South Africa

This time Irene’s mom came to talk with us about South Africa.  Second grade students at Rocky River were lucky to hear all about Cape Town and South Africa.

These are things we learned…

  • There are the Big Five-  they are the rhino, elephant, buffalo, leopard and lion.
  • Where the oceans meet at the end they are different colors because warm water and cold water don’t mix.
  • There are white sharks.
  • They have gold and diamonds.
  • They have the rand as currency = 100 cents
  • They like to barbeque.
  • They make many items- clothing, spears, shields, cravings, crafts.
  • They have two flags.
  • Their clothing is different from ours.

We think Tom should have encountered more of the big five to have more adventures in the book The Boy Who Biked the World.  His journal pages told us things about each place but we think it would have been good for the book to have more sensory details woven into the actual story line after we heard about South Africa.

 

Arrival South Africa

The more that Tom was told he was crazy wanting to try and ride his bike round the world and across Africa the more he wanted to do it.  Have you ever wanted to do anything so much that you ignored everyone telling you that you couldn’t do  it  or that it would be dangerous and you couldn’t do it?

He started out with his classmates making fun of him when he blurted out a wish “I’m going to cycle the world.”  Throughout the story everyone tells him reasons he won’t  achieve his dream.  What do you feel is the most important character traits that Tom showed during this epic  journey?

 Our Wonders……

We are wondering if Tom’s adventures are a mirror of Al Humpreys real trip cycling the world.  We’ve seen movies that was nothing like the original book.  We would like to know if the real  trip was a lot different?    What was the most challenging thing to Al Humpreys?  What will be the biggest challenge for Al crossing the Altantic Ocean or going to the South Pole?

 

We wonder what adventures await Tom on his ride in the Americans?   Where will his bicycle take him next?  What kind of people will he encounter?