A Changing America: Theme Connections

Within the Selection

Across Selections

Beyond the Selection

Write about It!

Write about someone you admire and respect.

Remember to look at other people's questions and try to answer them on the Concept/Question Board.

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Genre

Feature

It was New Year's Day in 1863. President Lincoln had declared that all slaves were free. But the Civil War was not over. There were not enough Union soldiers to free all the slaves.

After the North won the war, General Gordon Granger came to Galveston, Texas. He arrived with Union troops to free the thousands of slaves who lived in the state. It was June 19, 1865, and it was a time of great joy.

Change would not be easy. The former slaves had to find a new way of life. They needed homes and jobs. Many people would not hire them.

Still, they celebrated their precious liberty .

Every year since General Granger's visit, African American families in Texas gather together on June 19. The celebration is known as Juneteenth. At first, Juneteenth was celebrated only by former slaves. There were picnics, barbecues, ballgames, and parades. Leaders gave inspiring speeches. It was a time to remember the past and prepare for the future.

On New Year's Day in 1980, Juneteenth became an official holiday in Texas. The holiday has continued to grow and has spread across the United States. Juneteenth reminds everyone to respect all the cultures that make up our country.

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Think Link

Look at the time line. How long did slaves in Texas have to wait for news of the Emancipation Proclamation?

Why was life difficult for the freed slaves?

Why do you think Juneteenth is still an important holiday today?

Try It!

As you work on your investigation, think about how a time line can show a sequence of events.

by J. Patrick Lewis illustrated by Greg Shed

Focus Question Why do people risk their lives for an idea?

S pain dispatched three ships

A cross the Atlantic on a

N avigator's hopeless dream of

T raveling westward to Asia.

A ll dreams end in surprise.

M orning, October 12, 1492:

A hoy! In the Bahamas, he had

R eached the wilder shores of

I magination, lost in the future,

A nchored at the far end of destiny.
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Buffalo Dusk

by Carl Sandburg illustrated by Richard Hook

Focus Question What does the past mean to you?

The buffaloes are gone.

And those who saw the buffaloes are gone

Those who saw the buffaloes by thousands and how

they pawed the prairie sod

into dust with their hoofs, their great heads down

pawing on in a great pageant of dusk,

Those who saw the buffaloes are gone.

And the buffaloes are gone.
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A Gold Miner's Tale

Written by Bobbi Katz Illustrated by Troy Howell

Focus Questions As times change, what are some things that remain the same? What happened to people who did not "strike it rich"?

I was twenty-one years old.

Fired up by dreams of gold.

Rushing West in '49 to stake a claim to my own mine!

What did I find when I got there?

Thousands of "rushers" everywhere!

Water and sand. That's ALL it takes.

Swish your pan. Pick out the flakes!

A meal?

A place to stay?

Who'd believe what we had to pay!

Bought a shovel. Bought a pan.

Soon I'd be a rich young man.

Water and sand. That's ALL it takes.

Swish your pan. Pick out the flakes!

Pan after pan, I'd swish and wish for a glint of pay dirt in my dish.

Asleep at night, what did I see?

Nuggets the daylight hid from me.

It takes more than a flash in the pan to make a rusher a rich young man.
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The gold I found? Just enough to get by. I gave up when my claim went dry.

Water and sand. That's ALL it takes. Swish your pan. Pick out the flakes! Got a job in a hydraulic mine.

Hated the work, but the pay was fine.

So when I heard about Pikes Peak, I was in the Rockies within a week!

Water and sand. That's ALL it takes. Swish your pan. Pick out the flakes! I should have known better.

With a grubstake so small, I left Colorado with nothing at all. No job. No gold. Just a shovel and a pan.

But I walked away a wiser man.

"Gold in the Klondike!"

Wouldn't you think I'd be up there in a wink?

But with my new plan to pan gold flakes, I didn't make the same mistakes.

Before I joined the great stampede, I thought: What will stampeders need? Now I'm a Dawson millionaire!

