journey to the center of the earth vocabulary

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jules verne, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Jules Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

Journey to the Center of the Earth: Introduction

Journey to the center of the earth: plot summary, journey to the center of the earth: detailed summary & analysis, journey to the center of the earth: themes, journey to the center of the earth: quotes, journey to the center of the earth: characters, journey to the center of the earth: symbols, journey to the center of the earth: theme wheel, brief biography of jules verne.

Historical Context of Journey to the Center of the Earth

Other books related to journey to the center of the earth.

• Full Title: Journey to the Center of the Earth
• When Written: Early 1860s
• Where Written: France
• When Published: 1864
• Literary Period: Romanticism, Realism
• Genre: Science Fiction
• Setting: 1863 in Germany, Iceland, and a series of subterranean tunnels
• Climax: Axel, Lidenbrock, and Hans create an abyss with a violent explosion that sends their raft into a waterspout.
• Antagonist: The dangers of nature
• Point of View: First Person

Extra Credit for Journey to the Center of the Earth

Lost in Translation. The first English translation of Journey to the Center of the Earth , published in 1871, was in fact not a translation but a complete rewriting of the novel. Character names were changed, chapters were given titles, and entire portions of the story were added or removed.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

By jules verne, journey to the center of the earth glossary.

a legendary pseudoscience centered on the transformation of common metals into gold

persistent and dedicated

a monument or memorial to honor those whose actual remains are buried elsewhere

relating to a personality singularly characterized by a bad temper; quickly and easily roused to anger

any secret, coded written message

deplorable, repugnant; almost unbearably awful

a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs

involving a fortunate happenstance; by a stroke of good luck

a breathtakingly ignorant person; a blockhead, a dimwit, or a numbskull

a sexually desirable young woman

haphazardly done; performed with a reckless disregard for planning beforehand

even-keeled and slow to action; not easily upset or ruffled

someone who speaks many languages

lying on the ground in a position of pleading or subordination

judicious, sensible, discreet; exhibiting sound judgment

impractically romantic

recalcitrant

rebellious or contrary-minded; stubbornly resistant to the idea of bowing to authority

pertaining to the translation of an ancient textual system called runes

quaking with anxiety and shaking with fear

trepidation

a feeling of fear or worry

consuming vigorously or energetically; possessing a gluttonous desire that cannot be satisfied

Journey to the Center of the Earth Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for Journey to the Center of the Earth is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

trevor and his brother researched the possiblity of volcanic tubes passing thorugh what layer of the earth

Volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth.

Trevor and his brother researched the possibility of volcanic tubes passing through what layer of the Earth?

Is this a question or a statement?

What were the objections that Axel raised against the document of Arne Saknusemm? How did his uncle reply?

• Axel tried to convince his uncle that the document was likely a forgery or joke.

• Axel argued that no tunnel would be able reach the center of the earth without being crushed.

Please post your questions separately.

Study Guide for Journey to the Center of the Earth

Journey to the Center of the Earth study guide contains a biography of Jules Verne, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Journey to the Center of the Earth Summary
• Character List

Lesson Plan for Journey to the Center of the Earth

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to Journey to the Center of the Earth
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• Journey to the Center of the Earth Bibliography

Wikipedia Entries for Journey to the Center of the Earth

• Introduction
• Main characters
• Publication notes
• Adaptations

Journey to the Center of the Earth Unit Study

Hi everyone! I have another fun Literature Unit Study and Lapbook for you today. This one is on the classic Journey to the Center of the Earth . Hope you enjoy!

Story Summary:

The Journey to the Center of the Earth is a fictional story about a young man and his uncle who are launched on an action-packed adventure deep into the center of the Earth. What will they they discover in the unknown depths and will they make it back? You’ll have to read the book to find out!

This accompanying unit study is meant to be used with the Journey to the Center of the Earth Classic Starts version as retold from the Jules Verne original. The Classic Start versions are find them a little easier for younger readers, but you could certainly use this unit study with the original version if you have an older student. The lapbook chapters will correlate with the Classic Starts edition, but the concepts are the same, so you should be able to complete the units using any version you choose.

What ages are these units for?

I normally recommend my literature units for elementary level readers grades 1-5. You can assign them out individually to your student so they read on their own, then complete the mini-book assignment for each chapter. There are writing assignments for each chapter as your students answer comprehension questions from the reading. So you’ll just want to make sure they’re comfortable writing.

Or you can read it together as a group if you have younger readers, then have them complete the mini-book assignments when you’re done with each chapter.

How long does the literature unit take?

That really depends on your child’s reading speed, and how many chapters there are in the book! And how fast your child reads through the chapters as well.

Each one varies in length, and you can easily modify these units to fit your schedule. So for example, you can assign one chapter per day plus the associated mini-book assignments, or you can have them do 2-3/week. It’s totally up to you, your schedule, and your student.

What’s included in the Unit Study?

Each unit includes everything you need to complete the literature unit and lapbook with the exception of the book itself and a couple of regular file folders .

The download includes a teacher’s manual with the daily reading assignments, along with the comprehension questions and answers for each chapter. This makes it much easier for you to help your students even if you haven’t read the book yourself!

There is also one mini-book for each chapter in the book. Inside your student will answer a comprehension question that relates directly to the chapter they’ve just read. Some assignments include vocabulary words, comprehension questions, and completing the various reports included in the curriculum.

For older students:

This unit includes 5 reports that your students can complete. If you have older readers, have them do these reports to make the unit a bit more challenging. If you have younger readers, you might prefer to ask the questions verbally so they aren’t having to write a report.

