Synopsis - When boys at a pond won’t let her play along
with their toy pirate ship, Jenny makes a ship out of a walnut shell
and sails off into an imaginary adventure in a great ship of her own.
Science - Reflections - There was a reflection of the ship in
the water. Explain what causes a reflection. When light rays bounce
off something, such as the ship in the story, and on to a flat smooth
area, such as a pond, you see these rays as a reflection. Have your
child look at his reflection in different items, such as aluminum foil,
a mirror, a polished spoon and a puddle of water. Do they all look the
same? The flatter, smoother, and shinier the object, the clearer the
reflection will be. Also have him observe how the reflection is a reverse
image. Have fun writing secret messages to each other in backwards writing
that must be read in their reflections.
Science - Buoyancy - When Jenny put the walnut shell in the
water it did float. What causes something to float instead of sink?
Discuss the term buoyancy, the capacity to float, with your child. When
a boat floats, it pushes some of the water under it aside. The water
around the boat pushes back. This force of water holds up the boat,
letting it float. If the boat becomes too heavy, from something such
as too many people aboard, a large wave filling the boat with water,
or as in this story, something heavy falls on it, the weight of the
boat is too much for the force around it, and it will capsize or sink.
Read The Magic School Bus, Ups and Downs by Joanna Cole to learn
more about things that sink and float.
Science - Telescope - Pirates and other seamen often used telescopes
to look for other ships and to watch for dangerous rocks. Telescopes
were first invented about 400 years ago. Telescopes such as the one
invented by Galileo in 1609 were “refracting telescopes”.
They had two lenses, a larger objective lens and a smaller ocular lens,
which was held near the eye. Rays of light would enter through the objective
lens, and as they passed through the second lens, the light was bent
again to magnify the image. The image, while appearing to be up to 33X
closer, actually appeared backward and upside down. This design was
later improved by the addition of mirrors. Just for fun, maybe your
child would like to make
a telescope.
Science - Health - Jenny thought many of her toys needed some
exercise. Do you and your children have a regular exercise routine?
If not, why not start right now by tightening up those tummy muscles
with some sit-ups or toe touches. Active bodies make healthy bodies!
If you are looking for a more structured physical fitness program, homeschools
are eligible to participate in the President’s
Challenge.
Social Studies - Seven Seas - The boy at the park boasted that
his ship could out sail any on the seven seas. Looking at a world map,
have your child locate the seven seas. On an outline map of the world,
have child label all the major bodies of water. The Seven Seas are considered
to be the North and South Atlantic, the North and South Pacific, the
Indian, the Arctic, and the Antarctic oceans.
Social Studies - Land and Water Forms -
Pond - A body of still water, smaller than a lake. Sometimes ponds are
naturally created by water running off to a low spot, and sometimes
they are man made.
Island – A piece of land entirely surrounded by water.
Cove – A bay-like recess into a shoreline.
River – A large, natural stream of water, usually fed by smaller
creeks along it’s course, and discharging into a larger body of
water such as a lake or ocean.
Horizon – The line you see looking out as far as you can, where
the sky meets the earth or sea.
Social Studies - Pirates - The study of pirates is an often
interesting (and over-glamorized) subject for children. There are many
good books about pirates and their history available. An especially
colorful and informative book is The World of the Pirate by Val
Garwood. The basics involving the Pirates in the Park are covered below.
Pirate Flags – The boy’s toy pirate ship had a Jolly
Roger flag, the most famous of pirate flags. Some pirates designed their
own flags, the scarier and more threatening the better, and others just
used the standard skull and cross bones. Have your child design a pirate
flag.
Pirate Weapons – The pirates in the story had swords and
cannons for weapons. Generally, pirates possessed whatever weapons they
had stolen from victim ships, and usually had very well stocked arsenals.
They had short weapons, such as a flintlock pistol, cutlass, and dagger,
for fighting on board in close quarters. For attacking at a distance
they used cannons, catapults, muskets, grenades, and stinkpots. Maybe
your child would like to make a cutlass from cardboard and aluminum
foil, or a catapult from K-Nex and rubber bands.
Pirate Clothes – Much of the clothes pirates wore were obtained
during attacks. The clothing worn was chosen for its comfort and durability,
and ease of moving around and fighting. Kerchiefs were worn around a
pirate’s head to keep out dirt and dust, and to catch sweat. Sashes,
usually of red, were pirate trademarks. And every once in a while, a
pirate did wear an eye patch to cover the damage done in some altercation.
