The Hunger Games- Modern Fantasy Week 3

Collins, S. (2009). The hunger games. New York: Scholastic Press.


Summary
Katniss Everdeen is a poor teenage girl who lives in District 12, a section of what used to be the United States, now known as Panem. Every year the Capitol hosts a reaping where one boy and one girl from each district are chosen to participate in the Hunger Games. When Katniss's little sister is chosen, she knows she must volunteer in her place. Katniss must defeat everyone else in the Hunger Games in order to return home to her family. With 23 other participants seeking to kill her first, the odds are not in her favor.

Literary Terms

Collins’s The Hunger Games is a modern fantasy. The actual Hunger Games that take place in the book are inside of a large dome created by the Capitol. The Capitol controls everything within the dome. For example, they can change the weather, make the forest catch fire, or create animal attacks to make the games go the way they choose.  Collins uses the cycle format by writing three books in The Hunger Games series (Catching Fire and Mockingjay). Each book tells a different story, but Collins ends each with a cliffhanger. You must read the second and third books to find out what happens to each of the characters.

 

Curriculum Activity

Science Connection: “Muttations” (from the book) are two species combined. For example, the book talks about Mockingjays , Jabberjays, and tracker jackers. Students could learn the benefits of cross-breeding species and why animals of different species are not supposed to be able to mate with one another (breeding barriers). They could also learn the different technologies of how humans can genetically alter other organisms (plants, etc.)

Activity: Students can create their own species by crossing any two species they choose. They must list both parent 1 and parent 2, include a drawing, and list any advantages/disadvantages to their new species.

 Science Standard (Next Generation Science Standard)

MS-LS4-5. Gather and synthesize information about the technologies that have changed the way humans influence the inheritance of desired traits in organisms.

 Big Question (Social Studies)

The Hunger Games is a futuristic United States. Do you think the United States could ever be controlled like the districts are by the Capitol? Why or why not?