1) Learn About Arkansas

Use with Unit A, Chapter 3, Lesson 1

The Armadillo's Armor
The nine-banded armadillo, celebrated each year at the Armadillo Festival in Hamburg, Arkansas, is one of four kinds of armadillo found in North and South America. Each one enjoys a hard body shell that functions as a kind of "armor," protecting it from would-be predators.

The armadillo's armor is really just a special kind of skin that has been fortified with minerals. The hard plates are broken into bands across the middle of the armadillo's body so that it can curl up and protect its soft under belly when threatened by a predator.

The armadillo feeds mainly at night, eating worms, insects, and sometimes the bodies of dead animals. If it meets danger on the trail, the armadillo doesn't have to run. It just curls up, presenting its enemy with a wall of bony plates.

<Insert illustrative art of a nine-plated armadillo. See enclosed.>

What Did You Learn?

1. How many different kinds of armadillos are there?
______four______________________________________

2. What do armadillos eat, and when?
______They eat insects and worms at night.______________

3. What protects the armadillo from predators?
______Hard bony plates on the backside of its body._______

4. What are the bony plates of the armadillo derived from?
______They are the armadillo's skin, fortified with minerals.___

5. How has the armadillo adapted to its environment?
______It has developed a hard outer shell to protect itself
from predators.____________________________________

2) Learn About Arkansas

Use with Unit B, Chapter 3, Lesson 1

Archery Hunting
Each year in Arkansas, several thousand deer are harvested by bow-and-arrow hunters. (Without hunters to reduce the large populations, many deer would starve to death each year.) These hunters enjoy the challenge of the sport also know as archery. Learning how high to aim their arrows and how hard to pull back on the bow in order to reach their target takes years of study and practice.

The sport of archery is a great example of science in action. The archer supplies a pushing force to the arrow by pulling back on the strings of the bow and then letting go. The arrow is then launched into the air where it sails upward before eventually being pulled back down to Earth by gravity. The gradual transition between upward path and downward path is described as an arc.

<Insert tech art of a simple arc. Maybe show little bowman on ground at left and arrow near ground at right, and gentle arc between. See enclosed.>

A seasoned hunter knows just where to aim his arrow and how much force to give it in order for it to land in the correct spot. He probably knows more about moving objects that he thinks he does!

What Did You Learn?

1. What is the name for the sport that uses bows and arrows?
______archery___________________________________

2. Why do hunters harvest deer each year?
______Many would die of starvation otherwise.___________

3. What supplies the pushing force that sends an arrow into the sky?
______the hunter pulling back on the strings of the bow and then letting go_____________________________________

4. What force pulls a sailing arrow back to Earth?
______gravity____________________________________

5. What is the name for the path described by a flying arrow?
______an arc_____________________________________

Grade 6, Unit B , Chapter 3              Arkansas Science Connections

3) Learn About Arkansas

Use with Unit C, Chapter 2, Lesson 4

Arkansas's Dinosaur
In 1972, J.B. Friday was looking for a lost cow on his farm. What he found instead was much more exciting.

Mr. Friday knew he was looking at something unusual when he stumbled across a number of fossilized foot bones from what appeared to be some sort of dinosaur. Mr. Friday brought the bones to the University of Arkansas, where Dr. James Quinn examined the bones along with a panel of experts.

The scientists wanted to see more of the animal's bones, so a team returned to Mr. Friday's farm to see what they could find. Unfortunately, because the fossils were located in a gravel pit that had been excavated for road building material, they only found one other toe bone.

While there is still some debate over the identification of the dinosaur who donated his toes, scientists currently believe the animal to be a theropod (a carnivore, like Tyrannosaurus Rex) from the early Cretaceous period.

Dr. Quinn named the dinosaur Arkansaurus fridayi, in honor of the state where it was found, and in honor of its discoverer.

<Insert illustrative art of Arkansaurus fridayi, and, if there's room, picture of Friday holding model foot. Under the dino pic, add its name in italics. Under Friday, add the caption: "Mr. Friday shown here with a model of the dinosaur foot." See enclosed.>

What Did You Learn?

1. Who found the dinosaur bones in 1972?
______J.B. Friday_________________________________

2. What did Mr. Friday do with the bones he found?
______He brought them to the University of Arkansas and showed them to an expert.___________________________

3. Why was that a smart thing to do?
______Fossilized dinosaur bones are more than a curiosity. They can provide valuable scientific information. Experts at the University can help extract historical information from the find to share with everyone.________________________________

4. What name did Dr. Quinn give the dinosaur?
______Arkansaurus fridayi__________________________

5. In what period do scientists think this dinosaur lived in?
______the Cretaceous period_________________________

Grade 6, Unit C , Chapter 2               Arkansas Science Connections