Dear Fourth Graders,
Just this morning in the paper I found an interesting article:
The New York Times
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TRUNKS DISCOVERED:
Help sought to identify the rightful owners
New York, NY, Dec 9- The New York Port Authority has opened its Lost Luggage Vault. Inside the vault they have numerous trunk. Unfortunately, for the Port Authority, many of the trunks did not have identification tags so the rightful owners could not be contacted. Seven of the trunks were labeled with the words World Explorers. The Port Authority is asking for anyone familiar with World Explorers to help identify the owners of the trunks. |
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Task:
Each of you will be given a folder with clues from the trunks. Your job is to use the evidence in the folders to discover which explorer owned which trunk. The Port Authority would like you to explain in an oral presentation why you chose the explorer for your trunk using the following evidence:
- Name of explorer
- Date of the explorer's birth and death
- Country the explorer sailed for
- Voyage dates
- Country of intended destination and where they actually landed if it was different
- Discoveries
- Interesting facts that you want the Port Authority to know
You will use the items in the trunk to illustrate the points of your talk. For instance, if you find a newspaper from the year 1492, written in Spanish, you might assume that the trunk belongs to Christopher Columbus. To the Port Authority you might say that Christopher Columbus sailed for Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492, thus you believe this trunk belongs to him. The Port Authority also needs a luggage tag and a passport to identify each trunk.
| Process: |
| 1. |
Open your folder and examine each of the items. Discuss them with your partners. |
| 2. |
Using the Evidence Worksheet, list the items in the trunk. |
| 3. |
Visit the websites below and eliminate explorers until you have found the one that you think is the owner of the trunk. |
| 4. |
Make notes beside each item of evidence on the worksheet that supports your decision. |
| 5. |
Practice giving your report to the Port Authority. |
| 6. |
Design a luggage tag in Word. Attach it to the trunk. The tag should include:
- Name of explorer
- Name of ship he traveled on
- Country where the voyage started
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| 7. |
Fill in the passport (Passport page 1, Passport page 2).
On the outside of the passport:
- Draw the flag of the country where the explorer was born.
- Write the name of the country.
- On the inside of the passport:
- Fill in the name and birthdate
- Create a stamp for each country the explorer visited
- Draw a picture of the explorer
- Note the important discoveries or accomplishments
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| 8. |
Answer this question: What would you have done differently if you were that explorer? Remember you are back in the 1400’s…no GPS system. |
| 9. |
Give your report in front of the class. They will serve as the Port Authority's judging panel. It will be up to them to decide whether you have found the proper owner, or not. |
Use the websites below to do your investigating. You will be able to return to this homepage by clicking on the trunk at the bottom of each of the pages.
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