The reports include:

• Story Facts (Setting, Main Plot, Main Characters)
• Protagonist vs. Antagonist
• Prediction Sheet
• My Book Report
• Book vs. Movie
• Storyboard timeline

As you read through the book, each chapter has a mini-book with comprehension questions for your student to complete.

This unit has 20 mini-books plus a vocabulary mini-book full of terms to learn throughout the reading.

Then on the backside of the lapbook, I added a pocket  where you can store the reports and story timelines just to keep everything together.

Get your copy today and start learning with classic literature! 

Looking for more unit studies? Check out these links!

• My Literature Lapbooks
• My Science & Inventor Lapbooks
• Famous Artists Lapbook & Unit Study
• Famous Composers Lapbook & Unit Study

How did I make this lapbook? Check out the video tutorials below!

• Tri-Fold Lapbook Tutorial
• How To Lapbook Tutorials

Of course you know I love to give back to my readers, so I’m offering 1 of these units free for one of you! Enter below!

**If you don’t want to wait, purchase it now, AND enter the giveaway. If you win, I’ll refund your purchase!

Hi Erica, I bought this lap book recently and we are just finishing it today. I thought I’d mention that my kids pointed out that you have the same title for chapters 19 and 20 and they think chapter 19 should read Eruption. Cheers, Lisa

Hello, I purchased your Lapbook and used it last year but couldn’t find my questions. This year I purchased another and the questions are different. Can you help? Coreen

Hi Coreen, I’ll send you an email so we can clarify 🙂

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Journey to the Center of the Earth

• Before Reading the Novel
• While Reading the Novel
• After Reading the Novel
• Extended Learning
• Bibliography
• About the Guide Authors
• About the Guide Editors
• Buy this Book!

Enter promo code TEACH for 15% off.

INTRODUCTION

Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne is a novel that literally plunges the reader into the center of the earth through vivid descriptions, detailed explanations, and the "eyewitness" accounts of the narrator. On the most basic level, Journey is an adventure story – a tale of the obstacles, encounters, and wonders. The eccentric scientist Professor Hardwigg finds directions to the center of the earth in an old book and sets out, along with his nephew Henry and the guide Hans, to Iceland where they find the mountain and the shaft that allows them access to the depths of the earth. On a deeper level the story can be seen as man's journey into himself, always probing deeper for what lies at his center.

Written in 1864, this novel is a remarkable look into the future. Although students will recognize scientific predictions that were based on inaccurate assumptions, language that is somewhat antiquated, and a beginning that proceeds at a leisurely pace, they will appreciate Verne's ability to weave into the story information and questions about science that will keep them in a state of curiosity and wonderment. Since the novel moves at a slower pace than action-packed thrillers like Star Wars on which today's students have been raised, a good strategy to keep students involved in the novel is to provide them with many opportunities to predict what will happen and to encourage them to look for clues about what is to come. Students will gradually begin to understand how far ahead of his time Verne was in comprehending science and in basing his writings on some sense of the possible. They will see why he is considered by many to be the father of science fiction.

Verne extrapolated his adventures and inventions from scientific fact and what was known in the world at the time. Verne's emphasis on then current scientific knowledge makes his work unique. Laying a carefully documented scientific foundation for his fantastic adventure stories, he forecast with remarkable accuracy many scientific achievements of the 20th century. He anticipated flights into outer space, submarines, helicopters, air conditioning, guided missiles, and motion pictures long before they were developed. This teacher's guide encourages student participation through activities that encourage students to interact with the novel and think about the science involved in the novel.

Students who are mature, avid readers and like to be challenged with new information and ideas are the ideal audience for this novel. Introducing them to exciting minds such as Verne's gives them a new perspective on today's advances in writing and science, helping them understand that contemporary society did not invent information and imagination. Additionally, students learn that even prior to the age of computers humans possessed depth and breadth of knowledge. Verne was curious, fascinated by the world, and always wanted to know more. He shared what he learned with others through the medium of the novel. His other goal, to entertain his readers, was met through the construction of plotlines that continuously move readers through the work and the adventure. Journey to the Center of the Earth is not only a model of well crafted writing but a prototype of the kind of adventure stories that are so popular today in movies and in books.

A focus of this teacher's guide is to place students in the exciting role of explorers, with you acting as supporter and guide. Its goal is to help establish an interactive classroom in which students share written responses in small groups and then with the whole class, emphasizing discovery and involvement. When students raise questions about the time period, the background of the author, the unusual vocabulary and concepts, you can share information or encourage students to locate it themselves through such resources as the Internet. Sharing information with students as they raise questions is more effective than overwhelming them with information out of context. Stopping for short research sessions can whet their reading appetite.

Likewise, when students debate issues and opinions they are encouraged to return to the text to support their assertions. Although this guide has an abundance of activities and questions, the intent is to support you and your students' choices. It is not important or even desirable to have students respond to every chapter. More realistically, you might ask students to respond to one suggestion for every four or five chapters read. Students can share their work in small groups, raising the interest of other students. It is important to vary the activities and keep the work interesting by letting students use their imaginations as they demonstrate their involvement in the book.

The guide is divided into three sections. The first section provides background information to assist in answering questions. The Overview contains a brief biographical sketch of Jules Verne and a list of background information on what was happening in the world of science in the middle of the nineteenth century. The second or teaching section of the guide contains activities arranged for use either before, during, or after reading the novel. The third section provides ideas for extending the students' learning beyond the novel.