I sell them ALL long underwear. 343
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Unit 3: Test Prep

Test-Taking Strategy: Comparing Answer Choices and Eliminating Answer Choices

Make sure you look at all the answer choices for each question. Compare the answers to one another. Choose the answer you think is best.

Comparing Answer Choices

You should carefully look at each answer on a test. It is easy to skip an answer choice or to misunderstand what it means. Think about what the question is asking. Compare the answer choices to one another. Choose the answer that is best.

Read the sentences and answer choices. What does the word dreadful mean? Make sure you read all the answer choices carefully. Decide which answer means the same as dreadful .

The weather was dreadful . It was cold, rainy, and windy.

A pleasant

B changing

C terrible

D snowy

Sometimes you can eliminate answers you know are not correct. For example, the first answer choice is pleasant , which is another word for nice . You can eliminate this answer because the weather described is not nice .

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Test-Taking Practice

Read the article "Getting Around." Then answer Numbers 1 through 4.

Stand on a street corner sometime. Watch the traffic pass. Cars, trucks, and buses may hum along on paved roads. Today, people usually travel in cars or buses. Long ago, though, travel was different.

Before the United States was a country, travel was difficult. Roads were rough and full of holes. Rocks and tree stumps made roads bumpy. People rode in wagons pulled by horses or oxen. Often dirt paths were the only way to get between farms and towns. People had to walk or ride on horseback.
People who lived near water could use boats. Boats were faster than traveling along bumpy roads. Ships on the ocean used sails. Boats going downstream on rivers moved quickly. However, traveling upstream was difficult and took a long time.

Not everyone lived close to water, so people built canals. A canal is a river made by people. It takes a long time to build and costs a lot of money. After a canal is dug and flooded with water, boats can easily travel along a canal.

Travel changed when trains were invented. Big companies built railroads between towns. In the 1860s, a railroad across the entire country was completed. In a train, people could travel from coast to coast in a few days.

Automobiles were invented in the early 1900s. Cars made travel easier for people. Travelers could set their own schedules instead of waiting for trains. Better, smoother roads for cars were built across the country. Soon, cars were popular. By 1960, most families owned a car.

Today, millions of people travel by car. The old types of transportation still are around, though. Many people walk to get where they need to go. In some places, horse-drawn wagons are used, and boats are common. Trains still chug their way across the country.

One old-fashioned way of getting around--bicycling-- is becoming popular again. Bicycles cost less than cars, create less pollution, and cause fewer traffic jams. Riding a bike is good exercise too. Now that roads are smoothly paved, riding a bicycle is easier. Considering how much gasoline costs today, it is likely that more people will start to travel by riding bicycles.
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Test Tips

* Use the information in the story to answer the questions.

* Compare the answer choices to one another.

* Look in the story to find the answer to each question.

Use the information you learned from the article "Getting Around" to answer questions 1 through 4. Write your answers on a piece of paper.

This selection is mainly about--

A why canals are important.

B how roads were mostly dirt.

C why bicycling is good.

D forms of transportation.

Why did people build canals?

A To avoid using sails

B To make travel easier

C To replace the railroads

D To make roads smoother

Which statement would the author most likely agree with?

A Canals were easy and quick to build.

B Trains are more convenient than cars.

C Travel long ago was slow and difficult.

D Riding a bicycle is an unpleasant way to travel.

Which words from the article tell about an advantage of bicycling?

A "create less pollution"

B "expensive and hard to do"

C "people had to travel"

D "travel from coast to coast"
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Unit 4: Science Fair

Have you ever wondered what makes popcorn pop? Or how planes stay in the air? Scientists ask questions like these every day. They do experiments to look for answers. An experiment is one way to test an idea. This unit shows you how to do an experiment. It also shows the value of science in our everyday lives. You might be surprised to learn how much fun science can be.

Theme Connnection

Look at the photograph.

* What are the students wearing to cover their eyes?

* Why do some of the tools have measurements on them?

* What do you think will happen next in this experiment?

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Big Idea

What steps lead to a good experiment?

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* anxious

* observations

* examine

* local

* crabbier

* react

Vocabulary Strategy

Are you anxious to become a scientist? You do not have to wait until you are an adult. You can start right now.

