Maurice on the Moon

Maurice on the Moon is a science fiction adventure about a young boy growing up in a frontier mining town. Maurice Haberman's father works for the mining company that owns the town, his mother is a ecologist, both of them work hard to earn a living in the little town of Gassendi LEX that has been carved out of a crater rim on the edge of an ancient lunar sea of frozen lava. Maurice's parents have come to the frontier to escape the crowded, desperate conditions of Earth. They have worked for years for a chance to earn their citizenship in their adopted country; a dream that seems to be within reach at last. Maurice doesn't share his parents enthusiasm for his adopted homeland. In fact, he hates the Moon and dreams of nothing but leaving Gassendi LEX forever. Living in a lunar colony isn't easy, the work is hard and everyone has to do his part to help the family survive. Besides doing well in class, Maurice has many chores at home, and he is expected to help his father with prospecting work for the mining company when he isn't in school. To make everything worse, the Earth hangs like a jewel in the black lunar sky, spinning in place just out of reach with the promise of everything Maurice wants, but can never have. The Earth is everything the Moon is not - a colorful world where the air is free and water falls from the sky. A world where plants grow wild and no one charges you to breathe the oxygen they produce. A world where the sun's light isn't full of deadly radiation and no one needs to put on a pressure suit and helmet just to go outside. Maurice will do almost anything to get to the Earth, even stealing a ride on a space liner doesn't seem out of the question. But leavinghome isn't as easy as it seems, and paradise doesn't always keep its promises! Teaching Science Through Literature: Maurice on the Moon is currently an adopted science text for students from 5th to 8th grade in several districts across Southern California. The book meets California State Science standards for Earth and Space Science, Physical Science, and Biological Science / Ecology. A complete curriculum guide containing chapter by chapter science standards, questions, activities, and investigations that integrate science with literature, mathematics, writing, art, and other multi-disciplinary subjects is available at www.MauriceOnTheMoon.com Teachers who are interested in using Maurice as a classroom text are encouraged to contact the author for suggestions and assistance in implementing this exciting book into their own classrooms. The curriculum is easily scalable for students at every level from the most basic to the most advanced. The discovery oriented activities closely follow the adventures of Maurice and his friends in the book. Let Maurice on the Moon help you put the sense of adventure back into your classroom! Annotated Contents: 1. Stowaway We meet Maurice Haberman and his friend Cassie Metis horsing around at the local spaceport. Maurice puts a crazy plan to get to Earth into action. Cassie saves him from stowing away on a space liner and getting into big trouble. 2. Life on the Frontier Life on a lunar colony is vastly different from Earth. Every portion of the environment must be brought in or created from scratch, including air, water, and a food chain. Some of Maurice's daily chores involve helping with recycling and environmentalmaintenance, the trouble is, Maurice sometimes neglects his responsibilities! 3. A New Plan Maurice hatches a new plan to get to Earth - go prospecting and strike it rich! Maurice talks Cassie into helping him take a broken down old rover from his father's mining company without permission. 4. Up and Over Maurice and Cassie head for the Sea of Moisture in their stolen buggy, but first they must get the dilapidated vehicle over the formidable rim of the Gassendi Crater. Driving uph