The Americas - Mesomerica - The Olmec and the Zapotec

The Tree That Rains: The Flood Myth of the Huichol Indians of Mexico by Emery & Durga Bernhard

Discussion:
Compare the world flood stories discussed this year
Climate and geography of Mesoamerica
Food staples (corn, beans, squash) and early farming practices
Animals: jaguar, quetzal, snake, eagle

Activity:
Map Study: where did the Olmec and Zapotec live?

Picture Study: Warrior Head

...Reptilia - Synapsida - Mammalia - Theria - Eutheria - Lagomorpha, Macroscelidea, Scandentia, Dermoptera

Amazing animals - Pikas
BBC One Life - Elephant Shrew and Monitor Lizard
It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's a Colugo?

Rabbits and Hares by Emilie U. Lepthien
Mammals by DK - Smithosonian Handbooks
The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
World of Animals: Mammals: Marsupials by Pat Morris and Amy-Jane Beer

Vocabulary Added:
lagomorpha: hare-form
macroscelidea: large-legs
scandentia: climbing
dermoptera: skin-wing

Activity:
Draw an animal from each order
Add a rabbit, elephant shrew, tree shrew, and colugo to the animal tree

The Americas - North America - Review

How did people arrive in the Americas?

What are some principal religious beliefs held by most major Native North American nations?

Style recognition: look at pictures of objects, explain who made them and why.

Cut/paste: match nation names to their location, main foods, and shelter types.

...Reptilia - Synapsida - Mammalia - Theria - Eutheria - Rodentia

How Beavers Build a Lodge - BBC Animals
Prairie Dog Snake Alarm
Attenborough: Is it a Bird?  Is it a plane? Is it a flying squirrel?  BBC Earth
HD: Leopard vs. Porcupine - Nature's Great Events - The Great Flood - BBC One

Capybara by Anita Ganeri
Rats! The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly by Richard Conniff
The Wonder of Beavers by Amy Bauman and Patricia Corrigan, and John F. McGee
Wild Animals of the Woods: Porcupines by Lynn M. Stone
World of Animals: Mammals: Rodents 2 and Lagomorphs by Pat Morris and Amy-Jane Beer
Mammals by DK - Smithosonian Handbooks
The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
World of Animals: Mammals: Marsupials by Pat Morris and Amy-Jane Beer

Vocabulary Added:
rodentia: gnawing

Activity:
Draw and label five rodents
Add a rat and a beaver to the animal tree

...Reptilia - Mammalia - Theria - Eutheria - Edentata and Pholidota

(Prehistoric Daireaux start at :50)
Mutant Planet - Giant Anteater
Attenborough: Saying boo to a Sloth! BBC Earth
What in the world is a pangolin?

Anteaters by Renee C. Rebman
Armadillos by Judith Jango-Cohen
Sloths by Melissa Stewart
The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures
Mammals by DK - Smithsonian Handbooks

Vocabulary Added:
eutheria: good-beast
edentata: without-teeth
pholidota: scaled

Activity:
Draw three edentates and a pangolin
Add an armadillo and a pangolin to the Animal Kingdom tree

The Americas - North America - the Hopi/Zuni and Dine

The Navajo by Kevin Cunningham and Peter Benoit
Pueblo by R. Kent Drasmussen and Kimberly L. Dawson Kurnizki
"Why Moon Has One Eye" and "The Hero Twins" from The Girl Who Helped Thunder and Other Native American Folktales by James and Joseph Bruchat and Stefano Vitale
Coyote Steals the Blanket by Janet Stevens

Discussion:
Climate of the American southwest (food, shelter)
Ceremonies and rituals

Activity:
Field trip to the National Museum of the American Indian

...Reptilia - Synapsida - Mammalia - Theria - Marsupialia

Virginia Oppossum - HD MiniDocumentary
Going Underground with a Wombat - extreme animals - BBC Wildlife
Bite of the Tasmanian Devil
Kangaroo Birth

About Marsupials by Cathryn and John Sill
Tasmanian Devil by Lynne M. Stone
Wild, Wild World: Koalas by Tanya Lee Stone
The Wonder of Kangaroos by Patricia Lantier, Judith Logan Lehne and John F. McGee

Mammals by DK - Smithosonian Handbooks
The Simon & Schuster Encyclopedia of Dinosaurs & Prehistoric Creatures
World of Animals: Mammals: Marsupials by Pat Morris and Amy-Jane Beer

Vocabulary Added:
theria: wild beast
marsupialia: pouch

Activity:
Draw three favorite marsupials
Add the kangaroo to the animal tree