HOUGHTON MIFFLIN
by Katrina Van Horn ILLUSTRATION CREDIT: Joe LeMonnier PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: Cover Getty Images. 1 (detail) C.3.c.8 f.371 North Carolina, titled Virginiae item et Floridae, from the Mercator Atlas... of 1606, pub. by Jodocus Hondius, 1619 (hand coloured engraving) (see also 81957, 81958 & 81959),/British Library, London, UK, British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/The Bridgeman Art Library. 2 (l) Digital Stock. (r) Shutterstock. 3 (r) Digital Stock. (b) (detail) C.3.c.8 f.371 North Carolina, titled Virginiae item et Floridae, from the Mercator Atlas... of 1606, pub. by Jodocus Hondius, 1619 (hand coloured engraving) (see also 81957, 81958 & 81959), / British Library, London, UK, British Library Board. All Rights Reserved/The Bridgeman Art Library. (4) (l) Digital Stock. 4 5 Mark Downey. 5 (r) Digital Stock. 6 (l) Digital Stock. (r) The Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo. 8 (l) Digital Stock. (b) The Kon-Tiki Museum, Oslo. 9 (r) Digital Stock. (bottom coconut) Siede Preis. (top coconut) Shutterstock. 10 ( l) Digital Stock. (b) Hulton Archive/Getty Images. 11 (r) Digital Stock. (t) Getty Images. 12 (l) Digital Stock. (t) Flip Nicklin/Minden Pictures. 13 Digital Stock. 14 (l) Digital Stock. (b) Fotoreport Greeë/dpa/Corbis. Copyright by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner unless such copying is expressly permitted by federal copyright law. Requests for permission to make copies of any part of the work should be addressed to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers, Attn: Permissions, 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, Florida 32887-6777. Printed in China ISBN-13: 978-0-547-01862-1 ISBN-10: 0-547-01862-2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 0940 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 If you have received these materials as examination copies free of charge, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt School Publishers retains title to the materials and they may not be resold. Resale of examination copies is strictly prohibited. Possession of this publication in print format does not entitle users to convert this publication, or any portion of it, into electronic format.
Table of Contents Introduction 3 An Idea is Born 4 Building the Kon-Tiki 6 Supplies for the Journey 9 Setting Sail 10 Adventures at Sea 11 The Journey Ends 13 2
Introduction Some people make journeys to increase their understanding of the world, past or present. Other people make journeys to test themselves to find out what they re made of and what they can achieve. Some hope to do both. Thor Heyerdahl (HAY er dahl) falls into this third category. Heyerdahl was an explorer from Norway. He spent much of his time dreaming up journeys, planning journeys, and making journeys. So when he got the idea to build a raft and sail across the ocean, it seemed pretty normal for him. Neither Heyerdahl nor anyone else guessed this journey would become one of the most famous adventures ever. 3
4 An Idea is Born Heyerdahl was curious about everything. But one thing interested him most: how animals and people first came to inhabit Polynesia, a group of islands in the south Pacific Ocean. In the late 1930s, Heyerdahl spent a year living in Polynesia. While he was there, he studied the islands plants and animals. He noticed they were a lot like the plants and animals found in South America. Heyerdahl figured out that winds and ocean currents from South America probably carried many of these species to the islands. That gave Heyerdahl an idea: Maybe the first human settlers in Polynesia came from South America, too. Most scientists believed Polynesia s first settlers came from Asia, not America. Heyerdahl decided to prove they were wrong or at least prove that his idea could be right.
Asia North America P PACIFIC O L Y OCEAN Equator Australia N E S I Peru South America A Antarctica Did early settlers in Polynesia come from South America? But how? There was only one way, as Heyerdahl saw it. He d have to travel from South America to Polynesia himself, just as the first settlers might have done. But he would not go on an airplane or a ship. No, he d have to get there on a raft. 5
Building the Kon-Tiki Heyerdahl and a crew of five went to Peru in South America. There they began to build the raft they hoped would take them west across the Pacific Ocean to Polynesia 4,300 miles away! This drawing shows a balsa wood raft from Ecuador in South America. Heyerdahl based his raft on drawings like this.
