The Princess and the Pea Retold by Susie Stevenson
By Rachel Isadora
Story Summary:
Adapted from an old fairy tale - This little girl proves that she is a real princess, because she can feel a pea through many mattresses.
Learning Objective:
The students will experimentally measure the strength of a magnet and make predictions on how the distance from the magnet increases,
and as the barrier (paper) is built between the magnet and an iron object (or magnetic marble).
Materials:
magnetic wand
magnetic marble or small object (I use a green magnetic marble because it resembles a pea.)
paper princess pattern (see paper below)
multicolored construction paper cut in half
Procedure:
Read the story and discuss how the princess could feel the pea under all the mattresses or quilts. Tape the paper princess to the magnetic wand.
This will make it like a paper doll puppet. Place the magnetic marble under one sheet of paper to see how the wand can hold the magnet
through the paper (pretend you are relating it to the princess feeling the pea), Predict how many pieces of paper the wand will be able to hold the
marble
Text-to-Text Connections:
"Pinkalicious" by Victoria Kann and Elizabeth Kann
"The Very Smart Pea and the Princess to Be" by Mini Grey
"The King's 6th Finger byJolby and Rachel Roellke
The King's 6th Finger is the first collaborative effort between Jolby and Rachel Roellke. It is a tale about a King named Mortimer who is obsessed with the number 5. He has 5 towers on his castle, 5 moats around it, 5 knights on 5 horses, 5 queens, 5 servants, 5 meals... he's obsessed! Until one day, from his five-legged chair, he looks down at his hand and discovers that he's grown a 6th finger! What will he do? How does he remove it? What crazy plans do his advisors have in store for him? You'll have to get your hands on the book to see!The story deals with an obsessive compulsive, polydactyly (hexadactyly) King and unfolds in a whimsical rhyme accompanied by mid-century illustrations. It ends on a very positive note with an important lesson about maintaining balance in your life.
Links to other websites:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/princess-paper-dolls.htm
http://www.neatsolutions.com/HarvestOfTheMonth/Vegetables/Peas/Peas_Lit_01.html
http://www.acpl.lib.in.us/children/princess.html
http://elizabethkann.com/
http://childlit.sdsu.edu/reviews/picturebooks_fiction2009.htm#ThePrincessWhoHad
http://www.edumultimedia.net/science/physics/bsp30.htm
http://stolpsblog.blogspot.com/2011/06/how-many-washers-can-magnet-hold.html