Weekly Reader Connections

Teacher Guide: Lesson 23.3


In the article “Land of the Lost” students read about the recent discovery of a civilization that thrived in Brazil about 700 years ago.

You may wish to mention that the 4,000-mile-long Amazon is the second longest river in the world. The river begins high in the mountains of Peru, flows eastward across Brazil, and then empties into the Atlantic Ocean. The land in the Amazon River basin makes up the largest rain forest in the world.

The Xinguano people had little contact with the European settlers, who arrived in Brazil in the early 1500s. The Xinguano villages were so remote that Europeans did not reach them until the mid-1700s. Finally, most of the Xinguano died of smallpox, measles, and other diseases introduced into their region by the Europeans.

The Word Wise activity has students identify root words and find words related to three of their vocabulary words. Possible responses follow.

Arkhaios: old, ancient Residere: to sit back Habitare: to dwell, to live in
archaeologist residential inhabit
archaeology resident inhabitant
archaeological reside habitat

The Data Hunt activity has students use what they have learned about coordinate graphing to extend their map-reading skills. Students identify lines of latitude and longitude on a map of South America and then match locations to places using degrees longitude and latitude. Have students mark five locations on the map and identify their coordinates. Then have each student trade coordinates with another student and find the locations on a map.

Houghton Mifflin Math Grade 5