic 1: What is everything made of?

Worksheet: Solid, liquid or gas?
Topic 2: Liquids, solids, freezing and melting

Experiment: Which ice cube will melt first, second, third and so on?
Topic 3: Gases

Experiment: What will happen if our teacher covers a lighted candle with a glass jar?
Simplified questions and answers
Its quiz time! ideas and answers
6
8
9
10
12
13
15
16
Why Do Raindrops Fall?

Topic 1: Weather facts rain

Worksheet: The water cycle

Experiment: How much rain will fall in our playground?
Topic 2: Weather facts wind
Topic 3: Boats, balloons and other ways of travelling

Worksheet: By land and by sea

Texts for poster-making

Experiment: Will it float?
17
19
20
22
23
25
26
27
30
31
Why Do Leaves Change Colour?

Topic 1: Plants of every colour

Worksheet: Some facts about plants and colour
Topic 2: Some weird and wonderful plants

Experiment: Sprouting bean seeds
Topic 3: More about plants

Worksheet: Plant words
32
34
35
37
39
40
41
42
Why Do Bridges Arch?

Topic 1: Famous buildings of the world

Worksheet: Famous buildings of the world
Topic 2: Building strong and weak structures

Experiment: Building a tower out of newspaper and sticky tape
Topic 3: Bridges

Experiment: Making a bridge out of lollipop sticks or drinking straws
43
45
47
49
51
52
54
55
Why Do Crocodiles Snap?

Topic 1: Different kinds of animals

Worksheet: How popular are our pets?
Topic 2: Adaptation
Topic 3: Endangered species
3
56
58
59
61
62
63
Introduction
Welcome to Factbooks: Why is it so?
The main purpose of this supplementary series is to extend your pupils knowledge and curiosity
about the world of science and, at the same time, to help develop their reading skills all through
the medium of English.
Why are the book titles all questions?

This is because we aim to encourage your pupils natural curiosity by offering answers to the sort
of questions children naturally ask about the world. However, there is much more in each book
than the answer to the question on the front cover. Inside each book, you and your pupils will find
a wealth of curious questions and fascinating facts.
When should I use the books?

You can use the books to supplement and add variety to your existing science curriculum. For
instance, you may be studying forces and motion. This would be a good time to introduce Why
Do Bridges Arch? Or perhaps one of the questions will come up naturally. On a cold day one of the
children might ask Why does water turn into ice? Now might be a good time to introduce Why Does
Water Freeze?
Are the books also suitable for the school library or classroom
book corner?
Yes, they are. Many children really enjoy non-fiction books. In addition, they will be useful as a
resource to keep your fast finishers occupied during science lessons.
How should I introduce the books in class?

First ideas
You could select from the following activities:
First impressions: Ask the children to flick through the Factbook very quickly to look at the
pictures and get a feel of the book. Ask them to tell you some of the things they notice. Write their
responses on the board.
Scanning: Ask the children to find specific pictures or words as quickly as they can. This can be
made into a team game. Say, for example, Where can we see a picture of a penguin? or Where can I
find the word crocodile? Write any words they need to find on the board. The children answer by
giving you the page number and showing the rest of the class where the items are.
Predictions: Ask the children to make guesses as to what the book is about, based on what they
have seen. Write these ideas on the board and refer to them at the end of the lesson(s).
Answer to the question in the title: Ask the children to find the part of the Factbook that
answers the question in the title.
Mixed ability teaching

Throughout the lesson, feel free to use the activities identified by confidence icons
(less
confident) and
(more confident) flexibly. Here are some ways you might do this:

choose an appropriate level of difficulty for your class

get individual children to start or work at different levels of difficulty

work through the levels of difficulty sequentially

use the
activities as extension activities for your fast finishers.
The aim is for each child to work at an appropriate level and to gain in confidence.
4
What should I do then?

Using the teaching notes: We would encourage you to use your experience and creativity as
a teacher to exploit the Factbooks in any way you think will stimulate and inform your pupils.
However, you are probably very busy, so we also invite you to select from the teaching notes
for each Factbook. In the notes, you will find two or three topics based on selected parts of the
Factbook. The topics are often stand-alone, though you may prefer to use them in sequence. If we
think a topic works best if it follows another one, we say so.
Using the photocopiable worksheets and experiment record sheets: There are photocopiable
worksheets to go with some of the topics, and we suggest experiments to follow others. For these
we provide photocopiable experiment record sheets.
Please feel free to adapt the photocopiable materials in any way you want to make them suitable for
mixed ability teaching. You will sometimes see suggestions in the notes for how you might do this.
Using the quizzes in the Factbooks: You may want to read the remaining sections of the
Factbook with the class or get them to read them individually before having a go at the quiz, which
you will find near the end of the Factbook. The answers to the quiz are at the end of the teaching
notes for each Factbook.
Using the simplified question and answer sheets: In addition to the topic notes, we have
provided simplified versions of the questions and answers which feature in each Factbook. These
can be used in a variety of ways. For example, first make a copy for each child. Tell the children to
cut out the questions and answers for the pages they have read to form little cards.
You can then select from the following activities:
Matching: Tell the children to jumble up all the questions and answers and then match them again.
After checking the answers, you can then tell the children to put away their question cards and
refer to the answer cards to help them answer the questions, which you will ask them in a random
order.
The children can refer to their matched cards to help them answer.
The children put all their cards away and answer from memory or in their own words.
Pairs: Each pair or group of three children lays one or two sets of cards face down, spread out on
the table, and the children take it in turns to turn up a pair of cards. When they turn up a question
and corresponding answer, they shout Pair! The other children check and, if all are agreed, the first
child keeps the cards. The winner is the one who has most pairs at the end of the game.
Asking questions: Get the children to work in pairs, asking and answering the questions.
The questioner has all the question cards and their partner has the answer cards.
Both children have a set of matched question and answer cards to refer to.
The children take it in turns to be the questioner, and only the questioner has the cards.
Their partner has to answer from memory.
Match and stick: Get the children to jumble up their cards. They then match them again and
stick the matched questions and answers into their notebooks.
Gap fill: Make a gap fill exercise by whiting out some of the words before photocopying.
The children then have to fill in the gaps before or after cutting out their cards.
We hope you and your classes have lots of fun with the Factbooks: Why is it so? series.
Why Does Water Freeze?

Topic 1: What is everything made of?
What you need
Key language
Examples of non
solid liquid gas made of matter

Note: You may wish to leave introducing the concept of pourable solids, for
example, sugar, sand, coffee and salt, until the students are at a higher level.
In any case, we suggest you only introduce this idea once the general concepts
of solid and liquid are firmly established.
pourable solids, for

example, stones, crayons
and glass beads.
Examples of liquids, for

example, orange juice,

honey and water.
Jugs on a tray. A cloth

and hand towels.
First ideas
See Introduction for suggestions on how to introduce the Factbook for the
first time.
An inflated balloon

and/or a bottle of fizzy

drink.
A copy of the worksheet


See Introduction for suggestions on how to use the activities identified by the
and
icons.
Before reading
Here are some examples of how you might introduce key language, writing the
new vocabulary on the board throughout:
Separate your solids and liquids into two groups and say These are all solids.
These are liquids. You could then mix them all up again and ask the children to
help you sort them back into the two groups.
Demonstrate that liquids take the shape of the container they are in, and contrast
this with the solids by showing that you cant change their shapes in the same way.
Introduce made of and matter by encouraging the children to think about what
the props are made of, saying, for example, Air is made of matter. This stone is
made of matter. Make it clear that everything is matter, and that matter can be a
solid, a liquid or a gas.
Ask them if they can see the air. Tell them that the air is made of gases and that
gases are usually invisible.
Reading
Read page 4 of the Factbook and Tiny atoms on page 8 to the children, pausing
to discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by touching things around you
and encouraging the children to do the same.
Alternatively, play the CD (tracks 3 and 5) instead of reading, pausing where
necessary.
The children could then reread the sections to themselves or in small groups.
Ask some of the more confident children to read a short section aloud to
the class.
Solid, liquid or gas? for

every child.
After reading

A Show the children that the first one has been done for them as an example.
The children work individually and then compare their answers before you go
over them with the class. Make sure they draw the bubbles in the drink.
The children work in pairs throughout.
B You could brainstorm some ideas first, getting confident children to draw and
write on the board and adding some ideas of your own. Dont be afraid to look
up any unknown words in a bilingual dictionary. The children can then copy
their favourite ideas from the board and also add some new ones.
The children just copy ideas from the board.
The children try to think of four new ideas.
Additional activity
Simplified questions and answers (page 15): See Introduction for suggestions
on how to use these.
Answers:
A.
2. liquid
3. solid
4. solid
5. solid
6. liquid
7. gas c hildren should
draw the bubbles
8. solid
Name

