Smelly Socks

Written by Robert Munsch and Illustrated by Michael Martchenko
Published by Scholastic Canada Ltd.
ISBN 0-439-96707-4

About the book

This story was created for a girl named Tina, who lives on the Hay River Dene reserve in the Northwest Territories.

Tina loves her brand new socks so much, she's never, ever going to take them off! But when her wonderful socks start to get smelly, her friends have to take action.

A lesson plan that targets Language Arts can be found on Focus On Books in the resources section of the EarthCARE Canada website.

If the story has not been already shared with the students read it to them as a part of the introduction to these activities.

Background

We are consumers. Many things that we purchase can or should be reused or recycled. When purchasing things we ought to think about what we will do with the product when we no longer have a use for it.

Activity #1 - Areas of Focus: Data Management and Probability; Measurement

1. Tina loved her new socks. From teddy bears and dolls to stuffed animals, people have a favourite toy or something that they love. Have students do a survey with their families, friends, school personnel, and members of the community to find out which is their most favourite thing. Then do a statistical analysis of the results, including statistics appropriate for the age group (e.g., by age groups, gender, type of favourite thing, etc.).
2. The survey should consist of two parts. The first part is general information about the person being interviewed. The second part contains specific questions about favourite things.
3. Brainstorm with the class about the types of questions they will ask, such as the following: Which toy was your favourite? Where did you get it? If you could have a new toy what would it be? Should toys be made from recyclable materials? Does the toy hurt or help the environment?
4. An alternative survey method is to present a list of toys or favourite things to the subject and have the student rank the toy in order of most appealing to least appealing or from the least desirable to the most appealing. If you chose this method, brainstorm with the class the list of toys they will present. The list could include toys that help or hurt the environment.
5. Whichever survey method you use, have the students pool their results and present them as percentages.
6. Then have the students analyze the data (e.g., choices made by females vs. males, did age make a difference, cost, etc.) Students could also graph their results.

Activity #2 - Areas of Focus: Data Management and Probability; Measurement

1. Have the students remove their socks, measure and record the length of different parts of the sock (e.g., heel to toe, heal to top of sock, etc.).
2. Have the students share their results.
3. Based on the information have the students analyze the data. More sophisticated data analysis can be done with these numeric data if the class is ready for this.
4. Discuss with the students what happens to their socks when they get worn out or too small for them.
5. Make a list of the results and then have the students examine the list to see which are good for the environment and those which are not