Some Notes on the Novel

The structure of this novel is simple, developed mainly through a single linear plotline told in retrospect. Students will find it easy to follow what is happening. Also, the relationships among the three main characters are easy to understand since they are seen close-up with no other characters to complicate the focus. The relationship between Harry (Henry) and Professor Hardwigg changes and grows in this plot-dominant novel, allowing examination of characterization of subtleties. The Afterword in the Signet Classic edition suggests an interesting approach to analyzing Verne's characters as representations of the mind, the body, and the soul.

What does take reader energy, of course, is the stunning array of scientific information. Many questions are raised creating an urge to run to an encyclopedia or the Internet to learn about more fascinating information or check its accuracy. Journey to the Center to the Earth makes the reader want to know and understand more. This was part of Verne's purpose; he viewed the novel as equal parts entertainment and instruction.

Historical Commentary

In the mid-19th century, during Verne's lifetime, exploration to unknown lands was in vogue. During this period, the interior of Africa, the geographical and magnetic poles, and much of Central and South America were little known by Europeans. Well known explorers such as Sir Richard Burton and Henry Morton Stanley and David Livingston were exploring above the earth's surface as their fictional counterparts Professor Hardwigg and Harry were exploring below.

Also, Charles Darwin was gaining attention for his theory of evolution; this is touched on by Verne in this novel. New frontiers were opening while "new ideas about the planet's core, prehistoric man, dinosaurs, and early life on earth battled religious intolerance and Barnum-like hoaxes" (Afterword 292). The Afterword of this Signet Classic edition explains that Verne "was able to adapt nearly every important element in the story's action from contemporary, intellectual, literary, scientific, and geographical thought" (291). The world during Verne's lifetime was a ferment of new ideas and was exploding with new knowledge. Verne captures that spirit in Journey to the Center of the Earth .

Verne's Life

Jules Verne was born in 1828 in France and died in 1905, spending the majority of his life writing over eighty books. He was born to a father who was a lawyer and to a mother who came from a family of ship builders and sea captains. The oldest of five children, Jules was trained in law but was more interested in writing opera librettos and plays, much to the chagrin of his father. After his first book was published in 1863, he devoted his life to writing, although geography and travel remained dominant interests.

Verne had no formal training in science. His passion was geography; everything else he learned from his reading, which included about fifteen newspapers a day. He took voluminous notes giving him a good sense of the emerging knowledge in many fields. He was very modest about his ability to predict inventions, saying he only extended what was already happening at the time.

Summary of the Novel

After decoding a scrap of paper he found in an old book, Professor Hardwigg decides to undertake the Journey to the Center of the Earth that the paper says is possible. Brushing aside the concerns of his nephew Harry about the temperature of the earth's interior, the Professor insists that Harry accompany him on the journey. Gathering needed supplies, the pair depart two days later for Mt. Sneffels in Iceland, the point through which they can gain access to the core of the earth.

With the Icelander Hans as their guide, the party undertakes the rugged journey up to the mountain, stopping to rest along the way at the homes of Icelanders. Through these contacts they learn much about Icelandic culture. Once they reach the mountain, the three descend into the crater and after several days determine which of three shafts is the one through which they can make their descent. Aided by Hans' s knowledge of how to use ropes they travel downward more than a mile the first day. The Professor explains that they are now at sea level and the real journey is just beginning.

At the bottom of the shaft, they come upon four crossed paths that they can follow and the Professor quickly chooses one. After several days trekking and almost out of water, they must retrace their steps because the path dead ends. Finally returning to the place of the four crossed paths, Harry collapses and assumes they will return to the surface. Although the Professor shows concern for Harry, he asks for one more day to find water before they abandon the journey. They select a different route and soon discover water.

Days later they find a well-like shaft through which they descend to twenty-one miles below the surface of the earth. Continuing to descend rapidly, Harry goes ahead of the others and soon finds himself alone. In desperation he retraces his steps but becomes hopelessly lost. It is only after much suffering four days later that Harry is reunited with his uncle Hans.

As Harry is recovering, he hears the sound of waves and thinks he sees light. In fact, the three have arrived at what they name the Central Sea, a vast underground body of water. At this point in the novel (Chapter 27) scientific wonders appear regularly. Exploring the area around the sea, the travelers find what looks like a forest but is actually forty foot mushrooms. The Professor explains to the astounded Harry how it is possible for plants to live beneath the earth. They continue their exploration of the area, finding bones of mastodons and other evidence of plant and animal life.

The Professor decides that they must cross the ocean to continue their descent even further into the earth. Lashing together wood mineralized by the sea to create a raft, the clever Hans rigs up a rudder. Once underway they are surprised by how quickly the raft moves. Harry has been given the job of keeping a good record of his observations. He drops a hook and soon a fish is caught, an ancient species long extinct in the world above. Harry daydreams about huge animals and plants, visualizing the evolution of the earth and its inhabitants.

The Professor becomes impatient because the sea is so much larger than he expected, and they are no longer descending. Trying to learn the depth of the sea, the Professor attaches a crowbar to a cord and throws it overboard. The cord runs out at two hundred fathoms, and the retrieved crowbar bears marks that look like teeth bites. Days later two huge monsters surface, battle, and almost swamp the raft. Continuing on, the three spot what they think is another giant monster but discover it is an island with a boiling water geyser. Harry suggests that there must be an internal heat source, but the Professor refuses to hear anything that refutes his own theory.

The next morning a storm strikes with fury and rages on for several days. The explorers tie themselves and their gear to the raft to avoid being tossed into the sea. A fire ball jumps onto the raft, destroys the mast and sail, and threatens them with its electric power.

