Lit Studies and Writing FUNbruary Break Packet

Transcription

1 Lit Studies and Writing FUNbruary Break Packet Name: Date: Advisory: Due: Monday, February 22, 2015 Teacher Contact Information Mr. Checo Ms. Monahan Ms. Strothers Ms. Zuniga

2 Dear 6 th Grade Scholars, Your next class novel will be Scott O Dell s Island of the Blue Dolphins. The articles in this packet are designed to help you better understand some of the key ideas that will occur throughout the story. For writing you will be reviewing important grammar skills. Enjoy your break and call us if you have any questions. Day One Day Two Day Three A Dig in Alaska Reveals Treasure Trove of Centuries-Old Wooden Artifacts (Graded) Archaeological Dig Stopped Short of Solving Mystery of the Lone Woman (Graded) What would you do? (Creative Writing) Day Four Day Five Grammar One (Graded) Grammar Two (Graded) Best, Mr. Checo Ms. Monahan Ms. Strothers Ms. Zuniga

3 Directions: Read and ANNOTATE the passage Day One: Alaska dig reveals tales of Eskimo life long before contact with Europeans An ulu handle with the image of a wolf- like beast on either end was uncovered at a dig site south of Quinhagak, Alaska, on the Bering Sea. It would have held a semi- lunar blade of ground slate. ANCHORAGE Some unfamiliar items washed up on the beach near the village of Quinhagak on the Bering Sea in Western Alaska about five years ago. The curiosities were native to the area, with designs similar to those found in the Yup ik Eskimo culture of the region. And they were wood, a material that usually decays after a few decades. Yet they were also old. The mystery of where these items came from and why they were in such good condition just had to be investigated. Warren Jones is the general manager of Qanirtuuq Inc., a company which runs a grocery store in Quinhagak and helps promote the village. Jones took some photographs and sent them to Rick Knecht, who studies how humans have lived over the centuries as an anthropologist. The Question Was: How Old? Knecht recognized the artifacts as prehistoric, which meant they were crafted in the years long before contact between the Yup ik Eskimos and Europeans in the 1800s. This is easily the largest collection of pre-contact Yup ik material anywhere, Knecht said, describing the thousands of items that date from between 1350 and Teams of international volunteers working with local residents have found 8,000 of what Knecht calls better artifacts. There are perhaps that many more fragments, all containing information about life in the area centuries ago. And it seems like every day new and eye-popping tools or decorative items are retrieved from the ground. Treasures From Nunalleq There are carvings, weapons, woven grass, clothing, dolls, even haircut trimmings from inhabitants who lived there hundreds of years ago. We found some amazing pieces on Saturday, Knecht said, adding that he has never seen anything like this before. Professor Knecht is excited by what the team has found. He's really interested not only by the amount of items discovered at the site, but by the quality and rarity of the materials. He explained that because the ground has been frozen for the whole time, the artifacts are in very good condition. Because it s been in permafrost up until now, the level of preservation is just marvelous, Knecht said. Eighty percent of what we re finding is wood or other organics. A lot of

4 them are preserved to the extent that they still have original paint on them. For all practical purposes, we re looking at new wood. Frozen In Time, Perfectly Preserved This is extremely important for the research because at one time a large amount of the things used by the Yup ik people were made from wood. In most circumstances such items decompose within a century or so. Here, however, the excavators have found whole wooden masks, bowls, bows, arrows and spears. Knecht explained that they have found not just the hard tips of the spears made out of bone, but the softer handles and shafts of the weapons. They also discovered "scraps of sealskin clothing with original needle holes" as well as animal fur, little bodies of insects and, in one instance, a mouse. The team have dug up grass baskets that are still a little bit green. As soon as these are brought into the air the color fades as the oxygen hits the ancient grass. The team has also discovered very delicate ropes made of grass and roots. These kinds of materials are very rare to find as they usually have rotted away many years ago. There are very few archaeological projects in this area, which is about the size of Great Britain, Knecht said. The professor acknowledged that little is known about how people used to live in this part of Alaska. "There s been so little archaeology in Yup ik country that everything we find here is a revelation." Old Village Revealing Secrets Knecht said the dates of the objects are important, because they span a particularly cold period of the so-called Little Ice Age, an abrupt period of lower-than-usual temperatures and ice advances recorded from 1430 to It wiped out the Norse settlements in Greenland and hammered crops throughout the northern hemisphere of the Old World. The destruction was written about in court records in Europe and Asia. But how did it affect Alaskans? That s something Knecht hopes the old village can reveal. From this site, we can learn a huge amount about how people lived before and after the ecosystems changed. Knecht thinks the old village was a winter gathering place on the Arolik River. It was abandoned after the river shifted. The land is famously moving in this part of the world, constantly rearranged by rivers and ocean currents. The shoreline is rapidly eroding at the old village. What is the main idea of this article?

