What Your Child Will Learn

This easy-to-teach, beautifully laid-out course takes students on a journey through Peru.

There's a lot more to this mystery than finding a missing llama. They'll explore the Andes Mountains, ancient Inca towns, the Amazon Rainforest, and the Pacific coast. Along the way, students will meet the people, learn about the culture, and explore Peru’s past and present. Here are some highlights.

History, Geography & Culture

• Visit Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu
• Discover how the Inca built roads, suspension bridges, and stone structures throughout their empire
• Learn how the Inca kept records using knotted cords called quipus (KEE-poos)
• See how farming terraces helped people grow food on steep mountainsides
• Explore Peru's different landscapes, from coastal deserts to the Andes Mountains and Amazon Rainforest
• Use maps to locate South American countries, mountains, rivers, and other landmarks
• Investigate the Ring of Fire and how El Niño affects weather along South America's Pacific coast
• Step into daily life in the Inca Empire, from farming and trading to weaving and making textiles
• Understand what happened when the Spanish arrived and how Andean traditions continue today
• Uncover the history of Machu Picchu and Hiram Bingham's expedition
• Create an expedition map, adding destinations as Miles and Maya travel through Peru

Investigate Science

• Discover how high altitude affects the body and why travelers may feel tired or short of breath in Cusco
• Find out what causes your ears to pop when flying
• Explore the rain shadow effect and why mountains can create different weather conditions
• Learn how farming terraces help manage water and prevent soil from washing away
• Understand how gravity moves water downhill and how people can control its path
• Investigate natural dyes and why certain substances can change their colors
• Discover how dogs see and smell the world differently from humans
• Find out how explorers use observation, testing, and scientific tools to make discoveries
• Learn about scale and proportion, and how they help us understand the size of objects and places

Learn by Doing

Hands-on learning is woven throughout this six-week adventure. Rather than only reading about Peru and the Inca, students become part of the experience through projects, experiments, and creative challenges.

• Build a miniature Inca community with roads, bridges, and stone buildings
• Design an Andean market stall
• Make a homemade cardboard loom and try weaving
• Create a terrace garden and test how water moves through the soil
• Experiment with natural dyes and watch colors change
• Take on a waterway engineering challenge using gravity and slopes
• Test your senses and compare what you discover with Sherlock's abilities
• Record observations in an explorer's field notebook
• Choose how to reach Machu Picchu and decide what to pack for the journey
• Plan your own expedition and investigate something new
• Create a museum exhibit featuring discoveries from Peru's past

Build English, Reading & Critical-Thinking Skills

• Develop critical-thinking skills by following the mystery, examining clues, making predictions, and drawing conclusions
• Build reading comprehension through Think Like a Detective, answering questions, recalling important details, and connecting earlier clues
• Expand vocabulary with Sherlock's Case Words and Word Expeditions through definitions, sentence writing, and drawing
• Strengthen observation and comprehension skills with Step Into the Scene, drawing story moments and answering questions in complete sentences
• Learn how to write dialogue, including punctuation, dialogue tags, and making conversations sound natural
• Practice writing conversations that show different personalities, feelings, and opinions
• Practice writing dialogue through guided activities (Level 1) or develop longer stories with conversations between characters (Level 2)
• Practice persuasion, giving reasons for choices, and supporting opinions with evidence