A. Write solid, liquid or gas and complete the unfinished picture.
1. orange juice
2. water
3. stones
4. glass beads
6. honey
7. bubbles in
your drink
8. rocks
liquid
5. crayons
B. Now draw some more solids, liquids or gases. Can you write the words in English?
Write solid, liquid or gas.
Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE
Topic 2: Liquids, solids, freezing and melting

Note: This follows on from Topic 1.
Key language
What you need
Water, a jug and a bowl

wet loosely stick dry freeze melt
on a tray. Cloth and

hand towels.
First ideas
Some ice cubes in a clear

first time.
See also What

plastic container.
you need for the
experiment.

and
icons.
Before reading
If possible, gather the children round you. Use the water and containers to revise
the words liquid and pour, for example, by asking a volunteer to pour some water
from one container into another and by saying This is a liquid. Carlos can pour it
from the jug into the bowl. Illustrate the adjectives wet and dry using your hands,
the water and a hand towel, saying The water makes my hands wet. Now they are
dry again.
Reading
Read page 6, Tar on page 10 and Rock can melt! on page 11 to the children,
pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by looking at the ice
cubes and discussing how they are melting in the warmth of the classroom.
necessary.
The children could then reread the pages to themselves or in small groups.
the class.
After reading
See the experiment Which ice cube will melt first, second, third and so on?
Additional activity
Experiment: Which ice cube will melt first,

second, third and so on?
What you need
Procedure
Tell the children they are going to put ice cubes in different places around the
classroom and/or playground and see which melt first, second, third and so on.
Ask the children whether it will make any difference what size the ice cubes
are. Establish that the ice cubes need to be the same size for it to be a good
experiment.
Ask them whether they think it will be a fair experiment if some groups warm
the containers with their hands or poke or stir the ice cube as it melts. Agree
that the children should resist the temptation to do these things.
Small ice cubes (all

the same size and

shape) and a number of
suitable containers.
Suitable thermometers

(not mercury) for each

small group of children.
Hand towels.

Get the children to suggest places. Agree on safe and suitable ones, ideally
making sure at least one is in a very warm location. Ask them to guess in which
places the ice cubes will melt first, second and so on. Ask them to justify their
predictions.
Equipment to protect

Help the children to fill in the first part of their experiment record sheet
(Planning our experiment) by eliciting and writing useful language on
the board.
An experiment record

Get each small group to measure and record the temperature in one of the chosen
places on their record sheets. Give each group an ice cube in a suitable container.
Get the groups to monitor each ice cube and report back when their ice cube is
melted and note the time with them. Help them to record their results on the
board too.
When all the ice cubes have melted, discuss the results with the class, before
helping them to complete their record sheets by eliciting and writing useful
language on the board.
As well as circling one of the smiley faces, the children could write a
sentence to say what they thought about the experiment.
clothes and the

classroom, and to clear
up spills.
sheet for each child (see
page 11), plus a clipboard
if possible.
Partially complete
the record sheet before
photocopying, leaving gaps
for the children to fill in.
An additional activity

for the children to do

while waiting for all the
ice cubes to melt.
Optional: Watches or

classroom clock.
Extension activity
See if the children can suggest variations on this experiment, for example,
comparing whether one ice cube on its own in a container will melt faster than
five heaped up together in another container (placing the containers next to
each other to keep the air temperature constant).
Note: Heaping the ice cubes up together will slow down melting.
10
Name
Experiment record sheet

Which ice cube will melt first, second, third and so on?
Planning our experiment:

What will be the same for each ice cube?
What will be different for each ice cube?
Where will my group put our ice cube?
What my group did:

We measured the temperature in the place where we put our ice cube. It was
What the class discovered:

The first ice cube to melt was the one (where?)
because
The last ice cube to melt was the one (where?)
because
When did my groups ice cube melt (first, second, third, ... )?
What makes ice cubes melt? Look at page 6 of the Factbook.
What I thought of this experiment:

11
Topic 3: Gases
Note: This follows on from Topic 1.
What you need
Key language
gas oxygen nitrogen breathe fuel burn flame
An inflated balloon.

A bottle of fizzy drink.

A candle and matches.

First ideas
first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Ask the children What do people and animals need to live? Elicit that they need
air to breathe, as well as food, shelter and so on.
Ask Whats in the balloon? Is it a solid, liquid or gas? Do the same with the
bubbles in your fizzy drink.
Light the candle. Say The candle is burning. Look at the flame.
Reading
Read page 7 to the children, pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for
example, by breathing loudly.
Alternatively, play the CD (track 4) instead of reading, pausing where necessary.
The children could then reread the page to themselves or in small groups.
the class.
After reading
See the experiment What will happen if our teacher covers a lighted candle with a
glass jar?
Additional activity
12
See also What

you need for the

experiment.
Experiment: What will happen if our teacher

covers a lighted candle with a glass jar?
What you need
Procedure
Gather the children round you so they can see your materials. Light the candle.
Ask the children what they think will happen when you put the jam jar over it.
A candle.

Put the jam jar over the candle and ask the children to comment on what they see.
A glass jam jar.

Make sure that your candle is completely extinguished. If you remove the jar
too quickly, the flame can reignite.
An experiment record

Ask them why they think the flame goes out. Refer to what they read in the
Factbook. Ask What does a candle need to burn? What do you think has happened
to the oxygen? Write useful language on the board. This will help them to
complete Part B of the experiment record sheets.
Note: The oxygen gets used up by the burning flame. The flame goes out when
there is no more oxygen under the jar.
The children complete Part A of their experiment record sheets by illustrating
the sentences. They then write their explanation for Part B, using your notes
on the board to help them.
The children fill in the gaps.
As well as circling one of the smiley faces, the children write a sentence
to say what they thought about the experiment.
Extension activity
Get some different size jam jars and ask the children to predict what will
happen if you repeat the experiment with these.
Note: The bigger the jar, the more oxygen and the longer it will take until the
flame goes out.
13
Matches.

sheet for each child

(see page 14).
Partially complete Part
B of the record sheet before
White out some of
the words in Part A of
photocopying. The
children have to fill in
the gaps before doing
their drawings.
Name

What will happen if our teacher covers a candle
with a glass jar?
A. Draw pictures to show what your teacher did.
1. Our teacher lit a candle.
2. Then our teacher put a jam jar over the

lighted candle.
3. The flame began to get smaller.
4. The flame went out.
B. Why did the flame go out?


14

Q: What is everything made of?
A: Everything is made of matter.
Q: What kinds of matter are there?
A: Solids, liquids and gases.
Q: How do you know something is

a solid?
A: Solids are hard and do not normally

change shape.
Q: Why is water wet?
A: Water feels wet because liquids are made

up of tiny pieces of matter that are only
loosely joined up.
Q: Why does water freeze?
A: When water gets very, very cold, tiny

pieces of matter stick together to make ice.
Q: What is air made of?
A: Air is mainly made up of the gases oxygen

and nitrogen.
Q: What makes fire burn?
A: Oxygen makes fire burn.
Q: How big are atoms?
A: Atoms are so tiny that millions of them

would fit on a full stop.
Q: What are minerals?
A: Minerals are natural substances in

the ground, such as gold, tin and salt.
Rocks are made of minerals.
Q: Can rock melt?
A: All solids can melt if you heat them up

enough even rock.
15

You will find a quiz on pages 14 and 15 of the Factbook. Here are some ways you could use the quiz:

Do each activity in turn, with the children working in pairs or threes, checking the answers as a class
before going on to the next activity either immediately or in a future lesson.

The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz as
they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won keeping this as lighthearted as possible, of course!