5 Directions: Read and ANNOTATE the article below. Day Two: Was This the Cave Where the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island lived? Rene Vellanoweth, an archaeology professor at Cal State-Los Angeles, is pictured inside the cave he believes was the home of Juana Maria, the Lone Woman of San Nicolas made famous in "Island of the Blue Dolphins." Photo:U.S. Navy photo courtesy Steve Schwartz/TNS The novel Island of the Blue Dolphins, was based on a true story. On an island off the coast of Los Angeles, archaeologists were in a cave searching for evidence of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island. Slowly, carefully, they removed bucket after bucket of sand 40,000 in all. One of the leaders of the project was Steve Schwartz, an archaeologist with the U.S. Navy. Tom Holm was a student at California State University who was taking part in the dig. He was also making a documentary movie about the team s work. Holm felt lucky to be working side-by-side with experts. He was impressed with their knowledge of the Native Americans who had lived on the island. Ordered To Stop Digging In April 2012, the team was finally getting close to the historical artifacts that would allow them to learn more about the Lone Woman. Then, Schwartz was ordered to stop the dig. The commanders at the naval base on the island had sent the order. Schwartz was shocked by a question they asked: Is the work you re doing out there legal? Something else hurt, too. The shutdown was caused by Holm. He had become concerned about the way the archaeologists were handling Native American cultural artifacts. Holm went to the Pechanga Native American tribe. He brought some of them to the island. Shwartz, 57, quit his job in anger. He had been researching one of the most important historical finds in California history. Now, the work had to stop. It s a heartbreak. Schwartz said recently. We may never learn what archaeological riches that cave is guarding. Brought Off The Island The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island was a member of the Nicoleno Indian tribe. Very little is known about the tribe. In the early 1800s, many tribe members were killed in fights with Russian fur traders and Alaskan sea otter hunters.

6 After one battle in 1814, there were only a few dozen Nicoleno left. There had been about 300. In 1835, a ship brought the few remaining Nicoleno off the island. The ship was called Peor es Nada Spanish for better than nothing. All but one of the Nicoleno made the trip. No one knows why the Lone Woman was left behind. What actually happened to her remains a mystery, Schwartz said. He was determined to find out. A Long Search Schwartz spent more than 20 years searching for the cave where the woman lived. Finally, in 2012, he had a breakthrough. A government surveyor wrote in the 1800s that one of his camps was 100 yards eastward of the large cave formerly inhabited by a wild Indian woman who lived there alone for 18 years. Schwartz found the cave. It was 20 feet high, 75 feet long and packed with sand. A team began to carefully comb through it, looking for evidence of the Lone Woman. At first, Holm was excited to be taking part in the dig. The team was led by Schwartz and Rene Vellanoweth, Holm s archaeology professor at Cal State. Holm began to see things differently after he met with elders of the Pechanga tribe. They led him to question the archaeologists. Members of the tribe visited the island with him. Later, Holm began to argue with Schwartz and Vellanoweth about the dig. Closed To Research Eventually, the Pechanga tribe sent letters to the Navy demanding that it stop archaeological research in the cave and at 549 other sites across the island. Now, the cave is closed to research. The Navy is negotiating with the Pechanga tribe. They say they have a cultural connection with the island s ancient people, who survived for 8,000 years eating mostly shellfish, sea lions, small fish and roots. We re only trying to do what s right by our ancestors, Mark Macarro, the tribe s chairman, said. For now, the mystery of the Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island will remain unsolved. What is the main idea of this article?

7 Day Three: Creative Writing! Imagine you were stuck alone on a deserted island. What two things would bring with you? What strategies would you use to survive? How would you keep yourself entertained?

8 Day Four: Grammar One Directions: Correct the errors in the following sentences. One sentence does not have any errors. Example: What tine we leaving?!what time are we leaving? 1. Let s go to the beach. 2. I gotta go to the mall tomorro. 3. you ever been to Vietnam? 4. If you not their I wait for you. 5. I could come with you? 6. We drived to the beach last weekend. Directions: Correct the errors in the following sentences. One sentence does not have any errors. Example: What tine we leaving? What time are we leaving? 1. I dunno if I gonna wanna do it. 2. Wait I need more time. 3. What grade you got on the test? 4. If I ever go to Italy, I would like you to come with me. 5. When I was three years old I can tie my shoes. 6. Hers dress is blue long and very pretty.

9 Day Five: Grammar Two