Alaska
- Choose the subject and grade span you have interest in viewing. All STEAM project-based programs are personalized. Many student components are available in Spanish.
The Alaska Suite
TPS has partnered with Ron Smith and Kathy Turco to provide a wonderful suite of products made in and about Alaska.
We all believe that many students may never visit this wonderful State and wanted to share the sights, sounds and history of this beautiful location.
Students studying in their home location will learn and compare facts about animals, landforms and the culture of Alaska.
The suite of products has been included in several State Adopted programs for ELAR, Math and Science.
You can purchase a program or just one book.
Interior & Northern ALASKA; A Natural History.
How did these creatures manage to survive the extremes of Alaska’s environment? How were the Alaskan dinosaurs different from their counterparts elsewhere in the world? How have present-day animals and plants adapted to the harsh winters? Open up to Ron Smith’s world and learn that the answer is not just in what these creatures are – their size or color or type of skin covering – but also in what they do. Smith highlights the most interesting of Alaska’s residents – the towering grizzly as well as the petite pika, the ‘coat-changing’ ptarmigan and the ever-popular salmon – to reveal nature at its amazing best. This insatiably curious scientist asks questions we would never think of to discover the wonder of this wild land. Part of the TPS Alaska series. Students learn and compare facts about animals, landforms and culture in their home State to the facts presented in this beautiful account of Alaska.
How Not To Die Hunting in Alaska.
Read this wonderful and extremely humorous account of Alaska hunting stories. You will delight in hearing or reading about the foibles, tight spots, and downright stupidities of some hunters. The stories include walk-in hunts, fly-in hunts, float trips, and of course, a few that were primarily road hunts. This is a truly wonderful read and especially useful if you have students that need some excitement to lead them to want to read!
Interior & Northern Alaska Coloring Book.
These drawings were prepared by Mareca Guthrie as a part of Ron Smith’s book Interior and Northern Alaska: A Natural History. Each drawing shows something interesting about Alaska. Students can compare to their home State plants. Students read about the Alaskan plants, and then we tell them about the plant or animal and we often tell what colors they might want to use but it can be fun to just let their imaginations create an end product.
Undeserved Punishment.
The book is set in Arizona on and around the Navajo Reservation in the early 1950s. Two pre-teen boys, Tommy and Ben Baker, are forced to spend summers with their strict missionary grandfather Ernest and vicious grandmother Nina. The boys’ father Sam, dominated by his stern parents, cannot deal with conflict or emotions. The boys’ mother Eileen is a strong, competent woman who must negotiate the hazards of the patriarchal world of mid-20th Century America, and, help her sons navigate a set of unrealistic family rules. An old Navajo parishioner, Chester Yazzie, comes to be a spiritual guide to the boys and, earlier, to a Japanese-American, Kenji Kawasaki, imprisoned in the Leupp concentration camp. Themes addressed in the novel include bullying, family rules, Navajo culture and history, treatment of Japanese-Americans and subjugation of minorities.
Spirit of the Arctic CD.
Natural sounds for this CD were recorded in the wild throughout Alaska by Kathy Turco over a 25-year period. The music soundtrack consists of 14 short pieces. The Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and the Wind Travelin’ and perform six pieces of music, and the Native Alaskan a cappella group Pamyua sings five songs. Three traditional Native Alaskan songs are sung by Agnes Moore, Sarah James, and Lavern Huntington. This CD is in stereo and can play in any stereo system or computer.
Spirit of the Arctic DVD.
A beautiful film of Alaska’s landforms and animals. Appropriate for Grades K-12.
The program’s animation of simulated high-altitude flight was created from satellite images of Alaska taken throughout the year. All the photographic images of wildlife, plants, and landscapes are by Michio Hoshino. All natural sounds were recorded by Kathy Turco throughout Alaska over a 25-year period. The music soundtrack consists of 14 short pieces. The Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and the Wind Travelin’ Band perform six pieces of music, and the Native Alaskan a cappella group Pamyua sings five songs. Three traditional songs are sung by Agnes Moore, Sarah James, and Lavern Huntington. The DVD is in 5.1 SURROUND SOUND and designed to play in any home theater system. It is also encoded to play in stereo in any DVD player or computer.
