This teaching guide to Poptropica's 24 Carrot Island will help kids discover topics such as economics, the solar system, the human skeleton, proverbs, gardening, mammals, electricity, and more!
Poptropica is one of the Internet's most popular sites for kids—and now it's available as an app for the iPad! It's not just a place to play games; each of the islands featured on the site provides a learning opportunity.
by Holly Poulos
This teaching guide to Poptropica's 24 Carrot Island will help kids discover topics such as economics, the solar system, the human skeleton, proverbs, gardening, mammals, electricity, and more! Some activities are aligned to the Common Core State Standardsâfind more information below.
Poptropica is one of the Internet's most popular sites for kidsâand now it's available as an app for the iPad! It's not just a place to play games; each of the islands featured on the site provides a learning opportunity.
24 Carrot Island is full of educational opportunities to share with your students. Enjoy the following lessons, classroom discussions, and activities in your classroom, and find out why Poptropica is so popular with kids!
- Working 9 to 5
Since 24 Carrot Island has fallen under hard times, the Carrot King Diner is struggling as a business. It's in disrepair and has no customers when Our Hero enters. The waitress mentions that she is happy to have a job. Students may understand that unemployment can be a serious problem in a down economy.
Activity: Use Infoplease.com, the website for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, or Google (try searching "United States unemployment rate") to find the current unemployment rate in the U.S. Use graph paper to make a line or bar graph of the unemployment rates from 1993 to 2013. Make sure you label both axes of the graph and give it an appropriate title.
After you have completed your graph, assess the results. At what point in that time period was unemployment the lowest? The highest? Discuss with your teacher what was happening in those years to affect jobs. Is there another point in history when unemployment was also very high? What was happening then?
Bonus: Research the Great Depression. What caused this event to occur? How long did it last? Who and what helped bring it to an end?
- Business is My Business
Tony, the owner of the Carrot King Diner claims that business has never been worse. Owning a small business can be difficult, especially when others are suffering from job loss, but it can also be very fun and rewarding. Talk to your students about entrepreneurship and what a person must do in order to maintain a successful business. As an example you can use a lemonade standâa business many students are familiar with and may have had themselves. Have them imagine they are starting their own businesses; then, encourage them to create a business plan.
The following questions will help your students start their business plans. Our Economics Vocabulary game will help define and explain the terms for economics and business, if your students need more help getting started.- What kind of equipment and supplies are necessary for your business? (lemons, sugar, water, table, pitcher, paper cups, etc.)
- How much of an initial investment would you have to make to start your business? (cost of all of the above)
- What will the cost be to make and deliver your product or service? (cost of ingredients for each cup of lemonade, including the cup)
- How much will the average consumer be willing to pay for your product/service? (selling price for a cup of lemonade)
- How much will you pay yourself and/or your employees? (salary/wage)
- What will your hours be? (When will you have the most customers?)
- Will you make a profit? (the difference between the all of the costs and the price)
- What will the name of your business be?
*See alignment to the Common Core State Standards
- A Joke in Hand is Worth Two in a Book
At Charlie's Carrot Surplus Co., Our Hero is given a crowbar by the owner, Charlie (as a thank you for rescuing her cat). The Poptropica player card for the crowbar is subtitled, "If at first you don't succeed, pry, pry again." This is, of course, a joke on the better-known expression: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
This type of expression is called a proverb (a short statement of wisdom or advice that has passed into general use). Other examples of proverbs:- A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
- When the cat's away, the mice will play.
- Distribute the Common Proverbs list to find more.
Then, complete one or more of the following activities:
*See alignment to the Common Core State Standards
- Taste the Rainbow
The farmer at Funny Bunny Carrot Farm tells Our Hero that his farm used to be the greatest in the world... until all the carrots disappeared. Now they're left with nothing. Can your class help revive food production on the farm?
Plan a class garden. What fruits and vegetables will you plant? Use one or more of the following ideas to make your list.- Try to think about produce seasonally; for example, plant tomatoes to be harvested in the summer, pumpkins for fall, etc.
- What fruits and vegetables have you never eaten but would like to try?
- Choose your produce based on color. Do you want to plant a rainbow of colors? (Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple) Do you want to plant many fruits and vegetables of one color (e.g. red: tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, bell peppers)?
- Create a garden of "class favorites." Make a list of each class member's favorite fruit or vegetable, and plant each of those.
- Station: Empty
The Laughing Gas gas station on 24 Carrot Island is out of gas! Since gasoline, which comes from oil, is a naturalâbut non-renewableâresource, once we are out of gasoline, we can never get it again. But cars run on gasoline!
Help the residents of the island get around by brainstorming some alternative ways for them to travel. (Ideas might include riding a bike, skiing, skateboarding, etc.) Then, complete these activities on natural resources to learn which are renewable and which are nonrenewable.
*See alignment to the Common Core State Standards
- Mammals Are Us
Our Hero comes across three different animals on 24 Carrot Island: a cat (missing from Charlie's Carrot Surplus Co.), a rat (in the vent system at Carrot Factory), and a hare (Dr. Hare to be precise). These animals have quite a few things in a common. Work as a class to list all the ways in which these animals are the same (e.g. fur, four legs, tails, etc.). See if your students conclude that they are all mammals. If not, point it out; then, discuss mammals in more detail. You can use our Instant Expert: Mammals unit to discuss mammals with students in grades 4-6. (Mini-lessons, PowerPoints, digital books, and corresponding activities are included.)
Or, use the following worksheets to review mammals or assign homework.
- Carrot Cinema. Now Starring: Carrots!
The movie theater on 24 Carrot Island is out of business when Our Hero first passes by, but the last two movies playing there were Night of the Living Carrots and Carrots of Fire. Did you guess that these movie titles are parodies of the classic Hollywood films Night of the Living Dead and Chariots of Fire? Briefly research these two old movies. Make a list of some of the plot points and characters.
Part 1. Design a movie poster advertising one of the two carrot-themed versions of the movies. Include the following in your poster: movie title (make sure this is bold and readable), starring actors/actresses (bonus points for carrot-themed puns), director, release date, and an image (this is usually a scene from the movie. Remember that your film stars are carrots!). If you need help, do a Google search for movie posters, but don't just copy the designs from the original films. Create something new!
Part 2. Write the first scene of your carrot movie. Include the setting and some character dialogue, as well as set direction. Use our Write a Script lesson for help with formatting and conventions.
*See alignment to the Common Core State Standards
- Asteroid Art
In order to break Dr. Hare of his power and release the missing Poptropicans, Our Hero must crash Dr. Hare's Rabbot (Rabbit Robot... get it?) into several asteroids. This brings the ship down and saves 24 Carrot Island.
Introduce your students to asteroids. Explain to them how they are pieces of rock that orbit the sun, just like Earth and the other planets in our solar system, but they're much smaller. Most of the asteroids in our solar system are found in the "asteroid belt" between Mars and Jupiter.
Working together as a class, or as an assigned independent project, instruct students to create a model of the solar system that includes the asteroid belt. You can create a large scale model to hang in your classroom (using objects like Styrofoam balls as planets and papier-mâché for the asteroids), or students may enjoy making their own dioramas of the solar system as a creative activity at home. (Note: You can find instructions for making a diorama and papier-mâché on the Internet. Or, use the linked activities for inspiration on this project.)