Maggie Visits Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal

Transcription

1 Maggie s Activity Pack! Name Date Maggie Visits Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal Read about Maggie s visit to a jungle park in Nepal. You will read about her trek on an elephant into the Nepalese jungle to photograph rhinos, monkeys, and maybe even a barking deer or tiger! As you read, think about how you would feel if you visited such a place Plop, plop, plop. What s that noise? I asked myself as I grabbed the pillow to cover my ears. Loud screeches filled the air. I heard a constant swish, swish, swish. Ahh, I give up. What a racket, I said as I kicked the covers off. Then I heard soft footsteps on the stairs leading to the old wooden porch of my jungle cabin. Miss Maggie, Miss Maggie, whispered Mingma. It s time to get up. The elephant is ready to take you on your picture safari. I glanced at my watch. It was 5:00 am. Oh well, the jungle symphony had woken me up anyway. Besides it was important to get an early start. There s a better chance of seeing wildlife. I had high hopes of seeing a tiger! And Royal Chitwan National Park is a good place to see all kinds of rhinos, tigers, and monkeys. Mammals of the jungle love the cooler morning hours. It is then when tigers prowl for food or monkeys socialize in the trees. Later, in the heat of the day, the animals look for cover and nap. I thought it was already too hot. Guess I m used to air conditioners or at least fans. But the people in the park need to conserve energy and money. They only run the electrical generators for a few hours during the hottest part of the afternoon. So I had spent a hot night tossing and turning. I couldn t even open the windows because of the monster mosquitoes that would love to get a taste of me. Okay maybe they aren t that big. Guess I just imagine everything is huge in the jungle! After throwing on a long pair of pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and picking out my favorite jungle hat, I opened the door of my little cabin and hopped down the few creaky wooden steps. Just as I was thinking of a majestic tiger slinking

2 through the grass, I jumped. My foot touched something slimy. Yikes! I yelled. On the path in front of me was an endless parade of 8 inch long snails. Then I saw the grinning face of one of the park workers. He was sweeping the snails into the lush grass that lined the path. Plop! I jumped back. A 5 inch nut dropped from a near-by tree and landed at my feet. Whew, I thought as I rubbed my head. That was close! I hoped I d get that close to a tiger! I carefully wound my way around the snails and soon found myself in an open clearing that held a tall platform. Go ahead, climb up, smiled Mingma as a huge elephant came into view. Now I understood. The stairs were my ticket to the elephant s back! I quickly scrambled up. The elephant still while I took a big step from the platform onto his back. I sat on the wooden square that was strapped to the elephant s back. Thank goodness there was a railing. I leaned back and held on tightly. I was interested in the man sitting on the elephant s neck. He is the phanit, the most important person in the training of an elephant. The phanit steers this giant creature just by gently touching his bare feet behind the elephant s ears. It seems there is a complete harmony and almost unspoken communication between the phanit and the elephant. He turned and smiled at me, touched his heels to the rough, baggy skin beneath him, and we were off! I swayed from side to side as the elephant trudged through the long grass. The trumpet of the Common Peacock cut through the air. Groups of Jungle Babblers chattered to each other as they flew through the shrubbery. I looked down at the grass and shuddered a bit. I knew many snakes made their home in the park. I had seen pictures of pythons loosening their jaws to swallow deer. Suddenly before me was the river. I gripped the railing tightly, but the elephant just kept trudging onward. He didn t even stop as we approached the water. We just kept forging on toward the jungle and perhaps a tiger! Then the phanit turned around and grinned. He put his finger to his lips and pointed with his other hand at the grass ahead. I sat up tall and squinted. My stomach jumped. There was a mother rhino and baby! Quietly I reached for my camera. This was the Greater One-Horned Rhino. Although this species is endangered, it is common in the park thanks to conservation efforts. I was surprised that the mother rhino seemed to ignore us. I had heard that they will charge to protect their young. Maybe we seemed harmless because we were on top of an elephant. Before long the landscape changed. The movement of the elephant seemed more delicate as he picked his way between the large trees of the jungle. All was quiet except for the calling and scolding of monkeys somewhere in the distance. Occasionally I saw the bright colors of the jungle butterflies as they darted past.

