A Sound of ThunderMatrix Tasks by Jamie Hrstich, Reuben Biggelaar, Daniel Felgate and Alex de Beer

Chose the tasks that you will complete from this matrix and make a personal timeline of dates when each one will be completed by.

Make a Word Cloud of 7 language features and

record examples from the story.

Identify 3 significant events from the story and

record notes on the main theme.

Plan and write an essay to address this: Identify an important

theme and explain why it was important.

Make a travel plan/budget to go to a

setting in the story.

Make a poster to advertise a setting

in the story as a travel destination.

Use Simplemind+ to make a mind

map of the characteristics of a

character.

Create a slideshow to present the

information in your project to your

class.

Plan and make puppets to act a

scene in the story. Film and edit this.

Date To Be Completed By

18/2/15 Reuben

17/2/15 Alex

28/2/15 Group

17/2/15 Daniel

18/2/15 Jamie

21/2/15 Reuben

3/2/15 Alex

3/3/15

Put learned facts from a character

from the story into a simple, known song.

Evaluate the various dinosaur extinction theories. Which one do you agree with?

List 5 positive and 5 negative features

of a character.

Propose reasons why the antagonist behaves badly and explain why people in real life might behave

in a similar way.

Plan a campaign to raise

awareness of an issue in the story.

Chose the tasks that you will complete from the

matrix and make a timeline of dates when

each one will be completed by.

Complete the quiz and

describe how you learn best.

Reflect on your progress each lesson

by answering the questions and posting

them on your blog.

Date To Be Completed By

20/2/15 Jamie

27/2/15 Daniel

3/3/15 Reuben

25/2/15 Alex

23/2/15 Jamie

17/2/15 Alex

30/2/15 Group

End of Project Alex, Jamie and Daniel

Alex Total Points: 310

Make a Word Cloud of seven language features and record examples from the story.

Reuben

Identify 3 significant events in the story. Explain why they are significant.

Three significant events within the story ‘A Sound of Thunder’ are: •When the ‘Time Safari’ employee asks Eckels if he still wishes to travel to the past. •When Travis tells tells the hunters to walk back to the time machine. •The moment when Eckels steps off The Path, crushing a butterfly beneath his boot.

Alex

The moment when the ‘Time Safari’ employee asks Eckels if he still wishes to go to the past is a significant event in the story. The quote ‘Mr. Eckels looked at the check. His fingers twitched,’ implies that Eckels is considering tearing the check in half and not going on the safari. He is hesitant and fears for his life. This makes the audience curious about what will happen on the safari, and raises their expectations. This is a significant event because it Eckels’ decision here affects his future, and changes the entirety of Earth. It also significant because it means that the story can continue - if Eckels had forfeited going on the safari, then life would have continued as it was before the events that followed Eckels’ decision, and the story would have lost most of its plot.

The moment when Travis tells tells the hunters to walk back to the time machine is a significant event in the story. This is significant because it gives the audience an idea that the Time Safari staff have made a mistake, and that something disastrous could happen to the hunters. It helps to add to the atmosphere of fear the author is trying to create, with the ‘Tyrant Lizard’ towering over the hunters, who are feeling helpless.

The moment when Eckels steps off the path is a significant event within the story. This is because he crushes a butterfly beneath his boot, which, as the Time Safari guides explained, has a cumulative effect on the world as Eckels knows it, changing the current president and English language, among other things. The entire outcome of the story and everyones’ lives change drastically, even though the action itself seemed extremely small at the time. If this event had not occurred, then the vast majority of the events that took place afterwards would have been significantly different. Life would have continued on as normal, and the story would not be as interesting.

What is the main theme in ‘A Sound of Thunder’? I think that the main theme in ‘A Sound of Thunder’ is that all of our actions have consequences. Eckels stepping off The Path represents this; crushing a single butterfly changes the American president and spelling within the English language. This shows that if we deviate from our normal routines and habits (represented by The Path), then we can have a huge impact of the world. This impact can be bad, as it was in Eckels’ case, or it can be good. Another related theme could be how important protection of the environment is. Travis explains to us that killing a single animal or destroying a single tree can have a huge impact on the population of the species millions of years later. I think that this theme is shown well by the characters and their actions, and the use of exaggerated examples (such as Eckels crushing a single butterfly after going back many thousands of years in a time machine) makes it entertaining and easy to understand.

