Exploring the Savanna unit

	Exploring The Savanna One of the eight biome study units of

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This start grid serves as the launcher for the "Exploring the Savanna" unit, and it is is opened when a student double-clicks this unit's title from Clicker Explorer. Each small graphic on the launcher is a link to the book it illustrates. The anchor book, Savannas, is listed first, followed by the other two content books. Below the three content books are a comprehension gridset for the anchor book and two journals relating to the other two books. A word sort exercise rounds out the unit. Students can return to the Clicker Explorer list by clicking on the Home button, in the lower right part of the grid (house within a circle).

You can click on any of the book covers in the launcher graphic above to jump to screenshots from that book and a brief description of it. You can also access that information by scrolling down this page. After each description, you can click a link to return here and try another title. This unit is included in both Ecosystems Collection B and the full Wonders and Magic of Nature collection.

OTHER OPTIONS: You can go to the complete list of unit titles by clicking the Home button on the graphic above, just as a student would do to get back to Clicker Explorer. Then you can double click another unit title to go to the pages demonstrating that unit. For a closer look at the types of activities covered by these gridset formats, check out the "Tour the Templates" section. There is also a link at the top of the page to return to Clicker-based Products.

The anchor book: Savannas
The anchor book for the unit, Savannas, explains that savannas are grasslands that cover large parts of Africa, as well as smaller areas of South America, Asia and Australia. A map shows where savannas are located around the Earth. The student then has the opportunity to read about the main characteristics of all savannas, how plants and animals have adapted to these environments, and how savannas differ around the world.
	This is a typical page from the Savannas book. High quality photographs and short videos are used throughout the anchor book to illustrate the subject. The bullhorn button on the page enables a student to have the text read aloud. A vocabulary button opens a pop-up with the words and definitions of the special vocabulary for this unit.
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What Do You Know About Savannas?
This book follows the anchor book, and provides students an opportunity to show their comprehension of the subject through a series of multiple choice questions. Each set of three questions is preceded by a photograph originally seen in the anchor book, to jog the students' memories and make this exercise more than a simple drill.
	Clicking the buttons to the right of each question opens a pop-up grid with four possible answers for that question. Students simply click their choice to insert the answer into the provided space on the page below the question. Saving this book in their portfolios preserves the students' answers for assessment by the teacher and later review by the students.
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African Savanna Adventure

The African Savanna Adventure book gives the student a chance to explore by making choices as to which path he or she wants to take through the savanna. Students click one of the two large buttons to go to the next point of interest. Hovering the cursor over these buttons brings up a label describing that destination.

Photos, videos, and appropriate sound effects add a realistic atmosphere to the experience. There are eight different paths available in the book and students are asked to take notes as they travel so that they can later document their adventure.

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African Savanna Journal
	This journal accompanies the African Savanna Adventure. Once students complete the adventure, they create a finished journal about their explorations. A pop-up grid with photos from the adventure enables students to insert one photo on each page of the journal. They then write about what they saw on the savanna, using the photos to organize their observations. The finished journal is saved and also can be printed.
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The River Horse
In the third content book, entitled The River Horse, a guide by the name of John takes students to several waterholes and a river where they can observe hippopotamuses in the wild. As with all of the units and books, high quality photography and videos are used to vividly bring this environment alive for the student. Students see the animals swimming, taking a breath, closing their nostrils and then submerging. The sound of a hippo snorting and grunting illustrates one reason why it is called the river horse
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River Horse Journal
	The associated journal for The River Horse, River Horse Journal, utilizes a different format than the African Savanna Journal. Throughout this journal, students are presented with photos like this one from The River Horse book to remind them of the environment and their encounters with the hippopotamuses.
On the following page, students document their observations in Clicker Writer by answering a question related to the photo. They then save their essay as a Clicker Writer document. Both journal formats are used throughout the units.
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Savanna - Tundra Word Sort
	The final lesson in the unit asks students to sort vocabulary words that they have learned in this unit from words they have encountered in another unit. In "Exploring the Savanna", the student sorts savanna words and words from the tundra unit.
Students choose items from a pop-up grid and insert them into two cells, representing Savanna and Tundra. When they have finished sorting the words, the gridset is saved into their portfolios where it is available for review.
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