Teacher Guide: Lesson 6.7

The Weekly Reader Connections feature on Kids' Place Houghton Mifflin Math provides your students with additional information about the topics that appear in the Curriculum Connection feature in their student books.

The article “Who Turned Up the Heat?” explores with students the threat to penguins and Earth by global warming. Many scientists say disappearing ice, which is threatening the penguins' food supply, is caused by global warming. Most scientists say people are partly to blame for global warming. When people drive cars and use electricity, they burn fossil fuels, adding to the overheating of Earth. Scientists feel that even a small change in the environment can have a big effect. Have students read and discuss the article.

For the Word Wise activity, you may wish to review the purpose of a verb in a sentence and the rules that apply. Students are asked to choose the correct verbs to complete the paragraph below.

Penguins are very interesting animals. They have wings called flippers. They use their flippers to swim underwater. I think penguins are so cool!

The Data Hunt asks students to discuss the question, “How might people reduce their need for fossil fuels?” They will talk to classmates about ideas for reducing the need for fossil fuels and finding alternatives to driving automobiles. Students will survey another group of classmates, asking which types of changes they would be willing to make. They will then chart this information and create a line plot.