The novel Freak the Mighty by Rodman Philbrick is a great story about an unlikely friendship between two boys. The novel has a bit of everything – heroes, villains, suspense and drama. To help you better understand Freak the Mighty, you will complete the following web-quest.

For each section of the web-quest, answer the questions using the websites provided.

Section 1: About the Author

Rodman Philbrick has written several novels and is a successful author. Click here http://www.rodmanphilbrick.com/info.html to visit his website and answer the following questions:

1.  What inspired Mr. Philbrick to write Freak the Mighty?

2.  What are the titles of three other books written by Mr. Philbrick?

Now, Google Rodman Philbrick and find out the following information:

1. What year was he born?

2. What city was he born in?

3. What award did he win for Freak the Mighty?

Section 2: Morquio Syndrome

In the story Freak the Mighty, one of the characters suffers from Morquio Syndrome. Click on the websites below to learn more about the disease and answer the following questions:

1. What is it?

2. How do you get it?

3. List 5 symptoms

4. What is the prognosis?

5. Are there any treatments? If so are they successful?

Sites:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002186/

www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morquio_syndrome

Section 3: Quests and Chivalry

Freak talks a lot about knights and their noble quests and acts of chivalry. He gets these ideas from legends and stories about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. In this quest, you will be reading about these legends to build your background knowledge.

First, click here http://chivalrytoday.com/what-chivalry

to visit Chivalry Today.com

1. Write your own definition of what the term “chivalry” means.

2. Give three examples of how someone might act in a “chivalrous” way.

Use the sites below to answer the following questions:

1. What was Camelot?

2. Who is King Arthur?

4. Who was Lady Guinevere?

5. What task did Arthur have to complete to become King?

6. What was the name of King Arthur’s castle?

http://www.caerleon.net/history/arthur/page2.htm

http://www.medieval-life.net/chivalry.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/6148/legend.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur

Section 4: Learning Disabilities

Click here http://www.ldonline.org/ldbasics/articles-info.html to visit this website and answer the following questions:

1. What are some of the things you learned about people with learning disabilities?

Famous people

http://www.dyslexiaonline.com/famous/famous.htm

2. List 3 famous people and the learning disability they have.

Section 5: Bionics

1. Write your own definition of what you think the term bionics means.

Check out the photos of people who have benefited from bionics

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/01/bionics/thiessen-photography

2. Now that you have looked at people who have benefited from bionics, would you make any changes to your definition?