The raft is eventually cast up on a rocky shore in the midst of the storm and Hans carries Harry to safety. As the storm dies down they find to their dismay that they have been carried back to the same shores from which they left. The Professor is enraged and insists on repeating the sea part of their journey. Exploring this area which is farther along the coast than their starting point, the Professor and Harry find enormous shells as long as fifteen feet and encounter a huge field of bones. Harry thinks the bones might contain the whole history of animal life. The Professor is delighted when they find a human skull. Harry shares his understanding of the importance of his uncle's find by describing what was happening in the world of paleontology or the science of fossil life. He discusses the views in Europe at that time that man's origins were even more ancient than than been previously believed. Then the two find more and more skeletons and wonder if these humans always lived beneath the earth or had ever lived on it.

Continuing their explorations they come across a beautiful forest of ferns and pines lacking color. They spot gigantic animals such as elephants and in the distance see a twelve-foot tall human being. Afraid of confrontation, they leave the area with many questions about man's origins. As they retrace their steps to the beach and the raft, Harry spots a rusted dagger which the Professor believes is from the sixteenth-century. He thinks it was probably used to carve an inscription on the rocks, and they find the initials A. S. carved beside the entrance to a dark and gloomy tunnel. With evidence that Arne Saknussemm has traveled this way, they enter the passage only to discover that it is blocked by solid granite.

The three decide to blast their way into the tunnel. They set the charge and retreat to the raft. The explosion opens a chasm that appears to be swallowing the Central Sea. They are thrown down on the raft and swept along with the rushing waters. Harry estimates their speed to be at least one hundred miles an hour as they are drawn deeper into the blackness of the center of the earth. Their fall is stopped by what appears to be a water spout.

As Harry half dreams, he thinks the raft has landed and he is in a small cave. A crocodile-shark monster and a huge ape come towards him, stop when they see each other, and engage in fierce battle. As the survivor comes towards Harry, he wakes and realizes he is still on the raft but that it is now ascending as the waters are pushed up a narrow shaft. Harry is consumed by hunger but the rising temperature in the shaft becomes his main concern, and the party soon discover that the liquid beneath the raft is boiling hot. The Professor explains that an eruption is about to take place, and they are on top of the lava flow hurtling towards the earth's surface.

Harry awakes to find Hans supporting him on a mountainside. While making their way down, they learn from a young shepherd that they are on the island of Stromboli in Italy.

Once back in Germany, the three are treated like heroes and the Professor's achievements are recognized.

Although the plot of this novel is linear and easy to understand and the language only occasionally challenging, getting into the novel may be difficult for some students. The pace of the plot is slower than plots of contemporary science fiction novels and movies.

Read the first several chapters aloud to assist students in familiarizing themselves with Verne's style, language, and pace. Mature readers then should be able to read the novel with no trouble. In order to get students involved in and thinking about the issues, the plot, and the setting of the novel, select several of the following activities or questions for student oral, written or artistic response.

1. If you could be an expert on anything in the world, what would it be? To what lengths would you go to gather information?

2. If someone told you they would take you miles down into the earth, how would you react? What would be your biggest concerns?

3. Some of the earlier parts of the novel take place in Iceland. What do you know about Iceland? What are your impressions of the country?

4. What do you know about the center of the earth? What theories have you heard about the composition of the earth's core?

5. When you think of the center of the earth what images, colors, and scenes do you see? What would you expect it to look like? Draw a picture or create a model of your image of the center of the earth.

6. If you were going on a journey or an adventure, what would you have to do to get ready? How would you know what to take?

7. What would be too scary for you to do - what is your limit? Would you be willing to go up in space; beneath the ocean?

8. What were your greatest childhood fears? Did they have to do with the dark, with heights, with speed, with going downhill rapidly, with monsters or very large beasts, with being caught in a natural phenomenon such as a tornado? Share your fears and tally the class's fears to see what most people consider scary.

9. Create the most fearful scenario you can, based on the class's tally of fears. Illustrate it, and then share it with your classmates. As you read Journey to the Center of the Earth , compare your ideas of what is scary to what Harry experiences.

10. If your parents or some one else whom you trust and love wanted you to go on a hazardous journey, how would you react? Compare your reactions to Harry's as you read the novel.

11. What do you know about the plant and animal history of the world? In groups piece together what you know about the earth's early evolution and the eventual extinction of some animals and plants.

12. In groups, create a collage from magazines showing what you imagine the center of the earth to be like. Use words as well as pictures.

13. How is a journey different from a trip? What journeys have you taken? Think of a journey as not merely physical, but also as a life-changing experience, accomplishment, or series of events. Or, perhaps your journey is in your imagination. Tell the story of your journey to the class or a small group.

14. In what ways might it be valuable for us to know more about what the inside of the earth is like?

In This Article:

Featured high school resources.

Related Resources

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Vocabulary Quiz A Journey to the Center of the Earth

National Geographic Education Blog

Bring the spirit of exploration to your classroom.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

How far would you have to travel to reach the Earth’s core? And what would you see along the way? Use this interactive to dig into the truth. (BBC)

Download our own high-resolution illustration of Earth’s interior.

Teachers, scroll down for a quick list of key resources in our Teachers’ Toolkit.

