Questions the Story Helps us to
Consider

How do the rules of our society:
 Shape who we are?
 Affect how we feel?
 Impact the decisions we make?
 Change how we think about the
world and ourselves?
Warm-Up
1.
2.
3.
4.
How do the things in this image compare with
our reality?
What do you think the future will be like?
Why do we naturally wonder what the future will
be like?
How does the thinking about the future help us
today?
Drawn in 1950.
What artist
believed Earth
would look like
in the year 2020
The Last Dog
• Written in the 1990’s by Katherine
Patterson
Katherine Paterson Background
• Born in China in the year 1932 to U.S.
Missionaries
• At age 5, her family was forced to leave China
during the Japanese invasion of 1937
• The family moved to Richmond, Virginia for a
short while before returning to China to live
in Shanghai
• In 1940, the family was forced to flee again, this
time to North Carolina
• Her family moved 18 times between 1937 and
1950 because of the war in China and her Father’s
job
Chinese Civil War 1927-1950
Nationalists Vs.
Communists
Katherine Paterson Background
• Katherine Paterson always felt like an
outsider, because she was always moving
• When she arrived to the U.S., she says she
felt “poor, small, and foreign” on the
playground, even though she was
technically an American
• She claims that being an outsider has
made her a better writer
The Last Dog: Science Fiction
• Combines real and scientific information,
with elements from author’s imagination
• Usually takes place in the future
• What power does imagining the future
have?
• What is the purpose of thinking about
what the future might hold for humans or
society?
Earth in the Future
• The Earth has been poisoned by
pollution and global warming
• In this future, the world is uninhabitable,
so people live in a dome
• The society in this story is only slightly
different from our own
HOW GLOBAL WARMING WORKS
Carbon Dioxide (CO2)
Fossil fuels (coal, oil, natural gas)
Example of the
Greenhouse Effect
The Sun’s energy
passes through the
car’s windshield.
This energy (heat)
is trapped inside
the car and cannot
pass back through
the windshield,
causing the inside
of the car to warm
up.
EFFECTS
OF
GLOBAL WARMING
Rising Sea Level
Increased Temperature
Habitat Damage and
Species Affected
Changes in Water Supply
PORTAGE GLACIER

Alaska
1914
Photos: NOAA Photo Collection and Gary Braasch – WorldViewOfGlobalWarming.org
2004
COLORADO RIVER

Arizona
June 2002
Dec 2003
Global Atmospheric Concentration of CO2
Leaning Goal

Analyze the text effectively by:



Making inferences using logic and reason
Citing evidence from the text to sound
more logical
Elaborating on ideas in order to
communicate more effectively