Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

• Explore the role exploration has played in history
• Investigate some of the reasons why people have set out on dangerous voyages into the unknown throughout history
• Read and analyze primary source documents
• Write a friendly letter home explaining to their families that they are going to become "virtual stowaways" on Pride of Baltimore II's voyage to Asia by using the Asia with Pride Internet Curriculum

Appropriate Grade Levels: 4 - 8

MSPP Outcomes:

Geography

• Locate places and natural features by interpreting and constructing maps using directions, legends, grid systems, boundary lines, and scales

Skills and Processes

• Obtain, interpret, organize and use information from reading, asking questions, observing and listening.
• Obtain, interpret, organize and use print and non-print sources of information such as pictures, graphics, maps, globes, and artifacts.

Valuing Self and Others

• Using case studies, examine the feelings of others in a variety of situations

Geography

• Analyze the influence of transportation and communication on the movement of people, goods, and ideas from place to place.

Peoples of the Nation and World

• Perceive that human experiences, in earlier times and other places, may be applicable to solving contemporary problems.

Understandings and Attitudes

• Using a variety of cultural and ethnic contexts, analyze situations in which individuals demonstrate respect and support for the rights and dignity of all peoples.

• Writing to inform

Materials Needed:

paper, pencils, Internet access
Explorer's Worksheet for each student

Materials Needed for Map Tool Extension:

2 plastic drinking straws for each student
1 two-pronged paper fasteners for each student
straight pins, scissors, and a globe or world map to share

Teaching Tips

This lesson presents the idea of "exploration" to students and seeks to engage them in the excitement of discovery. It begins by asking students to think about explorers they know, and challenges them to think about why explorers might want to risk their lives by venturing into the unknown.

After an introductory exercise in which students read and interpret three short passages from famous explorers, the lessons asks students to read and summarize primary source documents from two different voyages. The first is the voyage of Chasseur to China in 1815-16 on a trade mission. Chasseur was the original "pride of Baltimore" and gained fame as a privateer in the War of 1812. She was the model for the current Pride of Baltimore II. Students read selected entries from the log of the voyage prepared by the Supercargo, the officer in charge of the trade good aboard. Log entries describe a storm at sea, the rescue of 30 shipwrecked passengers, and the arrival at Macao on the China coast. Deciphering and understanding the arcane 19th century prose of the Chasseur logs might be difficult for students in grades 4-6. You may wish to work on these logs with the children, or assign only one of the three weeks presented. This activity should be within the skills of students in grades 7-8.

The second set of logs is from the recent voyage of Pride of Baltimore II to Asia. Two logs are presented, one by Captain Miles about an encounter with curious Chinese on a remote island, and the second an account by Captain Parrott of Pride II's run in with Hurricane Madeleine off the coast of Mexico.

As a final exercise, the students will write a letter home using friendly letter format explaining to their families that they are going to become virtual stowaways aboard Pride of Baltimore II for her historical voyage to Asia by using the Asia with Pride Internet Curriculum.

This lesson works best if students work in pairs. Students will be guided through the lesson by an Explorer's Worksheet on which they will record their answers. Print out the Worksheet and make a copy for each student.

Motivation/Introduction

Students will read a short passage about exploration that sets the stage for the Learning Adventure. You may wish to read the passage with your students, or you could ask them to read it independently and discuss it as a class.

An exploration is an adventure - but an adventure with a purpose. People set out on an exploration in order to find out something about the world that they don't know. An exploration with a purpose and a plan is called an "expedition." People have been exploring their surroundings since history began. It seems to be a natural instinct for us humans to want to know more about our world.

For instance, in ancient times the Phoenicians developed sailing ships so that could discover what was beyond their own shoreline. In the middle ages, Vikings sailed their simple boats all the way across the Atlantic Ocean to Greenland and America. Africans built giant rafts and floated wherever the currents took them. In the 15th and 16th centuries, adventurous sailors from Europe set out on daring voyages across uncharted seas to find new ways to get to China. They set off into the unknown because they thought they would find great riches there.

We continue to explore our world and our universe today. We send people to the moon and robots to Mars to find out what they are made of and how they are the same (or different) from Earth.

Activities:

Students will complete twelve activities while working through this lesson. The first eleven are to be completed on the Explorer's Worksheet. The final activity is a friendly letter.

Activity #1: Students are asked to work with a partner to make a list of four explorers they know about. They are to include the explorer's name, period in history, and the reason for the exploration.

Activity #2: Students read three short entries from logs by or about famous explorers - Marco Polo, Ferdinan Magellan, and the Supercargo on Chasseur's voyage to China. The language is florid. Students are asked to write the main idea of the entry.