Research and record notes on the main theme in the story. Include modern day examples.

Alex

Plan and write an essay to address the following; identify an important theme in the text. Explain why it was important.

Alex’s Blog Link: https://alexdebeer09.wordpress.com/2015/02/24/a-sound-of-thunder-theme-essay/

Reuben’s Blog Link: https://reubenbiggelaar.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/my-essay/

Daniel’s Blog Link: https://danielfelgate.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/a-sound-of-thunder-essay/

Jamie’s Blog Link: https://jamiehrstichoc.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/a-sound-of-thunder-by-ray-bradbury-essay/

Group

Make a plan/budget to travel to a setting in the story.

Destination: Earth - 60,000,000 BC. Budget: $10,000.

Activities: Dinosaur Watching, Insect Stomping, History Changing and Survival Games.

A Sound of Thunder - Travel Plan/Budget. 1.00pm - Go hunting for small dinosaurs and mammals. 5.00pm - Return to your tree after the hunting games have concluded.5.10pm - Start a fire at the base of your tree using your dry wood and cook your kill over it. 6.00pm - Watch the dinosaurs nestle down for bed from the top of your tree.8.00pm - Use some leaves from the tree to make a soft sleeping area.9.00pm - Go to sleep.

Day 1: 10.00am - Arrive at Time Safari Inc, pay funds of $10,000 and gear up to avoid changing history. 11.00am - Gather in time machine.

11.05am - Exit time machine, shoot companions and disregard any advice given by Time Safari Inc. 11.10am - Head towards the jungle, stepping on as many bugs as possible.

11.15am - Find a large fruit bearing tree and climb to the top. Find a place on top of the tree that is suitable for living. 11.30am - Have a nice lunch of fruit and assorted bugs that you have stepped on. 12.00am - Find some dry wood and a sturdy long stick in the jungle.12.35am - Sharpen the sturdy stick.

Day 2:11.00am - Wake up and have leftover dinosaur for breakfast.12.00am - Find your way back to the time travel zone.12.30am - Dispose of the bodies of your companions by hiding them deep in the mud. 12.50am - Brainstorm for a great, tragic story to explain how your companions perished.

1.00pm - Return the the present and enjoy your new world.

Daniel

Make a poster/brochure to advertise a setting in the story as a travel destination.

Jamie

Use SimpleMind+ to make a mind map of the main characteristics of a character.

Reuben

Plan and make puppets to act a scene from the story. Film and edit this.

Alex

Alex’s Blog Link: https://alexdebeer09.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/puppet-show-a-sound-of-thunder/

A Sound Of Thunder Rewritten Version Of “Happy” By Pharrell Williams

Written By Jamie Hrstich

Put learned facts from a character from the story into a simple, known song.

Verse 1: It might seem crazy what I’m about to say,

Time Travel is real, lets travel today? We can go back in time all just for ten grand,

Reptiles scare, their really rare, Eckels by the way,

Chorus: Don’t be stupid

Dinosaurs, teeth galore they could rip off your pretty face Don’t be dumb

Step of the Trail, go to jail as it can kill the human race Don’t be silly

Make sure you only kill the animals painted red Don’t be stupid

If you don’t follow my rules, before you know it you’ll be dead

 Verse 2: Here come bad news, talking life and death, yeah, Shoot the rex, don’t worry nor take a breath, yeah, Well, I should probably warn you have pissed it off,

yeah, No offense to you, but just take the shot

Eck-els

Bridge: (Stupid…Stupid…)

Bring me down Yes it can

Bring me down Just GTFO

Bring me down Yes it can

Bring me down Eckels, let me tell you now

aaaa

Bring me down Yes it can

Bring me down Just GTFO

Bring me down Yes it can

Bring me down I said

Bridge:

(Stupid… Stupid…) Bring me down… Yes it can Bring me down... dumb T-rex Bring me down… Yes it can

Bring me down… I said, Ray Bradbury(Chorus x2)

(Chorus x2) (A Sound of Thunder)

(Uh)

(Chorus x2) (Hey Go Uh)

Evaluate the various dinosaur extinction theories. Which one do you agree with?

