Week 27 The Grand Canyon Part 1

Main Idea and Details You have learned that nonfiction selections have main ideas supported by details. Sometimes a passage does not clearly state the main idea in one sentence. You can use details as clues to figure out the main idea. Ask yourself what important idea the details tell about. Page 700

Read the paragraph on the next slide. Then look at the graphic organizer on the slide after the paragraph. It shows how supporting details can help you figure out a main idea that is not directly stated in the text. Page 701

You hike the steep trail to the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There you come upon a Havasupai village. You wonder how the people can live in such a dry area. You talk with them and learn the answer. For centuries, the Havasupai have used the water of the Colorado River to irrigate crops. Today, they also earn money from tourism. page 701

Read the following paragraph with your partner. Then take turns summarizing the paragraph for each other.

More Background Information:

(Thanks to Clare Pechon, Independence, Lousiana) for voc slides.

Something ancient is very, very old. What is one ancient city or country you have read about?

Something distant is very far away. What distant place would you most like to visit?

Sentries are people who stand as guards around a camp, building, or other area. Which place might have sentries – a fort or a park?

Something that glistens looks wet and shiny. What might cause a lake to glisten at night?

If an object is embedded in something, it is stuck firmly in it. What would be a bad thing to find embedded in a chocolate bar?

Cascading water falls or rushes downward very fast. Which would have more cascading water – a pond or a waterfall?

If you are weary, you are very tired from working hard at something and you want to stop. What is one activity that has made you feel weary?

Something that is eroding is being slowly scraped away a little at a time, often by the force of moving water or strong wind. Would a hillside that is eroding become bigger or smaller over time? Why?

Vocabulary The Amazing Power of Rivers Student pages

The Amazing Power of Rivers Throughout the world, rivers have created landforms that amaze travelers. page 702

In the American Southwest, the Colorado River has carved the Grand Canyon out of layers of colorful rock. It has exposed rock embedded with fossils. page 702

In East Africa, the Zambezi River has created another natural wonder. Visitors to this distant place are rewarded with an amazing sight. The broad, gently flowing Zambezi suddenly pours over cliffs. The cascading waters form Victoria Falls, one of the largest waterfalls in the world. page 702

The falling water drops into a deep canyon. It then roars through a narrow gorge. Since ancient times, the river has been eroding the rock there. Sun and mist create rainbows above the gorge. Wet rock glistens where sunshine reaches it. Page 703

You can see more than rock and water near Victoria Falls. Hippos wallow and antelopes leap. Baboons patrol paths as if they were sentries. Lions prowl nearby. You may be weary after all the hiking you'll be doing to see it all, but you will always remember the trip! Page 703