Explorers Activities and Fireworks

January 27-31

Workshop Activities

1. Craft – Moai Statues

2. Key Points - Explorers

3. Collaborative - Circumnavigation

4. Language Arts – Rongorongo Language

5. Math/Logic – Latitude and Longitude

6. Character Connection – Constructive Feedback

7. Big Activity – The Next Frontier

8. Movement - Captain Says Boat Parts Game

Minecraft Activities

Seafaring legends
Geography activity: places visited by Captain Cook
Tragedy of the Commons experiment
Build Challenge: Moai (Easter Island Heads)

Upcoming Events

Park Days at Santa Ana Zoo: https://www.facebook.com/events/479026312918466/
Disneyland meetup: January 31 – Explorers: https://www.facebook.com/events/438347327015581/
2/19 Revolutionary Celebration

Fireworks

Read through the fireworks and choose about five that you think might interest your child. Allow him or her to select 1-3 of them.

Do Time Warp Trio Easter Island online activities: http://www.timewarptrio.com/adventures/easter/
Visit NOVA's Easter Island Website: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/easter/
Read a book about explorers.
Pretend that you discovered a new world. What do the inhabitants look like? Where do they live? What sort of plants grow there? Draw pictures of and write about this new world.
Pretend you went with Captain Cook on his journeys. Write a journal entry about the day you landed on Easter Island.
Become a spice trader: http://www.learner.org/interactives/renaissance/spicetrade/
Many of the measurement tools that the early explorers used—from the sand timer and compass to the quadrant and his method of dead reckoning—were imprecise, yet they still helped him to navigate the ocean. Find out more about each of these tools and/or others. Explain to the class the tool's purpose, how early explorers used it, and how accurate it tended to be. Be prepared to share the names of tools that are used today to serve the same or a similar function. Talk about whether the accuracy of these tools has improved.
Carve Moai out of wax (paraffin), floral foam, sponge, or a plaster/sand block.
Fold a paper boat.
Make a boat from shapes: http://www.dltk-kids.com/crafts/transportation/mhalvesboat.html
Make your own sailboat.
Make a map look weathered.
Create a game with a large world map. Mark Columbus’ route to America with little squares. Make several tiny boats. Prepare a list of questions about Columbus. Play the game, moving ahead one square for every correct answer.
Create a game using a list of famous explorers: http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/famous-explorers.htm
Do activities from the Marco Polo and Leif Erikson Lesson Plan: http://iijuan12.hubpages.com/hub/marco-polo-and-lief-erickson-homeschool-unit
Explore some bubble-gum physics: http://sciencespot.net/Pages/classphys.html#Anchor-49575
Draw the routes of three different explorers, using a different color for each explorer.
Make and use a quadrant.
Discover theories on how the moai were made and transported. How do you think they were placed there? Present your ideas to the class: http://www.easterislandquest.com/mystery-moai.htm
Dramatize the encounter of Cortes and Montezuma: https://hubpages.com/education/ponce-de-leon-aztecs-cortez-conquistadores-homeschool-lesson