Kingfisher Knowledge: Wonders of the World – Teacher Resources

SYNOPSIS Kingfisher Knowledge: Wonders of the World is a book about the world’s most amazing buildings. Chapter one is about the famous seven wonders of the ancient world, and shows these remarkable buildings recreated in vivid detail. Chapter two tours some astonishing historical sites over a much wider area. Chapter three examines some of the marvels of the modern world, from spectacular buildings such as Sydney Opera House to amazing feats of engineering such as the Hubble Space Telescope. The book is illustrated with fascinating artwork and photography, and each chapter has a clear, attractive map showing the location of all the places described.

THEMES The Kingfisher Knowledge series introduces upper primary-aged and lower secondary- aged children to a variety of favourite non-fiction topics.

English Books in the Kingfisher Knowledge series will help children with literacy (interpreting, analyzing and evaluating information).

History Chapters 1 and 2 of Wonders of the World loosely support the year 7 curriculum (The Ancient World: Egypt, Greece, Rome, China) Historical people and events Historical terms Locate relevant information from sources provided

WRITING STYLE The book is written in a fairly conventional style for non-fiction information text. Each spread has an introductory paragraph followed by a series of paragraphs examining a topic in some depth. Illustrations are accompanied by detailed captions. Each chapter ends with a concise chapter summary and a panel of further information that lists further reading in the form of other books and websites; places to visit (whether in person or online); and even careers that a reader inspired by the book’s information might want to purse.

AUTHOR /ILLUSTRATOR BACKGROUND Philip Steele has been writing books for children and adults on a wide range of topics including history, geography and cultural and social themes, for over 20 years. http://www.philipsteele.co.uk/pages/about_me.htm

EDITORIAL COMMENT Kingfisher Knowledge: Wonders of the World has been thoroughly researched, by the author and editor, and fully checked for factual accuracy. The artwork scenes specially created for this book, in particular the reconstructions of ancient wonders, are as correct and accurate as the historical sources allow, as well as exciting. The book has a foreword written by Françoise Rivière, Assistant Director-General for Culture, UNESCO. [N.B. she held that post from 2003 to 2010 as far as I can tell]

TEACHER ACTIVITIES/NOTES

• Imagine you are a time-traveller visiting one of the wonders of the ancient world, and devise a tourist brochure for the site.

• Write a timeline of all the wonders featured in the book

• Draw your own reconstruction of one of the wonders of the ancient world, using the book and Internet research (see page 22 of the book for a starting point)

• Make your own list of wonders of the world, including amazing places you have visited or read about, both historical and modern-day. You can mark them on a world map and include a sentence explaining why you think each building or structure is a wonder of the world.

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