Actual Size

Actual SizeWritten and Illustrated by: Steve Jenkins

Steve Jenkins is such a clever person.  This book allows the reader to compare a variety of beautifully illustrated animals with the size of our own human hands.  From the giant squid to the pygmy mouse lemur, any size hand can see where it fits into the wild world of animals.

Discussion/Project Ideas:

1.  As a class, pick five parts of the body and have the students measure themselves.  Examples: leg – from hip to ankle, arm – from elbow to wrist.  Next, pick one of the original five parts and have the students put their measurements in order from smallest to largest.  Without looking at names (write them on the back) see if you can guess who some of the measurements belong to.

2.  Nature evolves in order to survive.  Choose one of the animals from the book and research how its size helps it survive in its habitat.

3.  If humans were to evolve over the next million years to better survive, what mutations do you think might happen?  For example, do you think humans in some of the colder regions might start to grow thicker body hair to keep warm?

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