READING COMPREHENSION SELECTIONS GR. 5 

      Fall 2020 

       

Table of Contents  Table of Contents

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Lesson 1: The Moai of Easter Island

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Lesson 2-Canada’s Most famous Shipwrecks

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Lesson 3--Nuclear Energy Pros and Cons  

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Lesson 1: The Moai of Easter Island 

 

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Easter Island moai statues with heads visible in Rano Raraku  Moai statues are massive m ​ egaliths ​at Easter Island, and these are what this  island is famous for. The moais were built in approximately 1400 - 1650 A.D. by  the natives of this island also known as Rapa Nui.    Many know them as the Easter Island heads. This is a misconception from  having seen photos of statues in the volcano Rano Raraku partially covered  up with soil. The truth is that all of these "heads" have full bodies.    There are around 1000 statues, up to 86 tons tons in weight and 10 m in  height, though the average is around half of that. 95% of the moais were  carved from the volcano Rano Raraku. This location was chosen since it  consists to a great extent of ​tuff​, which is compressed volcanic ash and is  easy to carve, which was necessary since the natives had no metal to carve  with, but used only stone tools; the so called t​ oki​.     

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What do moais represent? 

  Moais with full bodies visible at Ahu Tongariki. 

Moai statues were built to honour chieftains or other important people who  had passed away. They were placed on rectangular stone platforms called  ahu​, which are tombs for the people that the statues represented. Each moai  was intentionally made with different characteristics since it was intended to  keep the appearance of the person it represented.    There was one group of carvers from which the statues were bought. The  buying tribe would pay with whatever they had large quantities of. Examples  of trade items would be sweet potatoes, chickens, bananas, mats and  obsidian tools. Since a larger statue would mean a higher cost, bigger statues  would also mean more greatness for the tribe, since it would be a proof that  the tribesmen were clever and hard-working enough to pay for them.  Eyeholes would not be carved until the statue reached its destination. A  pukao​ of red scoria stone from the quarry Puna  Pau would in later years sometimes be placed on  the head of the statue to represent the long hair  the d ​ eceased​ had, which was a sign of m ​ ana​; a  kind of mental power. Eyes of coral would mark  the final touch, and the moai would be an '​ ariŋa  ora​ or living face. The spirit of he or she who had  passed away would forever watch over the tribe 

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and bring fortune in life. This is why the statues are called ​mōai​ - so that he  can exist   

Transportation of moai statues  One of the biggest Easter Island mysteries is how stone age tribes could  succeed in transporting 50+ ton moai statues kilometers across hilly t​ errain​.  There are several transportation theories, some of which are more generally  accepted than others.    Upright transportation  There are many moai statues that fell during transportation to their ahu.  Some of these are on their stomach and some on their back. This tells us that  the moais were transported upright. Since the moais are standing in the  quarry Rano Raraku, and they are standing when having reached their ahu,  upright transportation saved the Rapa Nui people the huge amount of labor  of lowering and raising the statues.    Transportation on rollers  The most widely accepted theory is that the statues were standing on some  kind of construction that would keep the statue standing, which would roll  on logs. With this technique, brute force could be applied and rapid, safe  moai statue transportation would be possible. As statues got bigger, huge  amounts of lumber would be needed. This would eventually cause  deforestation​ of all thick and straight trees, which then made transportation  impossible.    American archaeologist C ​ harles Love​ experimented with the technique of  transporting a statue on rollers. He moved a 9 ton moai replica 40 meters in  only 2 minutes, using not more than 25 people. No other moai transportation  experiment has been able to match this one in speed.     