The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz as they can
before checking the answers as a class.
The children work individually on the entire quiz and then compare their answers in pairs or
threes before checking them as a class.
Exploit the quiz as extension activities for your fast finishers.
Answer key
Activity 1
gas, matter, liquid, solids
Activity 2
1. matter
2. oxygen
3. liquid
4. gas
5. solids
Activity 3
L
Honey. Because it is a liquid and all the others are solids.
Activity 4
2 a) 3 b) 4 e) 5 d)
Activity 5
2. T
3. F. Water freezes when it is very, very cold.
4. F. Burning produces heat and light.
5. F. Millions of atoms can fit on a full stop.
16
Why Do Raindrops Fall?

Topic 1: Weather facts -- rain
What you need
Key language
water cycle evaporate fresh water raindrop
First ideas

The water cycle for

every child.
Additional activity: See

first time.
also What you need for

the experiment.

and
icons.
Before reading
Draw a simple diagram of the water cycle similar to the one on the worksheet
The water cycle. Describe this to the children using the key language. You
could also ask Have you ever seen steam rising off the road on a very hot day?
Draw a simple diagram to illustrate this and elicit some of the key language
from the children by asking them questions about it, for example, What
happens to rain water on the road on a very hot day? Where does it go?
Reading
Read pages 4 and 6 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts,
for example, by referring to your diagram on the board.
necessary.
the class.
After reading
Answers:
This worksheet uses text from the Factbook. Give out the worksheets with
the strip at the bottom folded under. Ask What does the picture show? Ask the
children to try to predict the answers, but dont correct them yet. Then read
page 4 of the Factbook aloud (books closed) or play the CD (track 9) and ask
the children to fill the gaps. Get the children to compare with their partner
again before reading page 4 aloud or playing the CD again. Tell them to unfold
the strip at the bottom and check again before you go over the answers with the
class. Make sure they realise the words are not in the right order.
1. Water
2. clouds
3. cycle
4. rocks
5. rain
Give out the worksheet unfolded and let the children refer to it throughout.
Cut the answer strip off the bottom of the page before handing out the worksheet.
17
Additional activities
Poster making: The theme of this and other sections of the Factbook would
lend themselves to large-scale artwork labelled in English. When you have read
more sections of the Factbook, you might like to organise this in small groups,
one group doing a diagram of the water cycle, another a diagram with arrows
illustrating how boats float and submarines rise and sink, and so on. (See also
ideas under Topic 3.)

Useful links
If you have internet access in the classroom, investigate
http://www.britishcouncil.org/kids-topics-weather.htm or, if appropriate,
suggest one of the activities from the site for optional homework.
18
Name

Look at the diagrams and talk to your partner. Think of words to fill the gaps.
Now listen and fill the gaps.
Where does our water come from?

1.
goes on a long journey called the water cycle. Water in the sea evaporates.
This makes 2.
and then rain falls. The rain collects in rivers that then flow
back into the sea. Then the 3.
starts all over again.
Why is the sea salty?

The salt comes from 4.
the salt behind so the 5.
in the rivers and sea. When sea water evaporates, it leaves

falls as fresh water. Clean fresh water tastes good to drink.
Choose from these words to fill the gaps:

rocks rain water cycle clouds
19

Procedure
What you need
Discuss with the children how much rain falls in your region at different times
of the year. Ask the children how quickly they think rain would fill the beaker
if you left it outside in the current season. Tell the children you are going to
record how much rain falls over the next few days, weeks or months.
Discuss how you might do this using the beaker. Guide the class to the idea of
marking it up with equal markings. Ask the children to suggest how near or
far apart the markings on the beaker should be, given how much rain you are
expecting.
When you have marked up the beaker, place it in a suitable position in the
playground. Dont put it in direct sunlight, particularly in hot regions. Decide
when and how you want to get the children to check the readings and to pour
the water away. You could do this as a class or you could organise a rota, but
dont forget to remind the children. Check the readings frequently if you are
in a region where the water will evaporate quickly. Help the children to record
results on the class bar chart.
Help the children to complete the different sections of the experiment record
sheet at appropriate times, by eliciting and writing useful language on the
board and getting them to copy the results from the class bar chart onto their
individual bar charts.
After you have completed the experiment, the bar chart might look something
like this:
Mark 5
Rainfall
Mark 4
Mark 3
Mark 2
Mark 1
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Days
Alternatively, you might choose to get the children to make their bar charts
bycomputer.
At the end of the experiment, help the children to write observations about
what the chart shows, for example, Our chart shows that there was very little rain
at the beginning of the week, and then a lot of rain at the end of the week.
As well as circling one of the smiley faces, the children write a sentence to
say what they thought about the experiment.
Extension activity
Discuss with the children how fresh water gets to homes in your region. Does
it come from reservoirs, bore holes, springs or desalination plants before being
piped to homes? How far does the water have to travel? Are there ever water
shortages in your region? If so, what can people do to save water?
20
A non-opaque plastic

beaker.
A marker.

Experiment record

sheet for each child.

Before photocopying,
add suitable markings
and labels. For example,
if you are expecting
high rainfall on a large
number of days over
the next week, label the
horizontal axis Days
and mark the vertical
axis with a wide range
of gradations which
will correspond to the
markings you will make
in class on the beaker.
Then write the days of
the school week spaced
out along the horizontal
axis.
If rain is likely to be less
frequent, you might
choose to measure the
rainfall at the end of each
week for a few weeks. If it
is likely to be even drier,
you might compare the
rainfall for each month
of the school term.
Partially complete
the first part of the
record sheet, leaving gaps
for the children to fill in,
before photocopying.
Class bar chart: A
large version of the
uncompleted bar chart,
like the one on the
childrens experiment
record sheet.
Name

How much rain will fall in our playground
from
to
What we need:

What we are going to do:

How much rain we are expecting:

Here are Our results:

This bar chart shows how much rain fell in our playground
to
Rainfall
from
21
Topic 2: Weather facts -- wind

Key language
What you need
wind breeze kite gale cyclone spiral flood
A picture of a kite.
Pictures to illustrate

wind, breeze and gale.
First ideas
See Useful link for

first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
new vocabulary on the board:
Use your pictures to teach wind, breeze and gale. Take the children into a
suitable large space and ask them to spread out. Say Its a very hot day. Go for a
walk. Walk slowly its very, very hot. Now stop and look at me. Blow very gently
and mime a breeze with your fingers. Tell the children There is a very gentle
wind or breeze. Tell them Go for a walk again. The breeze feels very nice on your
face, on your arms, on your legs. Ask them to stop. Say There is a gentle wind
blowing now. Show them your picture of a kite and say Its just right for flying a
kite. Get them to fly imaginary kites. Tell them The wind is getting stronger now.
Its very hard to hold onto your kite. Your kite gets blown away! Now its a gale!
You must try to walk home, but its very, very difficult to walk. Each step is really
hard to take. You could use your imagination and the childrens
to extend the activity to introduce cyclone, spiral and flood if you like.
Make it a game: call out breeze, wind, gale, fly a kite and the children have to
mime appropriately.
Reading
Read page 7 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for
example, by blowing gently on your fingers to illustrate breeze.
the class.
After reading
See Useful link for website with free instructions for making kites in the classroom.
Additional activity
Useful link
Go to http://www.molokai.com/kites/ and find the free instructions 20 kids
20 kites 20 minutes for making kites in the classroom.
22
materials for kite

making.
Topic 3: Boats, balloons and other ways of travelling

Key language
What you need
Additional activity: A

float push hot-air balloon submarine tank

sink boil steam engine steam-powered
copy of the worksheet

By land and by sea for
every child.
Additional activity:

