Rapa Nui/Easter Island Powerpoint and exercises.pptx

Short presentation about Rapa Nui

1. Rapa Nui

2. Rapa Nui Rapa Nui is a Polynesian island in the Southeastern Pacific Ocean and is one of the remotest inhabited places in the world. It is famous for its large statues called Moai, which stand guard across the Island. The statues were constructed by the ancestors of the Rapa Nui people who still live there today. The statues seem mysterious but the people who live on the island have an oral history that explains them. And scientists believe that the giant stone statues were rocked from side to side to help move them, as in the picture on the next slide . The real mystery of Rapa Nui is the examples of carved writing. 24 carved wooden tablets have been found on Rapa Nui. They contain a form of writing known as glyphs . To this day no-one knows what they say. The language is known as Rongorongo and remains a mystery.

3. Rapa Nui

4. Rapa Nui Rapa Nui, perhaps more than any other Polynesian settlement, suffered environmental destruction after the arrival of humans. Before the first people, the Island was covered in palm trees. These trees were cut down to create farming land, and perhaps to use the wood to move the giant carved stone Moai. 16 million trees were cut down and eventually the unique Easter Island Palm tree became extinct. The extinction of the trees had two impacts. The island became bare, and it was difficult to survive in this environment, animals, and other plants besides the trees, died out. The other effect was that this previously sea voyaging people had no wood to build boats and would be trapped on the island with no way off.

5. Rapa Nui Activities Understanding Define the words in bold . Where is Rapa Nui ? What is it most famous for? How do we know about the statues? What is the real mystery of Easter Island? Describe the Rongorongo writing. What was the environmental disaster caused by the settlement? What effects did this disaster have? Describe what is happening in the illustration by Fernando Baptista. Thinking Why do you think the Rapa Nui people didn’t stop the environmental damage? How important do you think the loss of trees was to the people on Rapa Nui ? Is there anything we can learn t oday from the environmental disaster of Rapa Nui ? Explain your answer.

6. Rapa Nui Activities Creativity and research Complete the Art Challenge by copying the Moai . Visit the link below and explain what scientists have discovered about Rapa Nui . https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eixj1lo4- Ss Home