Standards Aligned
Literature Grouping with Rationale
The Neptune Project
Holyoke,
Polly. The Neptune Project.
Disney·Hyperion Books, 2014.
810L
10
– 13 years old/3-5th grade
Set
in the distant future, Nere discovers the reason she’s always felt different is
that she is. Her genes were altered before she was ever born. Her friends at
the Neptune colony are also all a part of this same science experiment meant to
make them better able to handle ocean climates than regular humans can. Once
they find out their actual purpose in life set by the government scientists,
the kids run away.
Alignment
CCSS.ELA-L.RL.3.3 - Describe
characters in a story (e.g., their traits, motivations, or feelings) and explain
how their actions contribute to the sequence of events
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.3 - Describe the
relationship between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or
concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text, using language that
pertains to time, sequence, and cause/effect.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RI.3.7 - Use information
gained from illustrations (e.g., maps, photographs) and the words in a text to
demonstrate understanding of the text (e.g., where, when, why, and how key
events occur).
Goals:
The
students will read fictional text and then brainstorm out ideas on paper about
the characters and animals in the book. The students will have created artwork
based on a single character/animal from the fiction book, the student will use
the visual resource books to create an accurate representation of the animal in
their artwork. The student will present their art to the class, they will
explain details of the character and animal they chose and why.
Learning Objectives:
Cognitive: The student will read the fiction book and use the nonfiction photobook alongside it. The student write 10 ideas down in a brainstorm format
about characters and animals
in the fiction book.
Psychomotor: The student will create one
piece of artwork based
on a character and animal
from the fiction book, using
the nonfiction books as reference for how it should look in real life.
Cognitive: The student will show
their artwork and explain to the class their reasons for choosing this
character and animal, and explain 4 details
from the nonfiction books on
how the aligned animal
associated with the character is like real life versions of the animal.
Outcomes:
The
student will read the fiction book, look through the photobook while reading
the fiction book. The student will write ideas about the characters and animals
from the story. The student will create artwork of an animal from the story,
the student will use the nonfictional books as resources to create the artwork.
The student will then present their artwork to the class and talk about the
animal/character.
Activity
In
this activity,
(1)
the students will read The Neptune
Project and keep the Ocean: A Visual
Encyclopedia alongside them to compare the text to real life images of the
animals described therein.
(2)
The students brainstorm, short phrases and sentences grouped on paper, about
the representation of marine biology and aquatic life in the fictional book
compared to how the real-life versions live. This includes environment, size,
color, temperament – the comparison extends to the animals and the human
characters who are aligned with a specific type of animal.
(3)
Once the student has some ideas written down, they will create artwork
depicting one of the characters/animals from the fictional text. They can use
pen, paint, or modeling clay to represent their animal. The work should
reference the real-life images found within Ocean:
A Visual Encyclopedia and Oceans:
Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins, and More! in size, shape, and appearance.
(4)
The student will present their artwork to the class, describing the character
from The Neptune Project they
selected, the aquatic animal that character is aligned with, and explain how
the real-life animal is like the character – Are they quick to anger? Fierce
fighter? Quick to flee? Works alone or in a group? Real life details of the
animals should be sourced from Sharkopedia:
The Complete Guide to Everything Shark, Oceans:
Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins and More!, and Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle.
Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle
Nivola, Claire A. Life in the Ocean: The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Frances
Fostster Books, Farrar Straus Giroux, 2012.
NC1170L
The
students will read this text after completing The Neptune Project and use it in their comparison of how real-life
scientists interact with the wildlife in the ocean compared to the characters
in the fictional book. This book will provide additional details about the landscape,
experiences underwater for real-life humans in deep waters, and how the aquatic
animals behave around people. It is related because of how both books describe
oceanic life, one in outer space and the other on Earth.
Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia
Woodward, John. Ocean: A Visual Encyclopedia. DK Publishing, 2015.
IG1200L
The
students will use this book alongside The
Neptune Project to see how the aquatic animals look in real life while they
are reading about them in the fictional version. This visual resource will be
used again for the secondary part of the assignment, visual art or sculpture of
one of the Neptune Kids’ animal connection, whichever animal DNA that was used
with each child. It is related because all of the different animals in The Neptune Project are all shown in
photographs within this book. It is a good companion to have alongside the
fictional text.
Oceans: Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins and More!
Rizzo, Johnna, and Sylvia A. Earle. Oceans: Dolphins, Sharks, Penguins, and
More!: Meet 60 cool sea creatures and explore their amazing watery world.
National Geographic, 2010.
1190L
The
students will use this book for their presentation of their visual art or
sculpture they created. They will use the information from the text to explain
how the real-life animal they chose is like the character it’s tied to in The Neptune Project. It is related
because of the details/facts that accompany each entry of the animals. This
book gives general statistics, comparisons to other animals of the same species
(types of dolphins – color patterns, body shape, age), and provides detailed
images of each animal. This is useful in the construction of the artwork
portion of the assignment and for the presentation of the artwork at the end.
Sharkopedia: The Complete Guide to Everything Shark
Sharkopedia: The
Complete Guide to Everything Shark. Time Inc. Books, 2015.
1120L
The
students will use this book for their presentation of their visual artwork or
sculpture if they used a character that is aligned with sharks. Most of the
other texts do not include much information about sharks. This text is useful
for students who choose this animal for their artwork as it shows the size,
shape, and color between different types of sharks. It is related because of
the details it gives for the animals that the other books do not provide for
sharks. This book fills in any gaps for information if students select this
animal, the prior books only provide one or two entries for sharks.