Heyerdahl studied drawings from hundreds of years ago, when the Spanish came to South America. He wanted to find out exactly what kind of materials and building methods people in South America used to make rafts back then. Heyerdahl was determined to build a raft exactly like one those early people might have built. The crew made their raft from balsa wood, which is plentiful in South America. They tied together nine huge tree trunks. Each one was about 45 feet long and 2 feet wide. They laid other logs crosswise to make the raft stronger. They wedged pieces of pine between the logs to fill any big gaps. 7
Then the crew made a mast and a sail. They also made a giant oar, so they could row when there was no wind for sailing. In the rear section of the raft, they built a cabin from bamboo to protect them in bad weather. They made the cabin s roof from banana leaves. Heyerdahl then gave the raft a name: Kon-Tiki. It was the name of a leader in ancient Peru who had used a balsa-wood raft to escape his enemies. 8 Heyerdahl worked with helpers to build his raft.
Supplies for the Journey Supplies for the Journey Heyerdahl and his crew thought very carefully about what supplies to bring on their journey. Fresh water was first on their list. They couldn t survive long without it. Hollow pieces of bamboo served as tanks to hold the water. The crew also brought along coconuts and other fruit, sweet potatoes, and some canned foods. They knew they could catch plenty of fish along the way. The crew had only two kinds of modern equipment: a radio and watches. Fortunately, one of the crew members was an engineer who was very good with measurements. He could help estimate the raft s location by figuring out the location of the sun, moon, and stars. 9
Setting Sail On April 28, 1947, the Kon-Tiki left Peru and headed out to sea, bound for Polynesia. After reaching deep ocean, the raft was carried along by the Humboldt Current. The Humboldt is the same strong current that carried plants and animals from South America to the islands. A crew member near Kon-Tiki s sail during the voyage. 10
Kon-Tiki and its crew faced danger far out in the Pacific. Adventures at Sea During their journey, the Kon-Tiki crew had at least one brush with disaster. Far out at sea, they spotted a whale shark. The enormous creature swam toward the raft and then down, directly underneath it. The crew could see the slopes of the shark s back curving down to its tail on one end of the raft, and down to its giant, flat head on the other end. If the shark made a sudden move, it could create a huge wave that would hit the raft like an avalanche. Or the shark might lift the raft into the air, flipping it over. 11
A whale shark like this one almost brought Kon-Tiki s voyage to a halt. Instead, the whale shark swam out from under the raft and began swimming in circles around it for more than an hour! The raft couldn t budge until the shark finally swam away. In the end, it did no harm. Maybe it was merely trying to make friends with the giant raft! 12
The Journey Ends The Journey Ends In late July, the crew saw birds flying at high altitudes in the sky. It was a clue that land was near. And on July 30th, the crew finally got a glimpse of land Polynesia! As the Kon-Tiki approached the islands, it struck a reef, or underwater wall. Polynesian natives paddled boats out to meet the crew. They looked over the raft and asked in sign language, Where s the engine? The crew explained there was no engine. The crew s new Polynesian friends were shocked. Thor Heyerdahl s journey on the Kon-Tiki fascinated people around the world. Heyerdahl turned the story of his adventure into a best-selling book. But had the explorer succeeded in proving what he had set out to prove? Had he proved that Polynesia s first settlers traveled there from South America? 13
Well, no. Most scientists thought Heyerdahl s idea was just plain wrong, and his journey did nothing to change their minds. They still believed people first migrated to Polynesia from Asia, not from South America. They had plenty of scientific evidence to back them up. But no one denies this: the Kon-Tiki s journey was an incredible feat, and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl had the daring, imagination, and determination of a true explorer. An older Thor Heyerdahl stood in front of Kon-Tiki years after his voyage. 14
Responding TARGET SKILL Text and Graphic Features How did text and graphic features help your understanding of this story? Copy the chart below. Complete the chart by writing the purpose of the other two features in this book. Maps Drawings Headings Purpose Help me see where the story takes place. Purpose? Purpose? Write About It Text to Self Imagine being a crew member on the Kon-Tiki. Write a fictional story telling what it might have been like. Use descriptive words to help readers picture what happens on the raft. 15
TARGET VOCABULARY altitude approached avalanche equipment halt increase section slopes succeed tanks TARGET SKILL Text and Graphic Features Tell how words, photos, and art work together. TARGET STRATEGY Infer/Predict Use clues to figure out more about the selection. GENRE Informational text gives factual information about a topic. 16
Level: O DRA: 38 Genre: Informational Strategy: Question Skill: Text and Graphic Features Word Count: 1,040 3.5.25 HOUGHTON MIFFLIN Online Leveled Books ISBN-13: 978-0-547-01862-1 ISBN-10: 0-547-01862-2 1031710