At-Home Activities: Across the Oceans - Seek out New Lands

Heather Martinson
Mar 13, 2021
3 min read

March 15-19

Workshop Class Activities:

Craft – Color Your World - Poster
Key Points – Sailing the Seven Seas Expeditions
Collaborative – Life on Galapagos - ocean currents activity
Language Arts – Dream Vacation Brochure
Math/Logic – Bermuda Triangle - identifying types of triangles
Prepare for Adventure – Surface to Air Signals
Big Activity - Buoyancy Competition
Movement - Island Hopping Game

At-Home Activities

See a suggested week schedule at https://www.celebrationeducation.com/single-post/free-curriculum

Materials

various fiction and non-fiction books that relate to oceans
journal or lined paper
Tapatan game board (included)
game pieces, three of each kind
math crossword puzzle: https://www.puzzles-to-print.com/math-puzzles/number-crossword-1.shtml#sthash.0AjRPydu.qjtu
10x10 grids and decimal cards – print and cut out pages 52 & 53 at https://www.sau39.org/cms/lib/NH01912488/Centricity/Domain/244/Making%20Math%20More%20Fun%20Math%20Games%20Ideas.pdf

Reading

Various fiction and non-fiction books that relate to oceans

Writing

Copywork

“Our knowledge is a little island in a great ocean of nonknowledge.” - Isaac Bashevis Singer

"Every time you dive, you hope you'll see something new - some new species. Sometimes the ocean gives you a gift, sometimes it doesn't." - James Cameron

Language arts lesson

A travel blog is a great way to share the adventures you have when you explore. Here’s an example of a travel blog: https://bit.ly/2OaZMci

Writing Activity

Write a travel blog about a place that you have visited.

Journaling

If I could live anywhere it would be…

I would choose this place because...

Math

Math Concept

Strategy games help build problem-solving skills.

Math Project

Play Tapatan, a three in a row game from the Philippines. Each player needs 3 counters. You can use coins, beads or pieces from other games. The objective of the game is to be the first player to get 3 in a row, similar to tic tac toe. A row can be made horizontally, vertically or diagonally. First, the players take turns placing their counters on the board on a point until all counters have been placed. Next, players take turns moving their counters from one point at a time in an attempt to get 3 in a row.

• No jumping is allowed.

• Counters can only move to adjacent, empty points.

• The first player to move his counters into a row of 3 is the winner.

If the same 3 moves are repeated at least twice, a stalemate has been achieved and there is no winner. Alternative version: instead of moving only to adjacent points on the board, players may move tokens to any available empty spot. See video instructions: https://youtu.be/3arvKDfkTx4

Math Concept

Like crossword puzzles can increase word smarts, math crossword puzzles are a fun way to practice math skills.

Math Project

Complete a math crossword puzzle or other math puzzle.

Mental math

Make a list of some of your hardest mental math problems. For example, the include the eights times tables if you’re struggling with these problems. Collect at least fifteen different problems. Record yourself reading the problems with a pause between the problem and the answer.

Play your recording, writing down your answers during the pause. How many answers do you get correct?

As a follow-up a couple of days later, have someone else record the same problems, but in a different order. Now how many answers do you get right?

Math games

Play Build One. Each player gets a 10x10 grid. Place decimal cards in a pile face down. Turn over a card and read the decimal number. Color this amount on your grid. For example, if you draw a card with 0.35, then you color 35 squares. If you get .1, color 10 squares. If you get .03, color three squares. Take turns pulling cards and coloring squares. The first one to color the whole grid is the winner.

Projects

Research and Report

Select two islands, one from the northern hemisphere and one from the southern hemisphere. The islands of Madagascar and Iceland would be good here. Compare some basic facts about each island, such as population, indigenous animals, climate, size, terrain, high point, and natural hazards. Make two comic strips, one set in the northern hemisphere island and the other set in the southern hemisphere island.

Themed Fireworks Project

Choose eight islands from all around the world. Identify the cultures that live on those islands. Make a collection of songs that represent traditional music from the various islands.

6-week project

• Using the outline or mind map you made last week, write the first draft of your written report.

• Work on your display.

Outings

Take a ride on a sailboat or a tall ship.

Other Ideas

Using a calendar that shows the moon phases, watch the surf report for a month, each day marking the high tide for a particular beach. Do you notice a correlation between the high tides and the moon phases?
Make a sea glass mosaic.
Learn how to swim.
Make a commercial to entice people to take a cruise.
Do the Geography Unit by Build-A-Project. Use promo code “celebration15” to get 15% off: https://www.buildaproject.net/product-page/geography-unit-u-s-state-and-capitals-oceans-continents-3rd-8th-grade
Do some buoyancy experiments.