One of the first things you can do is to make good observations. A good scientist notices what is going on in the world. Examine the people around you. What are they doing? What do they look like? Wander around your backyard. Look for something unusual. Go to a local park. Study the trees and their leaves.
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Ask a parent if you can set up a mini science lab at home. Just try not to make a big mess! It is not a good idea to perform tests on pets or younger siblings. Trying to get a moody cat to cooperate will make it even crabbier. You must also be certain that you never harm an animal or person in any way.

Hundreds of books about science experiments have been written for kids. Ask a parent whether you can check out some from the library. They often require simple materials that can be found around the house.

There are also simple science kits you can buy. You can grow plants. You can make crystals. You can mix harmless chemicals to see how they react to each other. You can build simple machines and see how well they work. You can observe and record your results --just like a real scientist. Make sure that you always ask permission before you begin your work.

Game

Scientist's Journal

Concept Vocabulary

This lesson's concept word is hypothesis.

A hypothesis is a guess that will be tested in an experiment. It is not a random guess. A hypothesis is based on an observation. Try this experiment with your classmates. Observe what everyone is wearing. Based on your observations, write a hypothesis about what the most popular "favorite color" might be among your classmates. Then have each classmate vote aloud for his or her favorite color. Count the votes for each color. Did you guess the right color? If you were wrong, why do you think the experiment did not work?

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THe Scientific Method

by Stephen P. Kramer illustrated by Barbara Spurll

Genre

Expository Text tells people something. It contains facts about real people, things, or events.

Comprehension Strategy

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Focus Questions

Why is the scientific method important? What makes some experiments better than others?

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Suppose you moved to the country and bought a chicken farm. For a whole year you fed chickens, cleaned their cages, counted eggs, and watched baby chicks grow.

When you returned from your vacation, you checked the records. You were surprised to learn that while you were away, your hens had laid twice as many eggs as usual. You would probably be curious about why your hens had laid so many eggs.

Question:

The first step of the scientific method is to ask a question. Maybe you have noticed several differences in your chickens since you returned. Perhaps they are noisier than when you left. Perhaps they also seem fatter, or thinner, or crabbier. If your chickens are now fatter and crabbier than when you left, maybe it's for the same reason they are laying more eggs.

But maybe not. Maybe they are fatter for one reason, crabbier for another reason, and laying more eggs for still another reason. Scientists usually try to work on one question at a time. The question you are trying to answer is, "Why did the hens lay more eggs while I was gone?"

The next step is to gather information that might help you answer the question. You search for clues, just as a detective would. Your job is to find things that might explain why the hens laid more eggs. Was the weather any different while you were gone? Were other farmers' hens laying more eggs than usual too? Did the other farmer take care of your chickens differently from the way you do?

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You could start by talking to other people. The local weather bureau could provide information about last month's weather. Other chicken farmers could tell you if their hens had been laying more eggs than usual.

"I collected eggs every morning. I also cleaned the pens every other day. You know, you didn't leave nearly enough chicken feed. It ran out right after you left, so I gave your hens my Acme Deluxe Chicken Feed."

Now, look carefully at what the farmer told you. You are trying to discover exactly what he did. Were there any differences in the way he took care of your chickens? It might help to make a table like this:

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Scientists need to be careful about how they plan their experiments. They must be sure they are testing the right hypothesis. They must also be sure they are using the information from the experiment in the right way.

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Let's examine an experiment. Pretend that you do the following things:

B. Take care of the hens exactly the way you did before you left on vacation. Don't change anything that you were doing.

Feed the hens and give them fresh water every morning.

Use your regular chicken feed.

Clean the pens every other day.

Collect eggs every morning.

C. Compare the number of eggs the hens lay now to how many they laid before vacation.

What could this experiment tell you? Suppose the hens begin laying lots of eggs. Suppose they are laying two or even three times as many eggs as they had before vacation. It must be because of the extra water, right?

Maybe, but maybe not. Perhaps there is another explanation. Your hens might be laying more eggs now for a completely different reason.