Activity #3: Students are linked to the "Privateers" section of the Pride Inc. Web site. They are instructed to answer questions about Chasseurfound on their Worksheet using the web site as a source for the required information.

Activity #4: Students read and summarize the main events of Week 9 of Chasseur's Voyage to China. The entries describe a terrible storm at sea.

Activity #5: Students read an summarize the main events of Week 14 of Chasseur's Voyage to China. The entries describe the rescue of 30 shipwrecked sailors and passengers.

Activity #6: Students read an summarize the main events that occurred on September 20, 1815, during Chasseur's Voyage to China. This entry describes the Captain's attempt to get back to the ship from Macao in the face of fierce obstacles.

Activity #7: Students are sent to the Pride Inc. web site to examine the ship's Mission Statement. They are instructed to discover three goals the ship tries to accomplish in her travels. The correct answer is presented in the following frame.

Activity #8: Students read and summarize a log entry by Captain Miles during the recent Tour of Asia in which he describes an encounter with a group of Chinese from the remote island of Nanji Lieado.

Activity #9: Students read and summarize a log entry by Captain Parrott about Hurricane Madelaine's impact on the ship.

Activity #10: Students read the introductory log of Teacher Aboard Leslie Bridgett. They are asked to identify three places the ship will visit on the Asian Tour.

Activity #11: Students are referred to the Asia with Pride home page. They are asked to "explore" it to get the "lay of the land" as an explorer would do in a new territory. They are asked to identify the features of the site that they would like to investigate further, such as the Mystery Pictures, the Teacher Aboard logs, or Captain's Logs.

Activity #12: In this activity, students are asked to write a letter home to their families explaining that they will be "virtual stowaways" on Pride of Baltimore II's voyage to Asia by using the Asia with Pride Internet Curriculum.

Use this paragraph as a Writing Prompt.

You are going to write a friendly letter to your family. The purpose is to explain that you are going to be an explorer aboard Pride of Baltimore II on it's Tour of Asia. You are going to do this by becoming a virtual stowaway and using the Asia with Pride Internet Curriculum. In your letter, be sure to describe the following elements:

• Some of the places that you will visit
• Who will be your virtual shipmates aboard the ship
• What you expect to learn during the expedition.

Be sure to use proper friendly letter form.

Evaluation Rubric for the Friendly Letter Home

In order to successful, the Letters home should:

• Present information in a logical order
• Describe the concept of a "virtual stowaway"
• List some places the ship will visit
• Tell who else will be on the ship
• Identify one thing the student expects to learn by using the Internet Curriculum
• Use proper friendly letter format

Extensions

Here are some additional activities students might enjoy.

1. Letter of Marque

   In the past, Letters of Marque were given to private sailing vessels so that they could sail the seas as official representatives or ambassadors. Pride of Baltimore II has a letter of Marque onboard from the former governor of Maryland, William Donald Schaefer. Your students can view a picture of the Letter of Marque on the Pride Inc. Web site.

   After they have visited the site, have students design their own Letter of Marque from your school or town. Have them use the current governor of Maryland, your principal, or some other official as the person giving Pride II authority to complete its goodwill mission to Asia as a representative of your school or town.

2. Map Reading Tool
   1. Read this introductory paragraph to students:

      World navigators had to perform an extremely difficult feat - getting around Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America. Earlier explorers did not have the advantage of satellite navigation systems, so they used simpler map reading tools. You can create one of these tools yourself. You may find it useful in your own map reading. Some explorers and geographers created fancy dividers made of fine metals. Yours won't be nearly so expensive - but it will be a real tool.

   2. Gather supplies. To make a map reading tool, each student will need:

      2 plastic drinking straws
      1 two-pronged paper fastener
      1 straight pin
      1 pair of scissors
      1 globe or world map
      

   3. Hold the two plastic drinking straws together. About 1/2 inch from the top, make a hole in the straw. Use a straight pin to begin the hole and then use scissors to enlarge the hole. Put the fastener through the hole. When you insert the fastener, don't flatten the plastic straws. Make sure the two straws move easily, and then turn the prongs outward.

   4. Use scissors to cut the tips of each straw to a point.

   5. Now students can use the dividers to measure distances on maps. The dividers will give them a better idea of distance than just using fingers or a pencil. Use the dividers to make these comparisons. Discuss results with the class.

   Put one end of the divider at the tip of South America. Put the other at the Antarctic Circle. Hold the dividers steady, and put one at the tip of Africa on the Cape of Good Hope. Does the other end reach the Antarctic Circle from that position? Which passage - around Africa or around South America - would be the longer, the more dangerous? Why?

   Find the Panama Canal in Central America. Use your dividers to measure the distance saved by a ship going through the Canal rather than all the way around South America. Can you think of a reason that using the Canal would be popular with seafarers?