First ideas
Texts for poster-making.
first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Brainstorm different means of transport by writing boat and train on the board
and asking the children to call out other words to add to the list.
Tell the children that today they are going to practise finding information very
fast (scanning), as well as reading some facts about boats and trains and other
ways of travelling. Tell them that when they are looking through the Factbook
to find the information, they should let their eyes scan over the page a bit like
looking for their name on a list, and zoom in when they see the right sort of
words. They can use the pictures to help them too.
Ask the children to work with a partner to find all the different ways of
travelling they can in the Factbook and to write a list or the page number. Ask
the class to tell you what they have found and write a new list on the board.
Reading
Read Why does a boat float? on page 5 of the Factbook, and also pages 11 and
13, pausing to discuss and explain the concepts, for example, by focusing on
the pictures in the Factbook, drawing diagrams on the board and miming with
your hand balloons coming up and down.
Alternatively, play the CD (tracks 10, 12 and 13) instead of reading, pausing where
necessary.
Ask some of the more confident children to read a short section aloud
to the class.
After reading
See the experiment Will it float?
23
See also What

you need for the

experiment.
Answers:
This worksheet uses text from the Factbook. Give out the worksheets with
the strip at the bottom folded under and ask the children what the pictures
show. Get the children to work in pairs and try to fill as many of the gaps
as possible. After a few minutes, tell the children they can unfold the strip
at the bottom to help them check their answers. Make sure they know the
words are not in the right order.
Give out the worksheets unfolded and let the children refer to them
throughout.
Cut the answer strip off the bottom of the page before handing out the
worksheet.
When the children are ready, you could tell them to check the answers in the
Factbook or play the CD (tracks 9 and 12) to them before you go over them
with the class.
Poster-making: Put the children into pairs or small groups and give each
pair or group a text at the right level for them (see page 26.)
Get each group to plan and make a colourful poster illustrating their texts
and to copy the texts onto the posters. Encourage them to be as creative as
they like with the pictures and the lettering so that the process is enjoyable
and memorable. They could make a collage, drawing the outline of their
pictures, tearing up magazine pictures into small pieces, sorting them
according to colour and then gluing them on to the poster. Encourage the
children to discuss how they should share these tasks.
More confident groups could edit or add to their texts or write
their own.
Useful links
Look at http://www.homeschoolscience.com/sample_lessons/sample_
skaters.html for an experiment using paperclips to show how pond skaters
walk on the surface of the water. Introduce the topic by showing the children
the picture of the pond skater on page 9 of the Factbook and ask them what
they notice before reading and discussing the text.
24
1. floats
2. air
3. push
4. rises
5. balloons
6. air
7. down
8. under
9. water
10. sink
11. steam
12. move
Name

Why does a boat float?
A boat 1.
because water pushes it
up from below. A boat has lots of empty space in
it. The empty space is light 2.
, not
heavy water, so the water below doesnt have to
3.
very hard.
Up, up and away!

Hot air 4.
. That is why hot-air
5.
can float in the sky. A flame heats
the 6.
inside the balloon and the hot
air pushes the balloon up. To come 7.
,
the pilot lets out some air from the balloon.
Submarines
Submarines are boats that travel 8.
water. They have special tanks that fill with
9.
to make the submarine
10.
. To make the submarine come
up, the tanks are filled with air.
Steam power
When water boils, it makes 11.
.
Steam is very strong. It can move the lids of
pans when you are cooking and it can even
make steam trains 12.
.
Choose from these words to fill the gaps.

push floats air rises air down balloons

water under sink steam move
25
Texts for poster-making

This boat can float because the water is pushing it up from below. The water doesnt have to push
very hard because the boat has lots of empty space in it. The empty space is light air.
This is a hot-air balloon. The flame is heating the air inside the balloon. The hot air in the balloon
is rising and pushing the balloon high into the sky.
This submarine is a special boat that can travel under water. It has a tank that fills with water
to make the submarine sink. The tank fills with air to make the submarine come up.
When water boils, it makes steam. James Watt invented a very strong steam engine. His steam
engine was used in trains, factories and even steam-powered cars.
texts
This boat can float because it has lots of empty space in it. The empty space is light air.
A flame heats the air inside this balloon. Hot air rises. That is why this hot-air balloon can float
in the sky.
This submarine has a special tank filled with water. That is why the submarine can sink.
When water boils it makes steam. Steam is very strong and can make this steam train move.
texts
These boats can float because water pushes them up from below. They all have lots of empty space
in them. Because the empty space is light air, not heavy water, the water below the boats doesnt
have to push very hard.
The flame in this hot-air balloon heated up the air inside it. The hot air rose and pushed the
balloon high up into the sky. The pilot wants to come down now, so he is letting out some of
the air from the balloon.
This submarine has special tanks that fill with water to make it sink. That is why it can travel
under water. It is under the water now, but the captain is filling the tanks with air. That is why
it is coming up.
This train has a steam engine. Water boils to make the steam. Steam power is very strong and can
make the train move fast. You can see the steam too.
26
Experiment: Will it float?

Procedure
What you need
Gather the children around you and show them one of the containers filled
with water and some of the objects. Ask them to predict which will sink and
which will float. Ask them why. Demonstrate with one or two objects and see
if the children were right. Record the results on the board, on a table with the
headings Things that float and Things that sink.
Tell the children their task is to try to predict five things that will float and five
things that will sink and then to test their predictions. Put them into groups,
each with a container and some objects. Get them to sort through their objects
and then to fill in the first part of the experiment record sheet.
If you like, encourage them to experiment with other objects, but you may want
to tell them to check these with you first.
Help the children to complete the record sheet for the experiment by eliciting
and writing useful language on the board.
Extension activity
Give the children some small pieces of aluminium foil and ask them to
experiment with making shapes that float and shapes that sink.
27
Containers of water. At

least five objects that

will float and at least
five which will sink, for
example, plastic boxes,
mugs, wooden blocks,
sticks and stones, for
each small group of
children.
Equipment to protect

clothes and the

classroom and to clear
up spills.
Hand towels.


for each child.

Use the alternative
record sheet. Fill in the
first column with a list of
objects, five of which will
sink and five of which will
float, for the children to
test. They have to predict
which they think will
float and which will sink
and tick the appropriate
column. They then do the
experiment and tick the
result column when their
predictions are correct.
Name

Will it float?
What we need:


We think these five objects will sink:
We think these five objects will float:

Here are our results:

Things that float
Things that sink
of our predictions were correct.
of our predictions were wrong.

28
Name

Will it float?
Objects
We think it will
float
of our predictions were correct.
of our predictions were wrong.

29
We think it will
sink
Our prediction
is correct

Q: Where does our water
come from?
A: Water in the sea evaporates. This makes clouds

and then rain falls.
Q: Why is the sea salty?
A: The salt comes from rocks in the rivers and sea.
Q: Why do I feel thirsty?
A: Your body is telling you to drink more water.
Q: Why does a boat float?
A: A boat floats because water pushes it up from below.

A boat has lots of empty space in it, so the water
below doesnt have to push very hard.
Q: Why do raindrops fall?
A: The clouds make raindrops. When they get too

heavy to stay in the air, they fall to earth.
Q: Why does the wind blow?
A: When warm air rises, cooler air moves in to fill

the space. We feel this moving air as wind.
Q: What is a cyclone?
A: A cyclone is a high-speed wind that forms

over warm seas.
Q: How can hot-air balloons

float in the sky?
A: Hot-air balloons can float in the sky because hot air

rises. A flame heats the air inside the balloon and
the hot air pushes the balloon up.
Q: How do submarines work?
A: Submarines have special tanks that fill with water

to make the submarine sink.
30


Do each activity in turn, with the children working in pairs or threes, checking the answers as a
class before going on to the next activity either immediately or in a future lesson.

The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the entire
quiz as they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won keeping
this as light-hearted as possible, of course!

The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz as they
can before checking the answers as a class.
Answer key
Activity 1
a) 5
b) 4
c) 7
d) 4
Activity 2
a) 8
b) 11
c) 5
d) 10
Activity 3
gales, hail, wind, breeze, raindrops
Activity 4
2. evaporates
3. clouds
4. falls
5. rain
Activity 5
2. T
3. F. It comes from rocks in the rivers and sea.
4. T
5. T
31
Why Do Leaves Change Colour?

Topic 1: Plants of every colour
Key language
What you need
Pot plants, cut

leaf/leaves chlorophyll stem energy sunlight attract

creature reproduce bee butterfly
First ideas
first time.
flowers, seeds, fruit

and vegetables and/
or pictures of plants
and trees, bees and
butterflies.
A lternatively, if the

school has a suitable

garden, you could start
the lesson off there.
and
icons.