Discussion Ideas

• Near the surface of the Earth, one pixel represents about .002 meter (2 millimeters). That leaves a lot of room for information about drilling, diving, and metal detectors.
• At the deepest place yet reached by people ( hi, James Cameron! ), one pixel represents one meter.
• Toward the center of the Earth, one pixel represents 2,500 meters (2.5 kilometers). At this scale, you can move through the entire core in one swipe!
• Although nitrogen and oxygen have narcotic effects at high pressure, helium doesn’t. Divers often incorporate helium into their tanks of breathing gas in mixtures known as trimix (which mixes oxygen, helium, and nitrogen) and heliox (which mixes oxygen and helium).
• The Mohorovicic discontinuity is the boundary between Earth’s crust and mantle. The Moho is not a uniform line—it’s about 5 to 10 kilometers (3–6 miles) below the ocean floor, and 20 to 90 kilometers (10–60 miles) beneath continents.
• The Gutenberg discontinuity is the boundary between Earth’s mantle and core. CMB simply stands for “core mantle boundary.”

TEACHERS’ TOOLKIT

BBC: Journey to the Center of the Earth

Nat Geo: Earth’s Interior downloadable poster

Nat Geo: Many Ways to Name a Place activity (the role of scale in mapping)

Nat Geo: What is Earth’s core?

Nat Geo: What is Earth’s mantle?

Nat Geo: What is Earth’s crust?

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Journey to the Center of the Earth Adapted Vocabulary Unit

Description

This vocabulary unit includes a variety of visual vocabulary activities. All materials are made to support the adapted version of the novel Journey to the Center of the Earth . Resources utilize visual supports, functional definitions, cut & paste responses, and tracing responses.

Materials Included:

• 12 vocabulary cards with visuals and definitions for each word. Words included: Earth, tunnel, guide, dangerous, journey, survive, discover, Geologist, secret, mountain, raft, & ground
• Vocabulary matching activity
• Vocabulary tracing worksheet
• Vocabulary word to picture match worksheet
• Vocabulary bingo game
• Vocabulary Quiz data collection – includes data collection for word recognition, stating the word aloud, and vocabulary definition

Materials were made to support the adapted Journey to the Center of the Earth novel through the Encore Middle School / TeachTown curriculum. Purchase does NOT include the adapted novel.

This product was made using symbols from Boardmaker Online.

The Picture Communication Symbols ©1981–2010 by Mayer-Johnson LLC. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Used with permission.

Boardmaker™ is a trademark of Mayer-Johnson LLC.

In addition, please include the following company information in the resource section of your documentation:

Mayer-Johnson

2100 Wharton Street

Pittsburgh, PA 15203

Phone: 1 (800) 588-4548

Fax: 1 (866) 585-6260

Email: [email protected]

Web site: www.mayer-johnson.com

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Journey to the Center of the Earth Worksheets and Literature Unit

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Jul 30, 2014

680 likes | 1.26k Views

Family Times. Journey to the Center of the Earth. Daily Questions. Prior Knowledge. Cause and Effect. Vocabulary. Context Clues. Predictions. Guided Comprehension. Author's Purpose. Fantasy in Science Fiction. Independent Readers. Crust, Mantle, Core. Additional Resources.

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Presentation Transcript

Family Times Journey to the Center of the Earth Daily Questions Prior Knowledge Cause and Effect Vocabulary Context Clues Predictions Guided Comprehension Author's Purpose Fantasy in Science Fiction Independent Readers Crust, Mantle, Core Additional Resources

Study Skills • Genre:Science Fiction • Comprehension Skill:Cause and Effect • Comprehension Strategy:Summarize • Vocabulary: Context Clues

Question of the week How do we explore the center of the Earth? Daily Questions What characteristics are important for an explorer to have? How would you feel if yours were the first human eyes to see the ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus? What, to you, is the most interesting thing scientists have learned about what lies below Earth’s Surface?

Activate Prior Knowledge: Brainstorm about what they would find if they could see a cross-section of the Earth. Making Predictions Making Observations Carrying Out Experiments Comparing Results This is the Scientific Method

Cause and Effect A cause (why something happens) may have several effects. An effect (What happens as a result of the cause) may have several causes. Sometimes clue words such as since, as a result, caused, thus, therefore, and consequently are used to show cause-and-effect relationships. Cause Cause Cause Effect Effect Effect

Summarize Summarizing, telling what a story or article is basically about, helps you understand and remember what you read. It helps you figure out main ideas and find important supporting details. It also helps you see important causes and effects.

Write: Read the selection “Earth.” Create graphic organizers like the ones above to show any causes and effects in the selection. Write a summary of the selection “Earth.” Use your graphic organizers to help you.

Introduce Vocabulary Word Synonym Antonym Armor covering Encases encloses Extinct dead Alive Hideous ugly Beautiful Plunged fell Soared Serpent snake

Armor Any kind of protective covering

Encases Covers completely; encloses

Extinct No longer existing

Hideous Very ugly; frightful; horrible

Plunged Fell or moved suddenly downward or forward

Serpent Snake, especially a big snake

More Words to Know Calculations Careful thinking; deliberate plans Ichthyosaurus: A large fishlike reptile, now extinct, that lived in the sea. Pleisosaurus: Any of several large sea reptiles that lived about 200 million years ago.

Practice Lesson Vocabulary If a creature is hideous, is it clumsy or terrible-looking? If a creature has armor, it is covered in strange hair or in a tough shell? If a creature is extinct, it is a huge eater or long dead? Is it true that a shell encases a turtle? Is a serpent a form of fish? If a seagull plunged towards the ocean, would it be diving downwards?

Vocabulary Strategy: Context Clues: As you read, you may come to a word you do not know. Look for clues in the context or words and sentences around the word. They may help you figure out the meaning of the unknown word. Reread the sentence in which the unknown word appears. Does the author include a synonym, antonym, or other clue to the word’s meaning? If you need more help, read the sentences around the one with the unknown word. Put the clues together and thing of a logical meaning for the word. Does this meaning make sense in the sentence? As your read “The Land of Imagination,” use the context to help you figure out the meanings of any unfamiliar words.