What if the weather has suddenly gotten warm, and the change in weather is causing your hens to lay more eggs?

What if the sun hatched thousands of grasshopper eggs last week? Maybe hundreds of baby grasshoppers are leaping into the chicken pens and your hens are gobbling them up. Perhaps the extra food is causing them to lay more eggs.

Maybe if the hens are laying more eggs now, it's not because of the extra water at all. Perhaps it's for a completely different reason. But how can you tell? The experiment you did cannot help you decide.

Scientists have a better way of doing the experiment. If the experiment is changed, it can help you decide why the hens are laying more eggs. The experiment is done with two groups. One is called the control group. The other is the experimental group. The two groups are treated almost exactly the same. The experiment will work only if almost everything about the groups is the same. For example, to do the experiment with your hens you would have to:

Your hypothesis is, "Giving my hens extra water causes them to lay more eggs." You could test your hypothesis by doing the following experiment. Give one group of hens the same amount of water you always did (use small water dishes). Give the other group of hens more water (use large water dishes). The first group is the control group. The second is the experimental group. Except for the amount of water provided, everything about the two groups remains the same.

Count the number of eggs laid by each group for one week. Continue counting the eggs every week for five weeks. Examine your results.
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Dividing your hens into two groups that are observed at the same time makes your experiment better. You can be more certain that any differences in egg laying are caused by the amount of water the hens have. If weather makes a difference in egg laying, both groups should be affected in the same way. If baby grasshoppers start hatching and jumping into the pens, both groups should be affected. If exercise makes a difference, again, both groups should react in the same way.

What if the hens in the experimental group laid a lot more eggs than those in the control group during every week of the experiment? Then you could be pretty sure it was because they were getting extra water. You have tried to keep everything else about the groups the same.

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What if the control group produced about the same number of eggs as the experimental group? Or what if sometimes the control group produced more eggs and sometimes the experimental group produced more eggs? Then the amount of water doesn't seem to be making any difference. You would have to reject your hypothesis and try a new one.

Sometimes it is hard to decide what the results of an experiment mean. If the experimental group laid more eggs during each of the five weeks, you could be pretty sure the water was making a difference. If the experimental group laid more eggs for four out of five weeks, you might still be pretty sure the water was making a difference. But what if the experimental group laid more eggs only three out of five weeks? Maybe the water isn't making any difference. Maybe if you did the entire experiment again, the experimental group would lay more eggs only two weeks out of five.

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Scientists can use a type of mathematics called statistics to help them decide what the results of an experiment mean. Statistics can help a scientist in planning an experiment. Statistics can also help a scientist decide whether the results of an experiment support a hypothesis or not.

If the amount of water didn't seem to make any difference in the number of eggs laid, you would have to try a new hypothesis. You know that your hens ate a different kind of chicken feed most of the time you were on vacation. You might decide to test the hypothesis, "My hens will lay more eggs if they eat Acme Deluxe Chicken Feed instead of the feed I usually give them."

You could set up another experiment using control and experimental groups. The only difference between the two groups would be that they would get different kinds of chicken feed. The control group would get the kind of chicken feed you usually use. The experimental group would get Acme Deluxe Chicken Feed. If you did the experiment several times, the number of eggs produced by each group would help you decide whether the second hypothesis was true or false.

Finally, an important part of the scientific method is telling other people what you learned. A chicken farmer who suddenly discovers how to make his hens lay more eggs might not be anxious to share his secret. After all, he's trying to make a living from selling eggs and would like to be able to sell them more cheaply than anyone else.
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However, a scientist who discovered how to make hens lay more eggs would write about his findings. His discovery might appear in a magazine called a scientific journal. Scientific journals print news about scientists' experiments and hypotheses.

Scientists answer questions and learn new things every day. No one could ever read or remember all the things scientists have discovered. Scientists who study fish can read journals that print articles about fish. Scientists who study plants or rocks or atoms can read journals about the things they study. Reading journals teaches scientists many things. It helps them improve their own experiments. It also gives them ideas about new things to study.
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