Before reading
Red, yellow, blue, purple

Optional: Leaves whose

Use your plants or pictures to introduce the words leaf, leaves and stem. Say
Heres a leaf. What colour is it? This is the stem. Is it the same colour as the leaf?
and so on. If you are outside, there may be the opportunity to introduce bee and
butterfly and to explain that they and dogs and cats and so on are all creatures.
Alternatively, use pictures to do this. Also ask the children what colours they
can see in the plants, pictures of plants and leaves that you have brought in.
Reading
Read page 4 and Why are flowers different colours? on page 5 of the Factbook,
pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by drawing a picture of
the sun on the board with its rays falling on a leaf.
the class.
32
Some facts about plants

and colour.
and pink crayons.
colours have changed
from green.
Additional activity:

frieze paper, coloured

crayons, string.
After reading
A The children read the sentences in pairs and tick True or False. Go over the
answers with the class, correcting the false sentences with the children.
B The children look at page 15 of the Factbook to check which colours to

colour the flowers. Alternatively, read the section aloud several times while the
children work, or play the CD (track 5).
Artwork: The children could do leaf rubbings by placing suitable leaves under
a sheet of paper and rubbing with a crayon. The children could then cut their
leaf rubbings out carefully and paste them onto one long piece of frieze paper to
decorate the classroom. Alternatively, create an autumnal scene in the corner of
the classroom. Some of the children could paint a tree trunk on a vertical strip
of frieze paper. Attach this to the wall. Then place some of the childrens leaf
rubbings on the floor and thread the rest of the leaves on thread and suspend
them over the pile of leaves.
33
Answers:
A. 1. False. Plants
have green leaves
when they have
chlorophyll in their
leaves and stems.
2. False. Chlorophyll
changes the energy
from sunlight into
food for the plants.
3. True
4. True
B. 1. Red and/or yellow.
2. Blue.
3. Pink, purple and/
or white.
Name

A. Are these sentences true or false? Tick the box.

True False
1. Plants have red leaves when they have chlorophyll in their

leaves and stems.
2. Chlorophyll changes the energy from moonlight into food for

the plants.
3. When the weather is cold, trees stop making chlorophyll.
4. We see different colours in the leaves when they stop

making chlorophyll.
B. Look at these pictures and colour the flowers a colour that each creature prefers.

1.
2.
3.
34
Topic 2: Some weird and wonderful plants

What you need
Key language
Materials for making

desert cactus stem store root giant medicine
posters.

fast-growing superlative adjectives

the experiment.
First ideas
See Introduction for suggestions on how to introduce the Factbook for the first
time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Tell the children that they are going to practise finding information very fast,
as well as reading about some weird and wonderful plants. Tell them that when
they are looking through the Factbook to find the information, they should
let their eyes scan over the page, a bit like looking for their name on a list, and
zoom in when they see the right sort of words. They can use the pictures to help
them too.
Here is an example of how you might introduce key language:
Revise superlative adjectives, for example, by drawing two groups of three trees in
different colours to illustrate tall, taller, tallest and fat, fatter, fattest on the board.
Ask the children Which is the tallest tree? to elicit The blue one (is the tallest tree)
and so on.
Reading
Write the words tallest, largest, fastest-growing, oldest on the board, and ask the
children to find plants that match these words in the Factbook. If necessary,
demonstrate by doing the first one with the children as an example.
As the children find the words and tell the class the page numbers, write simple
sentences on the board for each word, for example, The tallest tree in the world is a
giant redwood called Hyperion. Read the sentences with the children. Then rub out
the superlatives and ask Which is the tallest tree in the world? Which was the tallest tree
ever? Then just give the superlative, for example, tallest as a cue to elicit The tallest
tree in the world is a giant redwood called Hyperion or The tallest tree ever was a fir tree
in Canada.
Now ask the children to scan the Factbook for more weird and wonderful plants.
Ask them to call out the page numbers and to read the names of the plants if
they can. Write the page numbers and the names of the plants on the board.
Read the sections to the children, pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts,
for example, by holding your nose when talking about the Rafflesia flower.
35
Answers:
Tallest: The giant redwood
page 8 and a Douglas fir
tree page 9; largest: the
Rafflesia flower page 10;
fastest growing: bamboo
page 10; oldest (tree): the
bristlecone pine called
Methuselah page 11; oldest
(bush) the creosote bush
called King Clone page 11
After reading
Artwork: The theme of these sections of the Factbook would lend themselves
to large-scale artwork labelled in English. When you have read them, you might
like to organise this in small groups, each group taking one of the weird and
wonderful plants and making a large poster about it for the classroom wall.
Help the children to find additional information about their plants on the
Internet.
36

Note: If suitable bean seeds are available in your region, you could do this
experiment so that the children can see the roots develop, as well as the
stem and leaves.
Procedure
First demonstrate how to line the jam jar with wet blotting paper or kitchen
paper. Then place two or three bean seeds between the paper and the glass.
You will need to keep a small amount of water in the bottom of the jar at
alltimes.
What you need
A jam jar.

Two bean seeds and

some wet blotting paper

for each child and for
you to demonstrate with.
Plant pots and growing

medium for each child.

for each child.

Partially complete
photocopying and get the
children to fill the gaps.
Help the children to complete the first two parts of the experiment record sheet
by eliciting and writing useful language on the board.
Help the children to line their jam jars and place their beans in them.
Put the jam jars in a suitable place, keep the paper reasonably moist and help
the children to monitor what happens, recording this on their record sheets in
writing and by drawing pictures.
Help the children to transplant their plants into suitable pots and growing
medium as the plants develop.
At suitable intervals, get the children to draw different stages of the growth of
their plants.
As a variation, you could experiment with putting some additional seeds in less
favourable positions, for example, in a dark cupboard. The children could then
compare the development of these plants with theirs.
37
Name

Sprouting bean seeds
What we need:


These pictures show what happened:

38
Topic 3: More about plants

Key language
What you need
count rings growth timber note pattern
First ideas
first time.
A copy of the

worksheet Plant
words for every
child.
Optional: A

section of a tree
trunk.

and
icons.
Before reading
Here are some examples of how you might introduce key language:
Show the children your section of a tree trunk or refer them to the pictures on
page 5 of the Factbook. Say Here is a tree trunk. Look there are rings. Trace the
rings with your finger. We can count them. Demonstrate, counting One, two,
three, four. If you have a cross section of a tree trunk, you could also ask them if
they know how old the tree was. If none of the children knows, say they can find
out in the Factbook. If any of the children know, get them to check their ideas
in the Factbook.
Reading
Read How do we know how old a tree is? on page 5 of the Factbook, pausing to
discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by referring to your tree trunk or
the pictures. Alternatively, play the CD (track 15) instead of reading, pausing
where necessary.
Scanning: Ask the children to scan through their Factbooks to find who
discovered how to work out the age of a tree. Read page 13 with the class as
the children follow in their Factbooks.
the class.
After reading
Worksheet: Plant words: Show the children that the first one has been done
Answers:
for them as an example. The children finish labelling the diagrams.
A. b. seeds
c. roots
d. branch
e. leaves
f. trunk
g. growth ring
Tree rings: Help the children to work out the approximate age of the tree from
your cross section of trunk. Alternatively do this with the illustration in the
Factbook. The children might also enjoy drawing their own cross section of a
tree trunk with lots of concentric rings for their friends to count.
39
B. a. A plant with a flower

b. stem
c. flower
d. leaf
C. Pupils own ideas.
Name
Worksheet: Plant words

A. Use the words in the box to label the diagram.
leaves A tree trunk growth ring roots seeds branch
a. A tree
d.
b.
e.
f.
g.
c.
B. Use the words in the box to label the diagram.
flower stem leaf A plant with a flower
a.
c.
b.
d.
C. What other words to do with plants can you think of? Draw some pictures to help you remember.
40

Q: Why do most plants have green leaves?
A: Because chlorophyll makes them green.

