Suggested Activities Grades 3 - 5

Ideas to try….

Science and Technology
Learn more about weather. What kinds of storms occur on land and on the water? Compare and contrast.
Learn more about recent storms that have affected the U.S. and other countries.
Try out some basic navigation using a compass. What is the difference between a compass and a compass rose on a map or chart? What is the difference between a map and a chart? Make maps of your school or neighborhood. Put on a compass rose.

Math
Add up the numbers of captains from the families mentioned in the chapter introduction. Put them in order and compare. Create a graph. Which families had the most captains? If you can, use the Sea Captains of Searsport book to learn more about families in town. How could you find out more about captains in other Maine towns?

English Language Arts
Create a story about two captains meeting each other and describing their respective experiences at sea. What advice do you think they would they give to young captains just starting out?
Write a newspaper story relating one of the incidents in this chapter.
Write an imaginary letter from one captain to his family back in Maine. Write a letter back to him, pretending to be a member of his family on shore.

Social Studies
The captains in this chapter were merchant captains. They were not military; their voyages were for trade. Learn more about the cargoes carried by Maine ships (see other web chapters on Life at Sea, Shipbuilding, Working the Bay, and Maine and the Orient.)
Find the locations mentioned in this chapter on a world map or globe.
What makes a coastal location a good place for a harbor and merchant port? Learn about Maine’s deep water ports in Portland, Searsport, and Eastport and what is happening there today.

Visual Arts
Pick one captain and illustrate his story.
Illustrate the waterspout story in sequential panels, or as a picture book.
How do the arts help us learn history?