Sydney Scandal is one of the Karito Kids Adventure series books, which are written for upper elementary students. The target audience for the series is elementary students, and the combination of pirates and dolphins make Sydney Scandal appealing for both genders. While the book are written at a 4th grade level, gifted students will enjoy the book and the meaningful discussion teachers can facilitate by using the book as a springboard.
A Teacher's Summary of Sydney Scandal
Piper Whelan is an 11 year old Aussie tomboy, and she is determined to save the beach from pollution and the tourists from sharks. Some of her attempted rescues do not work out as planned, but her heroic goals lead readers to see the unintentional impact that tourism has on the ocean and its inhabitants. In additon to beached whales and polluted waters, Piper discovers that unregulated diving and treasure-hunting may cost Australia their natural treasures.
Introducing Sound as a Vibration
Before reading the book, teachers should introduce how sound works to students so they will understand the issues that noise pollution presents in Sydney Scandal. Songs for Teaching has a cute Ron Brown song, "Sound", with lyrics that stress the important details, "The sounds you hear from far and near/Vibrate the bones inside your ear/The message travels to your brain". After having fun learning and singing the songs, teachers should instruct the students to look for times in Sydney Scandal that vibrations send messages to brains.
Finding Examples of Different Sounds in Sydney Scandal
Gifted students will be able to keep that slightly unusual instruction in mind as they read, and they will find several examples of the effects of sound in the story. Some examples to highlight for students include:
- On page 52, Piper hears a shrill voice the causes her to spin around. Teachers should have students try different "shrill" tones to see what kind of reactions they elicit with each other.
- On page 80, Piper clears the beach by screaming, "Shark, Shark!" Students should be able to easily see how that message traveled from ear to brain and led to action quickly.
- On page 114, Piper whispers to a parrot, who then repeats her message in a parrot scream. Students may not realize that parrots do not use vibrating vocal chords to repeat sound (they use air), so they do not have the same volume control that humans have.
Of course, the big examples occur when the pirates use sonar to find treasure and then disrupt the swimming animals below the surface.
Finding Noise Pollution in Sydney Scandal
As students read, they will discover the use of sonar has caused the whales and mammals to grow confused. Teachers should discuss how sonar causes vibrations, and – just as the song says – those vibrations send messages to the brains of animals living in the ocean. Unfortunately, the messages confuse the whales, dolphins, sharks, and fish, and they end up changing their patterns and getting lost.
Understanding Implication for Noise Pollution for Humans
After discussion noise pollution for ocean life, students can discuss noise pollution for land life. Students can research noise pollution and look at environmental and health impacts of noise pollution. They will be sad about the distress of the whales and dolphins in Sydney Scandal, and they may be surprised that ATVs, loud music, and other sources of noise has equally detrimental effects on the messages their brains get from vibrations.
Although students of a variety of reading levels will enjoy Sydney Scandal, gifted teachers can use the book as more than a fun read – it is a chance to do some higher-level thinking by connecting a part of the book (the sounds of Piper's world) with an often ignored factor in daily student life (the sounds of their world). After learning the how sound works, the class can have interesting discussions about what noise pollution is and find sources of noise pollution in their daily lives.
Sydney Scandal is written by Judy Katschke and published by KidsGive in 2008. The ISBN is 9780979291265.
Alex Sharp - Alex Sharp is a teacher who has been keeping Suite101 readers up to date with the latest in audio- and e-book gadgetry since 2008.