Chlorophyll changes the energy from
sunlight into food for the plants.
Q: Why do leaves change colour?
A: When the weather is cold, trees stop

making chlorophyll and so the leaves
are not green any more.
Q: Why are flowers different colours?
A: Flowers need to attract different

creatures to help them to reproduce.
Different creatures like different colours.
Q: How do we know how old a tree is?
A: We can tell how old a tree is by counting

the rings in its trunk.
Q: Do all plants grow in soil?
A: Most plants grow in soil, but some plants

grow on rocks or other plants.
Q: Do large seeds grow into tall plants?
A: Sometimes they do, but not always.
Q: How can the cactus grow in deserts?
A: It has large stems that can store water.
Q: Which is the tallest tree in the world?
A: The tallest tree in the world is a giant

redwood called Hyperion.
Q: Which was the tallest tree ever?
A: The tallest tree ever measured was

a Douglas fir tree in Canada.
Q: Which is the fast-growing plant in

the world?
A: Bamboo is the fastest-growing plant

in the world.
Q: Which is the oldest known living tree

in the world?
A: A bristlecone pine, called Methuselah, is

the oldest known living tree in the world.
41


Do each activity in turn, with the children working in pairs or threes, checking the answers
as a class before going on to the next activity either immediately or in a future lesson.

The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the entire
quiz as they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won keeping
this as light-hearted as possible, of course!

The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz as they
can before checking the answers as a class.
Answer key
Activity 1
2 d) 3 e) 4 c) 5 a)
Activity 2
stem, roots, trunk, chlorophyll, seeds, flower
Activity 3
1
A
3
N
G
I
6
R
E
D
W
O
O
D
Activity 4
1. food
2. rings
3. medicines
4. insects
42
Why Do Bridges Arch?

Topic 1: Famous buildings of the world
Key language
What you need
Pictures of important

dome skyscraper museum movable roof bridge

span tower twin tower castle pyramid
and familiar bridges and

other buildings in your
country.

First ideas
time.
Famous buildings of
the world for each child
or pair of children.
Optional: A long strip of

frieze paper.
and
icons.
Before reading
Additional activity: A

world map and fourteen

self-sticking removable
labels.
Here are some examples of how you might introduce key language, sticking the
pictures on the board and writing the new vocabulary by them throughout:
Use your pictures to introduce as much of the key language as possible. For
example, say Where is this building? Yes, its in our town. Its the bridge over the river.
Look it has a very big span. What about this bridge? Does it have a smaller span or
a bigger span? Yes, it has a smaller span. And where is this building? Yes, its in our
capital city. Its a sports stadium. Look at the roof its a dome. Is it movable? Can
they move the roof?
When all the pictures are on the board, rub off the key language and ask the
children to call out all the words they can remember. Rewrite the words on the
board in their original position.
Invite volunteers to come and write any words they can remember on the
board.
Ask children questions about the buildings, for example, Which building is taller
this one or this one? Do you think this building is very strong? Is it made of metal or
stone? Is it old or new? Is the roof movable?
Tell the children they are going to look at pictures of famous buildings in the
world.
Answers:
Reading
Tell the children to look through the Factbook for pictures of famous buildings
around the world and to fill in the gaps on the worksheet Famous buildings of
the world. Tell them they will have to draw pictures too.
Go over the answers with the children.
43
1. Dome, 2. (children draw

Taipei 101), skyscraper,
3. Museum, 4. roof, 5. Bridge,
span, 6. 1,991, 7. high/tall,
8. Tower, 9. (children draw
the Petronas Twin Towers),
10. Castle, 11. (children draw
the Leaning Tower of Pisa),
12. 5,000, 3,500, 13. Pyramid,
14. (children draw the Sydney
Opera House)
After reading
Draw a timeline on a piece of frieze paper or the board. Help the children to
mark on it when buildings in the Factbook were built. Add your school building
and/or other important buildings in your town.
Sticking labels on a world map: Go round the classroom, giving fourteen of
the children a self-sticking removable label and pointing in the Factbook to one
of the fourteen buildings listed below. Ask them to write its name and country
on their label. Then help them to find the country and stick the label on a map
of the world. Alternatively, ask the child to give the label to another child to
stick on a map of the world. The buildings featured are:
Etihad Dome, Australia (page 4)
Taipei 101, Taiwan (page 5)
Guggenheim Museum, Spain (page 7)
The Rogers Centre, Canada (page 8)
The Sydney Harbour Bridge, Australia (page 8)
The Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Japan (page 8)
The Chrysler Building, USA (page 9)
The Eiffel Tower, France (page 9)
The Petronas Twin Towers, Malaysia (page 9)
White Heron Castle, Japan (page 10)
The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy (page 10)
Stonehenge, England (page 11)
The Great Pyramid of Khufu, Egypt (page 11)
The Sydney Opera House, Australia (page 13)
Our school: Help the children to estimate how tall the school is and how many
times you could stack it up to be the same height as the Chrysler Building or
the Eiffel Tower.
Our bridges: Compare the length of any bridges in your region with that of the
Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge.
44
Worksheet: Famous buildings of the world

Find the famous buildings in your Factbook. Write the missing words and numbers,
and draw the missing pictures.
1. Etihad
, Australia
2. Taipei 101, Taiwan.
This building
is a famous
.
3. Guggenheim
Spain
4. The Rogers Centre in Canada has a

large movable
.
5. The Sydney Harbour
has a
of 503 metres.
7. The Chrysler
Building in New
York is 319 metres
.
6. The main span of the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge

in Japan is
metres long.
45
Name
8. The Eiffel
9. The Petronas
Twin Towers,
Malaysia
,
France
10. The White Heron

Japan
11. The Leaning

Tower of Pisa,
Italy
12. Stonehenge was built between

and
years ago.
13. The Great
of Khufu was built more
than 4,500 years ago.
14. The Sydney Opera House, Australia

46
Topic 2: Building strong and weak structures

Key language
What you need
Toy building bricks or

roof slope dome curved sphere skyscraper strong

weak stable foundations deep shallow steel frame
other toy construction

material.
Strong cardboard.
Sand in a tray.
First ideas
time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Build simple structures with your materials and invite volunteers to come and
build as well. Talk about the structures. For example, say, My structure isnt very
strong. Its very weak. Ill build another one with stronger foundations. Ill make
deep foundations in my sand. Look Carla is building a skyscraper! Ahmeds
building has a roof which slopes.
Put the children into small groups and give each group some building
materials. Ask them to build a strong structure and a weak one. Go round and
chat to each group, recycling and eliciting as much of the key language
as possible.
Ask each group to tell the class which is their strong and which is their weak
structure.
Finally, draw some simple sketches on the board, for example, of a dome,
a skyscraper and a house with a sloping roof. Ask the children to describe your
buildings and write key words on the board beside your sketches.
Reading
Read pages 4, 5 and The leaning tower on page 10 of the Factbook, pausing to
discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by making steep and shallow
slopes with your cardboard and showing how the sand slides off it more or less
easily.
necessary.
the class.
47


the experiment.
After reading
Making structures: Put the children into new groups and get them to use
the best ideas from the Before reading activity and from the Factbook to make
very strong structures.
Experiment: Building a tower out of newspaper and sticky tape.
48
Experiment: Building a tower out of newspaper and sticky tape

What you need
Procedure
Introduce the key language for the task by rolling up a newspaper and securing
it with your sticky tape and then balancing a small plastic toy on your tower.
Say I am going to make a tower. First I am going to roll up this sheet of newspaper.
Now I am going to stick it with sticky tape. Now I am going to balance my toy on
top. Oh, dear! Its fallen over. Maybe I need to make better foundations.
2030 sheets of

newspaper, a roll of
sticky tape and an
identical small object
(for example, a small
plastic animal) for every
two or three children.
Tell the children they will have fifteen minutes to build a tower. Say It mustnt
lean against the wall or a table like this. It must stand on its own like this. You
must be able to balance your toy on top. Which group can make the tallest tower?
Here is my measuring tape. I will come and measure your tower when you call me
to say it is finished. But everyone will have to stop in fifteen minutes!
A measuring tape.
Put the children into pairs or threes, and give out the equipment. Say Go!
Circulate, asking questions and making suggestions. Encourage the children to
plan what they are going to do. Measure each tower when the group has finished
their tower, whether or not they have managed to balance their toy on it, but only
the tallest tower that can balance a toy can be the winner. Then get the children
to write their names and the measurement on the board. Add a star if the tower
supported the toy.
Partially complete
At the end of the allotted time, announce the winning group and then help each
group to show and describe to the class what they have done.
Optional: Help the children to complete the record sheet for the experiment by
eliciting and writing useful language on the board. Then get them to find the
Leaning Tower of Pisa on page 10 of the Factbook.
49
Optional: Experiment

record sheet for every

child.
Name

Building a tower out of newspaper and sticky tape
Here was our task:
Using only rolled up newspapers and sticky tape, how tall can you make a tower that can
still support the plastic toy?
I worked with:
What we did:

ur tower looked like this:
It did/didnt support the plastic toy.
Our tower was
tall.
Which famous tower started to lean immediately because it was built on loose, unstable soil
and its foundations were only 3 m deep? Look in the Why do bridges arch? Factbook.


