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Australia
Introduces twelve natural and man-made famous places in Australia, including the Sydney Opera House, the Great Barrier Reef, and the town of Coober Pedy.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published January 1, 2006
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
March 2, 2009
Summary: This book features 12 famous places in Australia, highlighting both natural and built formations.
Response: After reading Lynne's response to my review of "Big Rain Coming," I decided to use my informational reading to learn more about Australia. While this book didn't provide the overall background knowledge I was looking for, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself learning many wonderful interesting facts. Because this book focuses on famous places, the authors begin by defining the terminology of famous places, which I found very interesting, and I appreciated the concise organization and ongoing use of new terms. As an informational text, it is well organized with key vocabulary words in bold print, maps, diagrams, photographs, and "Zoom In" text boxes with fun trivia facts. I had never given much thought to what makes a famous place famous, and I can see using this book to either teach about Australia or to teach about informational texts and research skills.
While I didn't find the explicit information I was looking for about Australia's Aboriginal people, I did feel that a respect for them was simply embedded in the text when the authors discussed famous locations in Indigenous areas. For example, instead of referring to them as a homogeneous group of Aboriginals, they use the individual names of different groups of indigenous people, and they explain how the the National government has worked to restore ownership of Uluru and Kata Tjuta rock formations to the Anangu people since traditional law better protects the sacred site.
INFORMATION
Response: After reading Lynne's response to my review of "Big Rain Coming," I decided to use my informational reading to learn more about Australia. While this book didn't provide the overall background knowledge I was looking for, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself learning many wonderful interesting facts. Because this book focuses on famous places, the authors begin by defining the terminology of famous places, which I found very interesting, and I appreciated the concise organization and ongoing use of new terms. As an informational text, it is well organized with key vocabulary words in bold print, maps, diagrams, photographs, and "Zoom In" text boxes with fun trivia facts. I had never given much thought to what makes a famous place famous, and I can see using this book to either teach about Australia or to teach about informational texts and research skills.
While I didn't find the explicit information I was looking for about Australia's Aboriginal people, I did feel that a respect for them was simply embedded in the text when the authors discussed famous locations in Indigenous areas. For example, instead of referring to them as a homogeneous group of Aboriginals, they use the individual names of different groups of indigenous people, and they explain how the the National government has worked to restore ownership of Uluru and Kata Tjuta rock formations to the Anangu people since traditional law better protects the sacred site.
INFORMATION
Displaying 1 of 1 review