Genre: Science Fiction Science fiction is imaginary writing based upon scientific ideas. Notice how the author uses vivid and exciting sights and sounds to create a make-believe world.

What strange animals await the explorers at the center of the Earth?

Preview and Predict Read the title, look at the illustrations, and predict how the author might use facts in the story. Use your vocabulary in your discussion.

Guided Comprehension What is the setting of this story? Reread p. 588, paragraph 3. What causes the raft to be lifted out of the water and thrown a distance? How do you think the adventurers are feeling at this point? Imagine yourself in this situation. How would you feel? What do you think was Jules Verne’s purpose for writing this story? How does the illustration help you understand the text on pp.590-591? What caused the monsters to come close to the raft, then turn away. Summarize the main events on p. 593, paragraphs 1 and 2. To what does the narrator compare the size of the ichthyosaurus’s flaming red eyes?

Guided Comprehension Continued Use context clues to determine the meaning of extinct on p. 595. What information in the story seems to be based on scientific information? Summarize the end of the story on pp. 596-597. In the last sentence, the narrator wonders whether the ichthyosaurus will come back to destroy them. What do you predict will happen? Give your reasons. Do you think the events in this story could happen in the real world? Give reasons to support your answers.

Author’s Purpose There are four common reasons why authors write: to persuade, to inform, to entertain, and to express an idea. So far, the story has been exciting and suspenseful. It makes me want to keep reading to find out what will happen next. This makes me think that Jules Verne wrote this story mainly to entertain readers. Why might Jules Verne chose to tell this story in the form of a diary?

Fantasy in Science Fiction Science fiction stories are a kind of fantasy because they tell about events that couldn’t happen or that haven’t happened yet. Science fiction often contains scientific information that makes the fantasy elements more believable. The elements of fantasy in science fiction have to do with technology rather than magic. Reread the introductory paragraph on p. 587 and explain why this story is considered science fiction. Does it tell about events that couldn’t happen or haven’t happened yet? 2. Does it contain scientific information that makes the fantasy believable?

SUMMARY In this story, Mrs. Cieco’s class learns about the layers of the Earth during a field trip to Mount Randall. Three students, Toby, Kenny, and Maria, travel through the Earth in a scientist’s machine, experiencing Earth’s layers first-hand. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS PAGE 4 Why is it a special day? PAGE 7 What are the five layers of the Earth? PAGE 9 Why do the rock plates under the continents move? PAGE 10 What keeps the Earth’s inner core solid? PAGE 13 What happened when Kenny and Toby climbed to the top of the volcano?

SUMMARY For centuries, scientists have been puzzling over the composition of our planet. From Aristotle—who thought the Earth was solid—to the recent findings of scientists today, this book tells the story of the discovery of the Earth’s layers. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS PAGE 4 What did Aristotle, the Greek philosopher, believe about the Earth? PAGE 5 What did maps from the mid-16th century reveal? PAGE 8 What did Neptunists believe? PAGE 15 Why did German scientist Alfred Wegener believe that Africa and South America were once connected? PAGE 16 What happened when scientists explored an underwater mountain chain? PAGE 21 What happens when two tectonic plates collide?

SUMMARY The planet Earth today consists of seven continents separated by the world’s oceans. Evidence suggests, however, that hundreds of millions of years ago, the continents were all connected. This book explains plate tectonics, the force that moves continents, and the ways that mountains are formed. COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS PAGE 4 What is the meaning of Pangaea? PAGE 5 What is the name for the theory that explains how the continents shift and move? PAGE 6 What made Alfred Wegener believe that South America and Africa might once have been connected? PAGE 7 What caused scientists in the 1950s to change their understanding of how the Earth’s surface moves? PAGE 13 What happens when an ocean floor pushes toward a landmass? Why?

Text features: • In textbooks, diagrams are sometimes used to explain important information. • Captions in pictures and diagrams add information. • Genre: Textbook • Textbooks are used in classrooms to teach facts, give information, and offer explanations in a specific subject area. • The information has been researched for accuracy. • The material in textbooks is deigned to help students learn and do well on tests.

How can a diagram help a reader understand the text? What purpose do captions in diagrams and illustrations serve? How do the diagram’s captions help you summarize? Notice that causes and effects are clearly stated.

Additional Resources Jefferson County Schools Earth's Layers- game

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Stellar Axis at the Anderson Collection draws connections between Earth and sky

A collection of works on view at the Anderson collection harkens back to one of the most ambitious land-art projects of the 21st century.

Go to the web site to view the video.

In 2006, artist Lita Albuquerque led an expedition to Antarctica to create Stellar Axis: Antarctica.

Stepping into the Wisch Family Gallery at the Anderson Collection at Stanford University evokes a polar desert’s quiet and dangerous beauty. Centered amidst  large-scale photographs of a pristine white, icy environment, an otherworldly ultramarine-blue sphere measuring slightly over 3 feet in diameter rests on a bed of what appears to be snow. The sphere, representing Rigil Kentaurus, the third-brightest star in the night sky, is a key element of an immersive exhibition titled Stellar Axis on view through Aug. 18.

The installation of Stellar Axis at the Anderson Collection features an ultramarine-blue sphere representing the star Rigil Kentaurus and is accompanied by a film and documentary photography. (Image credit: Glen Cheriton)

In 2006, California-based environmental artist Lita Albuquerque led an expedition to the farthest reaches of Antarctica near the South Pole to create Stellar Axis: Antarctica . The journey to the ice included a team of experts, researchers, and artists, with Albuquerque at the helm. Their sole purpose was to create a sculpture and ephemeral event on an unprecedented scale and in a completely unprecedented location.