50
Topic 3: Bridges
Key language
What you need
arch strong shape force curve push load support

suspension bridge triangle rigid out of shape
First ideas
first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Draw simple drawings on the board to represent arch, curve, bridge and triangle.
Say and write the words. Add a load to your bridge and say This bridge can
support this load because it is very strong.
Reading
Read page 6, Why are triangles used in many bridges? on page 7, and Longest steel
arch bridge in Australia and Longest main span bridge in the world on page 8 of the
Factbook, pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by referring
to your drawings on the board and using your hands to illustrate the forces.
necessary.
the class.
After reading
See the experiment Making a bridge out of lollipop sticks or drinking straws.
51
See What you need for

the experiment.
Experiment: Making a bridge out of lollipop sticks

or drinking straws
What you need
Procedure
Demonstrate how you might start to make a bridge. Use triangular structures
to make the bridge strong. Explain to the children that you want their bridges
to span 30 cm.
Put the children into pairs or threes and give out the equipment. Encourage
them to use triangular structures to make their bridges strong. When they have
built their bridges, encourage them to see if they will support their plastic toy,
but allow time for any glue to dry first.
Optional: Help the children to fill in their experiment record sheets by eliciting
and writing useful language on the board.
100 lollipop sticks

and glue for every

pair or group of three
children
or:
100 drinking straws

with pipe cleaners

through the middle for
every pair or group of
three children.
A small toy (for

example, a plastic car

or animal) for each
group.
Optional: Experiment

record sheet for every

child.
52
Name

Making a bridge out of lollipop sticks or drinking straws
This was our task:

Using up to 100 lollipop sticks, make a bridge that spans a 30 cm gap. Then test
to see if it can support a small plastic toy.
Or:
Using up to 100 drinking straws with pipe cleaners through the centre of them, make
a bridge that spans a 30 cm gap. Then test to see if it can support a small plastic toy.
Our bridge looked like this:
It did/didnt support the plastic toy.

53

Q: Why do most roofs slope?
A: Most roofs slope so snow and rain

can slide off them easily.
Q: Why are sports domes curved?
A: Sports domes are curved because

a sphere is a very strong shape.
Q: Why do builders dig a deep hole before

they build a skyscraper?
A: Skyscrapers need very strong and stable

foundations because they are so tall.
Q: What holds up skyscrapers?
A: Most skyscrapers have a steel frame

that holds up the building.
Q: Why can bridges carry heavy loads?
A: Bridges can carry heavy loads because of

the way they are built.
Q: Why do some bridges arch?
A: Because an arch is a very strong shape.
Q: Why are triangles used in many bridges?
A: Because a framework made of triangles

is very strong.
Q: Why does the Leaning Tower of Piza

lean?
A: The Tower of Pisa leans because it was

built on loose, unstable soil and its
foundations were only 3 m deep.
Q: When was Stonehenge built?
A: Stonehenge was built between 5,000

and 3,500 years ago.
Q: When was the Great Pyramid of

Khufu built?
A: The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built

more than 4,500 years ago.
Q: What inspired Jrn Utzons design

of the Sydney Opera House?
A: Segments of an orange.
54

You will find a quiz on pages 14 and 15 of the Factbook. Here are some ways you could use
the quiz:


The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the
entire quiz as they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won
keeping this as light-hearted as possible, of course!

The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz
as they can before checking the answers as a class.
The children work individually on the entire quiz and then compare their answers in
pairs or threes before checking them as a class.
Answer key
Activity 4
Activity 1
1. dome
2
2. triangle
3. arch
4. castle
5. skyscraper
6. roof
7. tower
8. bridge
Activity 2
2. foundations
3. tallest
4. Triangles
Gustave Eiffel was the

French engineer who
designed and built the
Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
55
Activity 3
5. snow
Why Do Crocodiles Snap?

Topic 1: Different kinds of animals
Key language
What you need
One picture of an

be born lay eggs mammals reptiles hatch

herbivore carnivore omnivore
animal for every

child.
Pictures of plants

First ideas
first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Display a selection of your pictures and use them to introduce as much of the
target language as you think the children can retain. For example, draw an egg
on the board and ask Which of these animals lays eggs? Get the children to help
you move the pictures around to form two groups: those that lay eggs, and those
that are mammals. You could then draw cracks on your egg and maybe a little
head peeping out and say This egg is hatching. Show the children your pictures
of plants and say Herbivores just eat plants. Here is a lion. Is it a herbivore? No! It
eats meat. Show the picture of meat. You could then get the children to rearrange
your animal pictures into herbivores and others. Then divide the others into
omnivores and carnivores in a similar way.
To practise some or all of the vocabulary you have introduced, give every child
a picture of an animal. Then play a game. Say Show me the herbivores! Show me
the animals that lay eggs! etc. Encourage all the children to hold their pictures
up at the appropriate times. As the children get familiar with the vocabulary,
you can go faster and faster. Alternatively, if you have a large space, instead of
holding up their pictures, the children could form a circle and step into the
middle or run to one side of the room.
When they are ready, the children could take it in turns to make the
commands.
56
that animals might

eat. A picture of
meat.
A copy of the

worksheet How
popular are our
pets? for every child.
Reading
Read page 4, page 5 and What do animals eat? on page 6 of the Factbook, pausing to
discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by referring to your animal pictures.
Ask some of the more confident children to read a short section aloud to the class.
Scanning: Put the children into small groups. Write the headings Mammals,
Reptiles and Fish on the board and then allocate each group one of the headings.
(Add other headings such as Invertebrates or Insects at your discretion.) The
mammal groups have to look through the Factbook and write down all the names
of mammals that they can find and the other groups do the same with the reptiles
and the fish. (Some groups will be much busier than others.) Some of the words
will be new, so circulate and tell the children how the names are pronounced.
If you are unsure which groups an animal belongs to, tell the children they or
you can look it up now or later. After a few minutes, get the children to call out
the names of the animals for each group. Help with pronunciation and write the
names on the board under the heading.
Repeat the activity with the headings Herbivores, Carnivores and Omnivores,
reminding the children that all the mammals, reptiles and fish can also be grouped
under the herbivore, carnivore and omnivore headings.
After reading
Ask the children to look at the table. Ask how many different kinds of animal
there are in the homes of the boys listed. Then ask the children to look at the bar
chart and say which is the most popular kind of animal in the homes of the boys
in Alejandros class. Read through the instructions with the children. Then put
them into small groups and allocate them another group to do their survey on, for
example, the teachers in the school, the boys in the next class. Alternatively, they
could do a survey of their own group, or you could do a class survey as a whole
class activity.
Simplified questions and answers (page 62): See Introduction for suggestions on
how to use these.
Revision and extension activity: Divide the board into three. Introduce the
words amphibian and invertebrate, using animals in the Factbook and your animal
pictures. Ask the children if they have any pets at home. Ask them what sort and
write or help the children to write all the names of the species on the board in a
well-spaced list in the first section. Then ask them what the various species eat and
write or help the children to write the information down in the second section of
the board, opposite each type of pet. Decide with the children whether each type
of pet is a herbivore, a carnivore or an omnivore and write h, c or o by the name.
Then write the headings Mammal, Reptile, Amphibians, Birds, Invertebrates and
Fish in the third section of the board and get the children to help you sort the
animals into the right groups.
Factfiles: Help the children to make a factfile about their favourite animal,
including where it lives, what it eats, how big it grows, how to look after it if you
can keep it as a pet, pictures and so on.
57
Name