Daniel

In the debate of how the dinosaurs met their demise, there are many theories defended by many different groups of people. Some say the dinosaurs doom was speedy due to extra terrestrial forces such as meteorites, while others say that their extinction was an earthly and gradual process, taking millions of years for volcanoes and earthquakes to wipe them out. Finally, another group of theorists decided upon the third and most widely accepted theory that climate change caused acid rain, poisonous gas emissions, extreme cooling similar to a nuclear winter and eventually a greenhouse effect causing temperature extremities and reduced sunlight. There is evidence pointing towards each of these theories so currently it is impossible to know for sure which is factual, however the third is the most accepted theory as it has the most evidence pointing towards it. There are thin layers of clay deep in the earth with an unusually high level of iridium. Iridium is a rare substance similar to platinum. This is considered solid evidence for the gas emissions and dust clouds included in the third theory. The other two theories have solid evidence as well such as dug up meteorites and traces of volcanic and seismic activity. But their evidence is not as solid as the third theory's making it the most accepted by the world. I believe that the third theory is the most correct one as it is currently the most widely accepted around the world. However I also believe that the other two theories may have some correct ideas as well. This causes me to think that all three may have occurred, all leading towards the dinosaurs eventual extinction.

List 5 positive and 5 negative features of a character.

Reuben

Positive 1. He has good self belief and confidence.

2. He is quite an active person (he has done a lot of hunting).

3. He has good communicative skills, and is able to talk to others with ease.

4. He is polite and has a nice attitude.

5. He is enthusiastic (about hunting). Negative 1. He is sometimes not receptive to instructions.

2. He is not brave during the safari and lets his fear for the dinosaur overwhelm him.

3. He is sometimes hesitant in the face of danger.

4. He is sometimes not logical and makes bad decisions as a result.

5. He is sometimes too independent and does things that anger the safari guides.

Propose reasons why the antagonist behaves badly, and explain why people in real life might behave in a similar way.

Alex

Analyse why the antagonist behaves badly. I think that the antagonist in ‘A Sound of Thunder’ is Travis. This is because he shoots the protagonist, Eckels, after he steps off the Path and crushes a butterfly during their hunting trip, which changes many aspects of current-day society. The reason that Travis behaves badly is because he is angry, due to the fact that Eckels stepped off the Path despite him repeatedly stressing that he must not do so at all costs. He is extremely unhappy that the human race has changed dramatically, and that his company may be shut down by the government. Also, he does not want to have to pay ‘millions of dollars of insurance’ and is scared that he might be punished for Eckels’ actions.

Explain why people in real life might behave in a similar way. There are many reasons people in real life could behave in a similar way. They be jealous of the ‘protagonist’ (other person) or may not feel very happy with themselves and need someone to take their anger out on. They may, as in Travis’s case, have bad feelings towards the protagonist because of a mistake the protagonist made earlier, and feel that the only way to fix it is through harsh discipline. Also, they could be very angry at something the protagonist may have done to oppose them, and want revenge, feeling it is the only way to prove that they are better than the protagonist.

Plan a campaign to raise awareness of an issue in the story.

Complete the quiz and describe how you learn best.

Alex’s Blog Link: https://alexdebeer09.wordpress.com/2015/02/26/how-do-i-learn-best/

Reuben’s Blog Link: https://reubenbiggelaar.wordpress.com/2015/03/02/how-i-work/

Daniel’s Blog Link: https://danielfelgate.wordpress.com/2015/03/04/my-learning-style/

Jamie’s Blog Link: https://jamiehrstichoc.wordpress.com/2015/03/01/how-i-learn-short-story-matrix-task/

Group

Reflect on your progress each lesson by answering the reflection questions and posting them on your blog.

Alex

Alex’s Blog Link: https://alexdebeer09.wordpress.com/tag/sound-of-thunder-reflection-questions/

Daniel’s Blog Link https://danielfelgate.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/self-

reflection-daniel/

Alex’s Reflection Dates: 22/2/15, 20/2/15, 19/2/15, 17/2/15, 15/2/15, 13/2/15, 12/2/15

Daniel’s Reflection Dates: 2/3/15

Jamie’s Blog Link https://jamiehrstichoc.wordpress.com/2015/03/03/reflection-

questions-3315-short-story-matrix-task/

Jamie’s Reflection Dates: 3/3/15