Interior & Northern ALASKA; A Natural History.
How did these creatures manage to survive the extremes of Alaska’s environment? How were the Alaskan dinosaurs different from their counterparts elsewhere in the world? How have present-day animals and plants adapted to the harsh winters? Open up to Ron Smith’s world and learn that the answer is not just in what these creatures are – their size or color or type of skin covering – but also in what they do. Smith highlights the most interesting of Alaska’s residents – the towering grizzly as well as the petite pika, the ‘coat-changing’ ptarmigan and the ever-popular salmon – to reveal nature at its amazing best. This insatiably curious scientist asks questions we would never think of to discover the wonder of this wild land. Part of the TPS Alaska series. Students learn and compare facts about animals, landforms and culture in their home State to the facts presented in this beautiful account of Alaska.
How Not To Die Hunting in Alaska.
Read this wonderful and extremely humorous account of Alaska hunting stories. You will delight in hearing or reading about the foibles, tight spots, and downright stupidities of some hunters. The stories include walk-in hunts, fly-in hunts, float trips, and of course, a few that were primarily road hunts. This is a truly wonderful read and especially useful if you have students that need some excitement to lead them to want to read!
Interior & Northern Alaska Coloring Book.
These drawings were prepared by Mareca Guthrie as a part of Ron Smith’s book Interior and Northern Alaska: A Natural History. Each drawing shows something interesting about Alaska. Students can compare to their home State plants. Students read about the Alaskan plants, and then we tell them about the plant or animal and we often tell what colors they might want to use but it can be fun to just let their imaginations create an end product.
Undeserved Punishment.
The book is set in Arizona on and around the Navajo Reservation in the early 1950s. Two pre-teen boys, Tommy and Ben Baker, are forced to spend summers with their strict missionary grandfather Ernest and vicious grandmother Nina. The boys’ father Sam, dominated by his stern parents, cannot deal with conflict or emotions. The boys’ mother Eileen is a strong, competent woman who must negotiate the hazards of the patriarchal world of mid-20th Century America, and, help her sons navigate a set of unrealistic family rules. An old Navajo parishioner, Chester Yazzie, comes to be a spiritual guide to the boys and, earlier, to a Japanese-American, Kenji Kawasaki, imprisoned in the Leupp concentration camp. Themes addressed in the novel include bullying, family rules, Navajo culture and history, treatment of Japanese-Americans and subjugation of minorities.
Spirit of the Arctic CD.
Natural sounds for this CD were recorded in the wild throughout Alaska by Kathy Turco over a 25-year period. The music soundtrack consists of 14 short pieces. The Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and the Wind Travelin’ and perform six pieces of music, and the Native Alaskan a cappella group Pamyua sings five songs. Three traditional Native Alaskan songs are sung by Agnes Moore, Sarah James, and Lavern Huntington. This CD is in stereo and can play in any stereo system or computer.
Spirit of the Arctic DVD.
A beautiful film of Alaska’s landforms and animals. Appropriate for Grades K-12.
The program’s animation of simulated high-altitude flight was created from satellite images of Alaska taken throughout the year. All the photographic images of wildlife, plants, and landscapes are by Michio Hoshino. All natural sounds were recorded by Kathy Turco throughout Alaska over a 25-year period. The music soundtrack consists of 14 short pieces. The Native American flutist R. Carlos Nakai and the Wind Travelin’ Band perform six pieces of music, and the Native Alaskan a cappella group Pamyua sings five songs. Three traditional songs are sung by Agnes Moore, Sarah James, and Lavern Huntington. The DVD is in 5.1 SURROUND SOUND and designed to play in any home theater system. It is also encoded to play in stereo in any DVD player or computer.
All of these components have been used within lesson plans in State adopted program and provide extremely engaging activities that link to this great suite of products with the theme, Alaska.
Mathematics
Creative Core Curriculum for Mathematics K-8; Students learn by doing using STEAM Projects.
Science
TPS provide NGSS aligned STEAM topical and integrated programs. Research shows STEAM helps ALL students learn best.
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Supplemental
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Assessment
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