By Simon Winchester

Adapted by Dwight Jon Zimmerman

Illustrated in full-color with period and color photos, engravings, and new artwork by Jason Chin

Tr 978-0-06-123982-3 $22.99 ($27.00)

Lb 978-0-06-123983-0 $23.89 ($27.89)

ABouT The BookThe explosion of the volcanoes on the Indonesian island of Krakatau (Krakatoa) in the Sunda Strait on August 27, 1883, remains to this day the loudest noise heard by humans and the most powerful explosion on earth ever experienced by man. Simon Winchester explores the ramifications of this cataclysm and its effects on the entire world by tracing the events leading up to the explosion and its aftermath of death, destruction, and eventual rebirth. The author stresses the supremacy of natural forces and the need for man to pay attention to nature’s warnings.

ABouT The AuThorSimon Winchester was born in England in 1944 and specialized in geology at Oxford University. Although he first worked as a geologist, he later transferred his talents to journalism and travel. He has worked as a reporter and foreign correspondent, living and traveling throughout the world, and he is the author of many bestselling nonfiction books for adults, including Krakatoa, the book from which The Day the World Exploded was adapted for children. A natural storyteller with a distinctive voice, Simon Winchester incorporates personal ex-periences and extensive research into his writing, creating books that come alive for readers. He has received Britain’s Journalist of the Year Award, and Queen Elizabeth II chose him to receive the Order of the British Empire in 2006 for his service to journalism and literature. He currently lives in Massachusetts and in the Western Isles of Scotland.Ph

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1. What is a volcano? Discuss the different types, where they are located, and famous volcanoes in history. What are the byproducts of a volcanic explosion, and how are they dangerous?

2. What is the Ring of Fire? Find this ring on a map and discuss its significance with regard to Krakatoa.

3. The theory of tectonic plates was not proven until the mid-1960s. We now know that it explains the 1883 eruptions at Krakatoa. Discuss this theory with your students, as well as continental drift, subduction, the collision and separation of plates, and fault lines. Locate examples of these plate dynamics on a map. What is the significance of the Wallace Line?

4. What were the warning signs that Krakatoa was going to explode? What caused the explosion and why was it so powerful? Could anything have been done to prevent the terrible destruction?

5. What is a tsunami? Why is it significant with regard to Krakatoa? What natural events can cause tsunamis?

6. With the final eruption of Krakatoa in August 1883, the island was blown apart and disappeared, with the exception of a small piece of land called Rakata. As the remains began to cool off and calm down, the island was reborn with plants and animals in the fertile soil of volcanic ash. Have your students explain the stages of this process of rebirth.

7. In the late 1920s, the volcano began to make its presence known again by a series of eruptions, finally giving rise to Anak Krakatau (Child of Krakatoa). How is the island reforming and is the volcano still active? Discuss whether history might repeat itself.

8. Indonesia was a Dutch colony at the time of the Krakatoa explosion. Help your students become familiar with a map of Indonesia and research the history and international significance of the spice trade, explorers, and the Dutch East India Company.

9. Because of communication advancements, the rest of the world knew of the earth-shatter-ing events at Krakatoa relatively soon after the explosion. Discuss Morse code, the telegraph, and undersea cables. Are any of these devices still operable? How does information become disseminated today?

10. Who is Vulcan? What does he have to do with Krakatoa? Discuss myths and legends associated with volcanoes and other natural phenomena. Why do people develop myths and legends? How do science and religion interact?

11. Evidence suggests that animals can sense impending natural disasters before they are detectable by humans. Have your students research this animal behavior and then discuss whether or not they think it is true.

12. Compare natural disasters that have occurred during the lifetime of your students with Krakatoa. How are they similar and different? These disasters might include Hurricane Katrina, the Indonesian tsunami, the eruption of Mount St. Helens, devastating floods in Europe or the United States, earthquakes throughout the world, or wildfires in California.

13. The Scream by Edvard Munch is believed to reflect the events at Krakatoa, as are other Victorian landscape paintings, and Alan Hovhaness wrote the Mount St. Helens symphony after the eruption of that volcano in the 1980s. Why does mankind respond to natural disasters with forms of artistic expression? Ask your students to find other examples of art in response to nature’s forces.

DISCUSSIOn PROMPTS

The DAy The WorLD expLoDeDThe earthshaking Catastrophe at krakatoa

The DAy The WorLD expLoDeDThe earthshaking Catastrophe at krakatoa LAngUAgE ARTS

AnD HISTORY ACTIVITIES1. Divide students into small groups to write myths

or legends based on a natural phenomenon. Then have students make Indonesian paper shadow puppets representing the characters and props in their stories and put on short plays.

2. Ask students to bring in spices from around the world for a tasting party. Research the country of origin of the spices, as well as current and historical culinary and medicinal uses.

3. nineteenth-century Europeans were great diarists. Ask each student to keep a personal diary for two weeks, noting current events, weather, and personal information. Have students read appropriate excerpts of their diaries to the class.

4. Allow each student the opportunity to create an art piece that reflects his/her response to a natural tragedy. The response could be in any form, such as an illustrated poem or story, a play, music, dance, computer graphics or sounds, or a two- or three-dimensional piece of art.

5. Ask each student to choose a nineteenth-century contributor to science to research and present a report on, showing how that person helped usher the world into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Make a timeline of these scientific advancements. Possible research subjects include:

Charles BabbageAlexander graham BellElizabeth Blackwellniels BohrLouis BrailleSamuel ColtCharles DarwinChristian DopplerThomas EdisonMichael FaradayRobert FultonRichard gatlingCharles goodyearErnst HaeckelHeinrich HertzJoseph Dalton HookerThomas HuxleyJames JouleWilliam Kelly and Henry Bessemer

Joseph ListerCharles LyellMatthew Fontaine Maurygregor MendelJohn MilneSamuel F. B. MorseWilliam MortonEadweard MuybridgeFlorence nightingaleAlfred nobelLouis PasteurMax PlanckCharles F. RitchelWilhelm RöntgenIsaac SingerHorace Smith and Daniel WessonWilliam ThomsonJohn TyndallAlfred Russel Wallace

SCIEnCE ACTIVITIES1. Have students create a three-dimensional cutaway

model of the earth showing its core, mantle, and crust. Ask students to research the composition, densities, relative proportions, and temperatures of the layers.

2. As a class, make models of the three types of volcanoes. Then re-create an eruption using bak-ing soda. Also examine examples of volcanic rocks: pumice, basalt, granite, and obsidian.

3. Cut out poster board puzzle pieces that approxi-mate the various tectonic plates. Draw the con-tinents onto the plates and lay the pieces on the floor. Then demonstrate for your class how the tectonic plates subduct, collide, and separate to explain natural geological phenomena, such as mountain ranges and rift valleys, in specific geographic regions.

4. Have small groups of students set up experiments using pans of water and an energy source to explain wave theory and why tsunamis are so devastating. Consider the role of geography in relation to tsunamis.

5. Morse code, the telegraph, and undersea cables revolutionized nineteenth- and early twentieth-century communication. Ask students to re-cre-ate other message systems, old or new, and send messages across a large room or outdoor field.

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Questions and activities prepared by Linda Z. Hamilton, Ph.D., Leawood, Kansas.

www.harpercollinschildrens.com

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