3 As we made our way deeper into the jungle, I felt as though I was entering a cathedral. All seemed so reverent. I was almost glad my friends weren t here as I didn t want to talk. I only wanted to soak in the sights and sounds around me. I knew something special was ahead when the phanit turned and smiled. Sure enough, the trees gave way to a clearing. There was a huge pond where eleven rhinos lounged in the water. One turned its horn toward me and raised it in what I imagined was a greeting. The only sound was the clicking of my camera. I knew I had gotten many good photos that my friend, Kuma, would love. But where was my tiger? The sunlight of the clearing gave way to the dark jungle canopy as we continued our trek. Soon barking filled the air. I knew immediately what it was, the famous barking deer that made its home in the park! If an elephant can sneak, the phanit tried to get our elephant to do just that. Unfortunately, these shy deer didn t want to be seen, only heard! But we did find ourselves right underneath a family of playful monkeys swinging through the branches and loudly rebuking our intrusion into their territory! Again, I took many pictures and laughed at the antics of these primates. Still, there was no sign of a tiger. I know how hard it is to see these elusive predators and that I had hoped for the impossible. There was so little time left. I knew we were headed back to the lodge. The phanit gasped. He pointed to a large tree. The bark was scratched. Huge claw marks were etched into the bottom of the tree. Tiger was here, mouthed the phanit. I smiled and reached for my camera. I knew this was the best tiger sighting I could hope for. My safari was a success!

4 Remembering What You Read Many times you need to answer questions about what you read. You also take tests about what you have read. One of the skills you should develop is the ability to look back into articles and books and find specific details. This will help ensure that you remember the correct details about a subject. This exercise will help you to practice the skill of finding specific answers within a passage. Read each question. Find the line where the answer to the question is written. Write the number of the line next to the question. If an answer is on two lines, write both numbers. 1. How big were the snails on the path? 2. What species of rhino did Maggie see? 3. What time was it when Maggie woke up? 4. How many rhinos were in the pond? 5. Who is the most important person in the training of an elephant? 6. What kind of deer did Maggie hear? 7. Why couldn t Maggie open the window at night? 8. How did the phanit steer the elephant? 9. Why was Maggie glad that her friends weren t with her? 10. What kinds of birds did Maggie hear? Understanding What You Read Many times you will not be able to find all the answers to questions in the reading. You will need to use what you read and what you already know to help you answer questions. Read these questions and use your common sense to help you answer the questions. 1. It was already hot in the morning when Maggie woke up. Why do you think she dressed in long pants and a long sleeved shirt?

5 2. Why do you think Maggie thought there was a complete harmony and almost unspoken communication between the phanit and rhinoceros? 3. Maggie thought the mother elephant didn t charge because they were on top of an elephant. Do you think this was true or not? Explain your answer. Taking It Further Pretend you are Maggie. On the back of this paper write a postcard to your friend Kuma. Tell him why it was nice being alone in the jungle. Draw a picture for the front of your postcard.

6 Dear Colleague, In this activity your students practice three levels of reading skills. They have a chance to read a story that takes place in Royal Chitwan National Park in Nepal. I had the opportunity to visit this park last summer and went on such on elephant trek. Believe me, the heat was intense! Like Maggie, I enjoyed the solitude of the jungle and had quite a time convincing my husband to be quiet The personal reaction postcard would make a good bulletin board display. For those of you who are into technology, students could use programs like KidPix to make a postcard. Remember to access the postcards at for more writing practice and animal pictures! Kathy Remembering What You Read 1. How big were the snails on the path? What kind of rhino did Maggie see? What time was it when Maggie woke up? 8 4. How many rhinos were in the pond? Who is the most important person in the training of an elephant? What kind of deer did Maggie hear? Why couldn t Maggie open the window at night? 19/20 8. How did the phanit steer the elephant? 41/42 9. Why was Maggie glad that her friends weren t with her? 68, 69, What kinds of birds did Maggie hear? 46 and 47 Understanding What You Read Suggested answers 1. Maggie probably wore long pants and a long-sleeved shirt to help protect her from jungle insects or scratches from tree branches when she was on the elephant s back. 2. Maggie probably said there was a complete harmony and almost unspoken communication between the phanit and elephant because they work completely together. The phanit would have to spend a lot of time with his elephant to train him. They would have to practice together so the elephant would understand the phanit s foot movements. This would be difficult because the elephant s skin is rough. 3. It was probably true that the mother rhino did not charge because they were on top of the elephant. Rhinos are used to seeing elephants in the grass and jungle. They are part of the natural terrain. Also elephants are bigger than rhinos and can be fierce, too. Taking It Further Answers will vary. Goals: Students read an article about an elephant ride through a jungle in Nepal. They demonstrate their ability to prove answers to literal comprehension questions by detailing where in the article answers can be found. This type of activity allows students to improve study skills, i.e. determining where important facts are found within a story. Students demonstrate their ability to comprehend a realistic fiction story by answering questions that require interpretive skills. They also apply the knowledge from the story by writing an imaginary postcard. This activity is available on two levels, primary and intermediate.