Alejandro did a survey among the boys in his class. Here are some of the results.
Name
Type of pet Type of pet Type of pet Type of pet Type of pet
Andres
dog
cat
Carlos
Eduardo
goldfish
Felipe
dog
Alejandro
(me!)
cat
rabbit
guinea pig
cat
Then he drew a bar chart to show how popular the different kinds of pet are in the homes
of the boys in his class.
20
19
18
17
16
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
fish
dogs
rabbits
cats
guinea pigs
snakes
Do a survey of your group. Ask Do you have any pets at home? and What sort of pets do you
have at home? Make a table and a bar chart like Alejandros.
58
Topic 2: Adaptation
What you need
Key language
Pictures of animals in

desert mountain ice and snow adapt camel

polar bear fur penguin feather
their natural habitats,

including a polar bear,
acamel and a penguin.
Small cards for making

First ideas
factfiles.
first time.

and
icons.
Before reading
Use your pictures to introduce as much of the target language as possible. For
example, say Whats this? Its a polar bear. Whats this? Its fur, thick fur. Can a
polar bear live in the desert? (Show another picture or draw a solitary palm tree
under a hot sun.) Why not? Its fur is too thick. It is adapted to live in the ice and
snow. Is this sand? No. What is it? Its snow.
Hand the pictures round the class. Ask individual children to hold up their pictures
and ask the class questions to elicit as much of the target language as possible, for
example, ask Is that a polar bear or a grizzly bear? Where does it live? Does it have
feathers?
Reading
Read page 5 and Natural selection: Charles Darwin on page 12 of the Factbook,
pausing to discuss and clarify the concepts, for example, by asking what would
happen if camels had very small feet. Encourage children to mime the answer if
they cant articulate it in English.
necessary.
the class.
Scannning the whole book: Write the habitats in the list below on the board. Tell
Answers:
the children to look through the Factbook in pairs, looking at the pictures and
letting their eyes skim across the pages without reading every word to find the
habitats. The children should note down the page numbers along with the name
of the animals that live there. If you like, do the first one as an example with the
children. When the children have finished, go over the answers.
Hot deserts / sand page 5

camels
Ice and snow page 5 polar
bears and penguins
Sea page 5 lionfish and
penguins, page 9 sharks and
whales
Caves and trees page 11
vampire bats
Hot deserts / sand

Ice and snow
Sea (Tell the children to find animals on two pages.)
Caves and trees
59
After reading
Factfiles: Get the children to make factfiles about animals in your region,
including drawings and descriptions of how they are adapted to where they live.
If you have a twinning or pen pal arrangement with a school in an Englishspeaking country, you could send these to the children there. Maybe they could
send back information about animals in their region.
Additional activity
Useful links
You can find further information about different habitats and some amazing
animals at http://gowild.wwf.org.uk/gowild/amazinganimals/index.asp
60
Topic 3: Endangered species

Key language
What you need
hunt rare endangered tigers pandas whales

protect die out
First ideas
time.
Pictures and

information about
endangered species,
including ones from
your region.
Pictures of animals that

are not endangered.
Large sheets of paper for

making posters.

and
icons.
Before reading
Talk and ask questions about the animals in your pictures. For example, ask
Where does this animal live? Yes, it lives in our country. Can you see one easily?
Have you seen one? No, it is difficult to find them now. They are rare. There are
only 500 living in our country. Thats not many. They are very rare. Maybe they
will all disappear they are endangered. What about this animal? Is it rare?
No, we can see them easily. There are thousands and thousands of them! Is it
endangered? No, it isnt.
Reading
Read Endangered animals on page 7 of the Factbook, pausing to discuss and
clarify the concepts, for example, by talking again about the animals in your
pictures.
After reading
Poster-making: Get the children to make posters to tell people about
endangered species and what experts or ordinary people can do to help. There is
information about this on the websites listed under Useful links below.
Additional activity
Useful links
http://www.kidsplanet.org/factsheets/map.html
http://gowild.wwf.org.uk/gowild
61

Q: How are animals
born?
A: Different animals are born in different ways.
Q: Where do
animals live?
A: Animals live everywhere on Earth.
Q: What do
animals eat?
A: Herbivores eat plants, fruit and seeds. Carnivores eat other

animals. Omnivores eat plants and meat.
Q: Can animals
hurt me?
A: Yes, they can. They can bite or scratch.
Q: Why do
wolves howl?
A: Wolves howl to call their pack.
Q: Why do
crocodiles snap?
A: They snap their jaws shut to catch their prey. They also snap
their jaws to scare away other crocodiles.
Q: What are
endangered
animals?
A: Animals that are very rare and might die out completely are
called endangered animals.
Q: Which is the
fastest animal
in the world?
A: The cheetah is the fastest animal in the world.
Q: Which is the
biggest animal
in the world?
A: The blue whale is the biggest animal.
Q: How do
snakes smell?
A: A snake can smell with its mouth. It uses its tongue to get air.
Then it smells the air with its mouth.
Q: What do vampire
bats eat?
A: Vampire bats eat blood. They come out at night and bite their prey
with sharp teeth.
62

You will find a quiz on pages 14 and 15 of the Factbook. Here are some ways you could use
the quiz:


The children work in small mixed ability teams to complete as many of the answers in the
entire quiz as they can before checking the answers as a class and seeing which team has won
keeping this as light-hearted as possible, of course!

The children work in pairs or threes to complete as many of the answers in the entire quiz
as they can before checking the answers as a class.
The children work individually on the entire quiz and then compare their answers
in pairs or threes before checking them as a class.
Answer key
Activity 1
shark
elephant
snake
tiger
crocodile
Activity 2
1. Crocodile. Because all the others are mammals.
2. Penguin. Because all the others are mammals.
Activity 3
1. jaws
2. claws
3. paws
Childrens own ideas, for example, or, door, poor, four, raw.
Activity 4
2. vampire bat
3. cheetah
4. flea
5. camel
Activity 5
2. F. A carnivore eats meat.
3. F. Polar bears have thick fur to keep them warm.
4. T
5. F. Crocodiles snap loudly to scare away other crocodiles.
63

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Factbooks:

Thanks and Acknowledgements

Topic 1: What is everything made of?

Why Do Raindrops Fall?

Topic 1: Weather facts rain

Why Do Leaves Change Colour?

Topic 1: Plants of every colour

Why Do Bridges Arch?

Topic 1: Famous buildings of the world

Why Do Crocodiles Snap?

Topic 1: Different kinds of animals

Why are the book titles all questions?

When should I use the books?

How should I introduce the books in class?

Mixed ability teaching

activities as extension activities for your fast finishers.

What should I do then?

Why Does Water Freeze?

solid liquid gas made of matter

pourable solids, for

Examples of liquids, for

example, orange juice,

Jugs on a tray. A cloth

and hand towels.

and/or a bottle of fizzy

A copy of the worksheet

Mixed ability teaching

Solid, liquid or gas? for

Worksheet: Solid, liquid or gas?

Worksheet: Solid, liquid or gas?

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

Topic 2: Liquids, solids, freezing and melting

What you need

Water, a jug and a bowl

wet loosely stick dry freeze melt

on a tray. Cloth and

Some ice cubes in a clear

See also What

Mixed ability teaching

Experiment: Which ice cube will melt first,

Small ice cubes (all

the same size and

(not mercury) for each

clothes and the

for the children to do

Experiment record sheet

What will be the same for each ice cube?

What will be different for each ice cube?

Where will my group put our ice cube?

What my group did:

What the class discovered:

What makes ice cubes melt? Look at page 6 of the Factbook.

What I thought of this experiment:

Cambridge University Press 2010 PHOTOCOPIABLE

What you need

A bottle of fizzy drink.

A candle and matches.

Mixed ability teaching

See also What

you need for the

Experiment: What will happen if our teacher

A glass jam jar.

sheet for each child

Experiment record sheet

Topic 1: What is everything made of?

Topic 1: Weather facts rain

Topic 1: Plants of every colour

Topic 1: Famous buildings of the world

Topic 1: Different kinds of animals

2. Then our teacher put a jam jar over the