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Walking by rocking  According to oral tradition, the moai statues walked to their destination. A  literal interpretation of this legend would be that the statues were rocked  from side to side, just like you would a refrigerator, to actually make them  walk. For this, no wood would be required - only ropes.    There are three main weaknesses with this theory:  ● It doesn't explain the disappearance of the trees.  ● The statue would fall quite easily during transportation.  ● Transportation technique is very time consuming. Considering the  quantity of statues and their distance from Rano Raraku, a quicker way  of transporting the statues would be more advisable.    Norwegian explorer T ​ hor Heyerdahl​ together with ​Pavel Pavel​ were the first  ones to experiment with this transportation theory and did so with a 9 ton  ancient statue in 1986. First they only dragged a statue on the ground, one  side at a time. This took lots of time and energy without much result. Later  they attached ropes also to the head to be able to make it tilt while turning,  and the statue moved with much greater ease.    The second experiment of this theory was performed in July 2012 at Hawai'i  by American archaeologists ​Terry Hunt​ and ​Carl Lipo​. A 5 ton replica was  moved by a group of 30 people. This experiment received great attention  worldwide through a N ​ ational Geographic​ report.    Watch the following video where a 5 ton moai statue replica is made to walk  by rocking it during the 2012 July experiment at Hawai'i by Terry Hunt and  Carl Lipo.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvvES47OdmY     

LINK TO YOUR ASSIGNMENT 

Homework - Complete Work for Vocabulary Lessons 1,  

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Lesson 2-Canada’s Most famous Shipwrecks    Canada’s most famous shipwrecks 

  What do you get when you have a nation that stretches from coast to coast  to coast? The perfect recipe for shipwrecks. After all Canada’s waters are  home to more than a hundred. Of course some shipwrecks are more  well-known than others. In case you ever wondered what they are and  where they lie, here are eight of the country’s most famous.    Sweepstakes  In Tobermory, Ontario, you will likely see ​Sweepstakes​. Lying at the bottom of  Big Tub Harbour in no more than 7 metres of water. ​Sweepstakes​ can  actually be seen from the shore. Built in 1867, the 119-foot schooner was used  to transport coal until it was damaged off of Cove Island. The boat was towed  to Big Tub where it sank in 1885 while awaiting repair.    S.S. Edmund Fitzgerald  Immortalized by the Gordon Lightfoot song ​The Wreck of the Edmund  Fitzgerald​, this Great Lakes Freighter sank on November 10, 1975, killing the  entire 29-person crew. Succumbing to a winter storm, the boat sank to 160  metres deep, about 17 kilometres from Sault Sainte Marie. Though the cause  of the wreck has never been determined, many theories persist, which  include r​ ogue w ​ aves​ a ​ nd s ​ tructural​ f​ ailure. What we do know is that the S.S.  Edmund Fitzgerald is still in two pieces at the bottom of Lake Superior. 

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        HMS Erebus and HMS Terror  The infamous Franklin Expedition that was held to discover the Northwest  Passage led to more than one shipwreck. The two ships involved (the H ​ MS  Erebus​ and ​HMS Terror​) were abandoned by their crews when they became  ice bound in 1845. Following this event, the entire crew got lost and recent  anthropological ​studies concluded that the men died of pneumonia,  tuberculosis, and lead poisoning from badly​ soldered​ tin cans. Parks Canada  has since organized five expeditions to look for the wrecks, but nothing has  been found. The two ships are designated by Parks Canada as a national  historic site, making them the only non-discovered national historic site in  the country.    HMS Investigator  An indirect c ​ asualty​ of the Franklin Expedition, the I​ nvestigator​ was sent to  search for Sir John Franklin and his men in 1848. The boat made two voyages  to the Arctic but it was abandoned in 1853 after becoming trapped in the ice.  In July 2010 Parks Canada discovered the wreck buried in​ silt​, 150 metres off  of the north shore of Banks Island.    Titanic  Perhaps the most famous of all shipwrecks, the ​Titanic​’s bow can be found  just off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland, technically putting the wreck in  Canadian waters. The boat sank in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, and if  you don’t know anything else about the Titanic, well, there was a little movie  made about it in 1997 as well.    RMS Empress of Ireland  This ocean liner sank in the Saint Lawrence River in 1914 after colliding with a  Norwegian coal ship. The ship sank in 14 minutes and claimed the lives of  more than a thousand people. Over the years many ​salvage d ​ ivers have  visited the wreck, retrieving everything from mail to a brass bell. In 1999 the  wreck was added to Canada’s list of historic sites to prevent treasure hunters  from continuing to pillage the site.      7

        The Robert Kerr   In 1911 this 190-foot b ​ arque​ was running behind a towboat when it struck a  reef just north of Thetis Island in British Columbia. Once the coal was  removed the ship was abandoned. It became known as “the ship that saved  Vancouver” when a fire destroyed much of the city in 1886 and residents  boarded the vessel to escape the fire. The Robert Kerr now rests off the city’s  coast in 15 metres of water and is a popular dive site.       