The expedition was aided by a grant from the National Science Foundation and was the first and largest ephemeral artwork created on the continent. The resulting installation consisted of an array of 99 fabricated blue spheres where each sphere’s placement corresponded to the location of one of 99 specific stars in the Antarctic sky above, creating an earthly constellation at the South Pole. As the planet rotated and followed its orbit around the sun, the displacement between the original positions of the stars and the spheres drew an invisible spiral of Earth’s spinning motion.

Since the early 1970s, Albuquerque has created an expansive body of work, ranging from sculpture, poetry, painting, and multimedia performance to ambitious site-specific ephemeral projects in remote locations around the globe. Often associated with the Light and Space and Land Art movements, Albuquerque has developed a unique visual and conceptual vocabulary using Earth, color, the body, motion, and time to illuminate identity as part of the universal.

For Albuquerque’s exhibition at the Anderson Collection, one of the surviving 99 spheres is on view amid a bed of salt, standing in for snow. It is accompanied by a selection of photographic works of the Antarctica installation by polar historian and artist Jean de Pomereu, a meditative 8-minute video of the ephemeral artwork by Lionel Cousin, and one painting from Albuquerque’s Auric Field series.

Left: Lita Albuquerque, Southern Cross, 2006/2022, pigmented print on archival paper, AP, photo: Jean de Pomereu. Right: Lita Albuquerque, She has shifted scales on the planet, so we can see, 2021, 24k gold leaf on resin, pigment on panel. (Image credit: Glen Cheriton)

Left: Lita Albuquerque, South Pole Activation, 2006/2014, pigmented print on archival paper, ed. 1/5, photo: Jean de Pomereu. Right: Lita Albuquerque, Stellar Axis: Antarctica (Altair), 2006/2014, pigmented print on archival paper, photo: Jean de Pomereu. (Image credit: Glen Cheriton)

“We’re at a moment in history where it’s essential to find universal points of human connection, and art and artists are a vehicle for doing that,” said Jason Linetzky, director of the Anderson Collection. “Lita Albuquerque considers this installation at the Anderson a carefully composed painting, serving to turn our attention to the interrelatedness and bond all humans have to Earth and the cosmos.”

The museum’s first floor houses an intimate gallery space where de Pomereu’s large-scale photographs and a video projection with a soundtrack by Jon Ray enhance the immersive experience. The inclusion of the luminous Auric Field painting and excerpts from Albuquerque’s diaries, such as the following two written during the artist’s time in the Antarctic, serve to tie the elements of the exhibition together:

When I close my eyes I see entire planets covered in ultramarine blue pigment, I see our planet from outside our solar system, as a part of a vast circulatory system of stars, and in Stellar Axis, the planet cradled by both poles.

On the ice, the palpability of our interdependence and interconnection is magnified and brings us back to our humanity, to our human life and to the fragility of our human experience.

In 2014, the Nevada Museum of Art, Center for Art + Environment, home to Albuquerque’s Stellar Axis archive, organized an exhibition and published a major monograph of the work, available at the Anderson Collection. In addition to essays placing the artist’s works in the broader contexts of environmental art and science, Albuquerque provides personal reflections on her life’s work.

She will deliver the annual Burt and Deedee McMurtry Lecture at Stanford on April 24.

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Geologists discover rocks with the oldest evidence yet of Earth’s magnetic field

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Geologists at MIT and Oxford University have uncovered ancient rocks in Greenland that bear the oldest remnants of Earth’s early magnetic field.

The rocks appear to be exceptionally pristine, having preserved their properties for billions of years. The researchers determined that the rocks are about 3.7 billion years old and retain signatures of a magnetic field with a strength of at least 15 microtesla. The ancient field is similar in magnitude to the Earth’s magnetic field today.

The open-access findings, appearing today in the Journal of Geophysical Research , represent some of the earliest evidence of a magnetic field surrounding the Earth. The results potentially extend the age of the Earth’s magnetic field by hundreds of millions of years, and may shed light on the planet’s early conditions that helped life take hold.

“The magnetic field is, in theory, one of the reasons we think Earth is really unique as a habitable planet,” says Claire Nichols, a former MIT postdoc who is now an associate professor of the geology of planetary processes at Oxford University. “It’s thought our magnetic field protects us from harmful radiation from space, and also helps us to have oceans and atmospheres that can be stable for long periods of time.”

Previous studies have shown evidence for a magnetic field on Earth that is at least 3.5 billion years old. The new study is extending the magnetic field’s lifetime by another 200 million years.

“That’s important because that’s the time when we think life was emerging,” says Benjamin Weiss, the Robert R. Shrock Professor of Planetary Sciences in MIT’s Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences (EAPS). “If the Earth’s magnetic field was around a few hundred million years earlier, it could have played a critical role in making the planet habitable.”

Nichols and Weiss are co-authors of the new study, which also includes Craig Martin and Athena Eyster at MIT, Adam Maloof at Princeton University, and additional colleagues from institutions including Tufts University and the University of Colorado at Boulder.

A slow churn

Today, the Earth’s magnetic field is powered by its molten iron core, which slowly churns up electric currents in a self-generating “dynamo.” The resulting magnetic field extends out and around the planet like a protective bubble. Scientists suspect that, early in its evolution, the Earth was able to foster life, in part due to an early magnetic field that was strong enough to retain a life-sustaining atmosphere and simultaneously shield the planet from damaging solar radiation.