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  Lesson 3--Nuclear Energy Pros and Cons    Few energy sources are as c ​ ontroversial ​as nuclear power. It is important to  know what the disadvantages of nuclear energy are but it is e ​ ssential​ to  recognize that there are also advantages to this energy. So, what are the pros  and cons of nuclear energy?  What Is Nuclear Energy?   Nuclear energy is the result of what we call nuclear reactions​. There are two  kinds of nuclear reactions (or conversions).These conversions are changes in  mass and energy.  All mass is made up of tiny atoms. Most atoms are located in the nucleus (or  center) of mass. The rest of mass is distributed in a cloud of electrons that  floats around the nucleus. The atoms in the nucleus are subdivided into  neutrons and protons.   What Are The Pros of Nuclear Energy?  Nuclear Energy Pros:  ● ● ● ●

Does not emit large amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases  Consistent and reliable energy source  Allows countries to become energy independent  Low operating costs once setup 

In a time where many people rightly worry about global warming, it must be  said that nuclear power contributes very little to it. Why? Because its  generation​ only produces relatively little carbon dioxide (CO2). So, if you are  concerned about the environment and, specifically, global warming, then you  should consider that nuclear power is less of a polluter than other sources of  energy, such as, for example, fossil fuels.   

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Another important advantage of nuclear power is that we are now better at  technology. What this means is that we have already developed all the  necessary technology for nuclear power generation. So there is no need to do  any further research or invest for it as all the necessary technology to  generate this kind of energy is already widely available. The final important  advantage of nuclear power is that just one single nuclear plant can generate  high quantities of electrical energy. So, at least, in terms of space, there are  advantages of generating nuclear power.   What Are The Cons of Nuclear Energy?  Nuclear Energy Cons:  ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Environmental impact of radioactive waste  Requires mining and refining uranium and transporting it to plant  Radioactive waste disposal  Potential for deadly and costly nuclear disasters  High initial cost to develop nuclear plant  Limited by availability of uranium  Can be precursor to nuclear weapons 

The main con is what to do with ​radioactive w ​ aste. The problem is that the  generation of nuclear energy creates highly dangerous radioactive waste.  Radioactive waste needs to be kept in a safe place for many thousands of  years after it has been produced.  The issue of nuclear waste cannot be u ​ nderestimated​. Radioactive waste can  lethal​ for human beings and any other life forms. They cannot be disposed of  safely but they need to be watched over and kept somewhere safe enough so  it does not affect the environment.  A related issue is that increasing radioactive waste could be used to create  new lethal nuclear weapons. This is the flipside of this widely available  technology. Why? Because the same technology that is used to generate  energy in a nuclear plant can also be used to create nuclear weapons.  But this is not the only security consideration that needs to be made. Nuclear  energy is potentially dangerous. This is why nuclear plants are built with the  10

highest possible security standards. But everyone can remember nuclear  accidents, most notably the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011 and  the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in 1986.  The reason why nuclear plant disasters have continued to happen is that it is  impossible to build a nuclear plant that is completely safe. So there is always  a risk of disaster. As the number of nuclear plants grows, the possibility of  future nuclear disasters also logically increases.  Another disadvantage of nuclear energy is the ​scarcity o ​ f its source. If current  demand continues, it is estimated that Uranium resources will not last for  more than 30 years approximately. The only solution to this would be setting  up more nuclear plants but this is not practical in the next 30 years as there is  no time to do so in just a few decades.                       

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Lesson 4--Canada’s Food Guide    The teacher will devise a homework activity based on the following  Canada’s food Guide  https://food-guide.canada.ca/en/       

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