Exactly how early and robust this magnetic shield was is up for debate, though there has been evidence dating its existence to about 3.5 billion years ago.

“We wanted to see if we could extend this record back beyond 3.5 billion years and nail down how strong that early field was,” Nichols says.

In 2018, as a postdoc working in Weiss’ lab at the time, Nichols and her team set off on an expedition to the Isua Supracrustal Belt, a 20-mile stretch of exposed rock formations surrounded by towering ice sheets in the southwest of Greenland. There, scientists have discovered the oldest preserved rocks on Earth, which have been extensively studied in hopes of answering a slew of scientific questions about Earth’s ancient conditions.

For Nichols and Weiss, the objective was to find rocks that still held signatures of the Earth’s magnetic field when the rocks first formed. Rocks form through many millions of years, as grains of sediment and minerals accumulate and are progressively packed and buried under subsequent deposition over time. Any magnetic minerals such as iron-oxides that are in the deposits follow the pull of the Earth’s magnetic field as they form. This collective orientation, and the imprint of the magnetic field, are preserved in the rocks.

However, this preserved magnetic field can be scrambled and completely erased if the rocks subsequently undergo extreme thermal or aqueous events such as hydrothermal activity or plate tectonics that can pressurize and crush up these deposits. Determining the age of a magnetic field in ancient rocks has therefore been a highly contested area of study.

To get to rocks that were hopefully preserved and unaltered since their original deposition, the team sampled from rock formations in the Isua Supracrustal Belt, a remote location that was only accessible by helicopter.

“It’s about 150 kilometers away from the capital city, and you get helicoptered in, right up against the ice sheet,” Nichols says. “Here, you have the world’s oldest rocks essentially, surrounded by this dramatic expression of the ice age. It’s a really spectacular place.”

Dynamic history

The team returned to MIT with whole rock samples of banded iron formations — a rock type that appears as stripes of iron-rich and silica-rich rock. The iron-oxide minerals found in these rocks can act as tiny magnets that orient with any external magnetic field. Given their composition, the researchers suspect the rocks were originally formed in primordial oceans prior to the rise in atmospheric oxygen around 2.5 billion years ago.

“Back when there wasn’t oxygen in the atmosphere, iron didn’t oxidize so easily, so it was in solution in the oceans until it reached a critical concentration, when it precipitated out,” Nichols explains. “So, it’s basically a result of iron raining out of the oceans and depositing on the seafloor.”

“They’re very beautiful, weird rocks that don’t look like anything that forms on Earth today,” Weiss adds.

Previous studies had used uranium-lead dating to determine the age of the iron oxides in these rock samples. The ratio of uranium to lead (U-Pb) gives scientists an estimate of a rock’s age. This analysis found that some of the magnetized minerals were likely about 3.7 billion years old. The MIT team, in collaboration with researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, showed in a paper published last year that the U-Pb age also dates the age of the magnetic record in these minerals.

The researchers then set out to determine whether the ancient rocks preserved magnetic field from that far back, and how strong that field might have been.

“The samples we think are best and have that very old signature, we then demagnetize in the lab, in steps. We apply a laboratory field that we know the strength of, and we remagnetize the rocks in steps, so you can compare the gradient of the demagnetization to the gradient of the lab magnetization. That gradient tells you how strong the ancient field was,” Nichols explains.

Through this careful process of remagnetization, the team concluded that the rocks likely harbored an ancient, 3.7-billion-year-old magnetic field, with a magnitude of at least 15 microtesla. Today, Earth’s magnetic field measures around 30 microtesla.

“It’s half the strength, but the same order of magnitude,” Nichols says. “The fact that it’s similar in strength as today’s field implies whatever is driving Earth’s magnetic field has not changed massively in power over billions of years.”

The team’s experiments also showed that the rocks retained the ancient field, despite having undergone two subsequent thermal events. Any extreme thermal event, such as a tectonic shake-up of the subsurface or hydrothermal eruptions, could potentially heat up and erase a rock’s magnetic field. But the team found that the iron in their samples likely oriented, then crystallized, 3.7 billion years ago, in some initial, extreme thermal event. Around 2.8 billion years ago, and then again at 1.5 billion years ago, the rocks may have been reheated, but not to the extreme temperatures that would have scrambled their magnetization.

“The rocks that the team has studied have experienced quite a bit during their long geological journey on our planet,” says Annique van der Boon, a planetary science researcher at the University of Oslo who was not involved in the study. “The authors have done a lot of work on constraining which geological events have affected the rocks at different times.” 

“The team have taken their time to deliver a very thorough study of these complex rocks, which do not give up their secrets easily,” says Andy Biggin, professor of geomagnetism at the University of Liverpool, who did not contribute to the study. “These new results tell us that the Earth’s magnetic field was alive and well 3.7 billion years ago. Knowing it was there and strong contributes a significant boundary constraint on the early Earth’s environment.”

The results also raise questions about how the ancient Earth could have powered such a robust magnetic field. While today’s field is powered by crystallization of the solid iron inner core, it’s thought that the inner core had not yet formed so early in the planet’s evolution.

“It seems like evidence for whatever was generating a magnetic field back then was a different power source from what we have today,” Weiss says. “And we care about Earth because there’s life here, but it’s also a touchstone for understanding other terrestrial planets. It suggests planets throughout the galaxy probably have lots of ways of powering a magnetic field, which is important for the question of habitability elsewhere.”

This research was supported, in part, by the Simons Foundation.

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