Let your child have some fun dressing up in pirate garb.
Pirate Ships – Pirates used whatever ships they could steal,
as long as they were fast. They especially preferred small fast ships
that were easy to steer, so they could sneak up on their victims and
get away fast. There are many ship terms used throughout the story.
Have your children look at the pictures of the S.S. Walnut and the Skull.
Can he locate some of the items mentioned? Here is a picture
of a pirate ship with parts labeled.
Gang Plank – A temporary bridge for passengers between a ship and
land.
Helm – The steering apparatus of a ship.
Mainsail – The principal sail on a mainmast.
Mainmast – The second mast from the front of the ship (the bow).
Gunwale – The upper edge of the side of a ship.
Masts – A pole set upright in a ship to support the sails
Sails – A piece of material attached by ropes to a mast in a ship
that catches the wind to help the ship propel forward.
Anchor – A heavy, hooked implement, usually of iron or steel that
is attached to a cable and dropped from a ship to hold it in place.
Pirate Sayings – “Shiver me timbers, mates”, the
boy with the pirate ship exclaims. The boy is saying “Goodness
me!” There are quite a few pirate sayings your child may or may
not be familiar with. “Ahoy there” means “Hey!”
“Lands Ahoy” means that there is land within sight. “Tell
it to the parrot” means to tell everyone. If there is an interest,
try to obtain a film with a pirate theme such as an animated version
of Treasure
Island, or the movie Captain
Kidd starring Charles Laughton to hear more pirate sayings.
Language Arts - Reality and Fantasy - While this story had many
events that could have really happened, it also had many elements of
fantasy. Discuss with your child, which parts were real and which parts
were fantasy. Many of the children in the story were using their imagination,
pretending to be pirates, cowboys, and ship captains. Have your child
use his imagination to narrate or write a story that includes elements
of reality and fantasy, maybe with himself as a pirate!
Language Arts - Abbreviations - An abbreviation is a shortened
form of a word or phrase. Jenny called her ship the S.S. Walnut. The
abbreviation S.S. is short for “steamship”. Some other common
abbreviations your child may be familiar with are Mr., Mrs., Dr., as
well as state abbreviations and address abbreviations. Point out the
abbreviation S.S. in the story, and encourage child to write out some
himself.
Language Arts - Italics - Your child may notice that Skull
and Walnut are printed in a slightly slanted style called italics. Italics
are used to emphasize a certain word, indicate titles of magazines,
newspapers, books, plays, films, a foreign word, and in this case, the
names of ships. If you have “rowed” FIAR title The Glorious
Flight your child may also remember that names of planes are italicized
as well. Have child find all the italicized words in the story.
Math - Dates - Have the child find the date of copyright in
the front of the book (1973). Ask him how many years ago that was, helping
him to subtract if needed. The book I’m doing this unit from happened
to be mine from when I was a child. It was fun to make mention of the
clothes from that era, and tell children of having clothes just like
them. Also, tell them the year you were born and have them figure out
how old you were when the story was copyrighted, and how old you are
now (or, how many years it was copyrighted before you were born).
Math - Counting Treasure - Pirates had to be good at their
math skills to make sure they got their “fair share” of treasure.
Use little jewels, foil covered chocolate coins, or some other treasure
as manipulatives for whatever skill you are currently working on.
Character - boasting - The boy at the park was very boastful
about the speed and quality of his ship. What happened in the end of
the story? A passing log crushed his ship. Proverbs 27:2 says, “Let
another man praise you, and not your own mouth.” The Lord does
not want us to be proud or boastful. If we do good and right things,
then people will notice, and even if they don’t, Jesus will. Instead
of looking like a great ship, it looked like a pile of rubble that nobody
was much interested in playing with. Share a time when maybe your boastfulness
backfired on you, or ask your child if something like that ever happened
to him/her.
Art - Look with your child through all the pictures of the ships.
Take notice of the details in the many shapes and lines, the rectangular
flags, the triangular sails, the circular helm and portholes, and the
many ropes. Examine the ornate carvings on the bows of the ships. Have
your child try his hand at drawing a ship, using some of the details
found in the pictures. If he needs a little help, here are “How-to-Draw”
instructions for a pirate ship (and a treasure chest)
Home Ec - Have your child help you make a seafaring snack
of tuna fish sandwiches and seaweed (chopped spinach), or a dinner of
Pirate Pie.
Links - Treasure
Island to read on line
Treasure
Island unit
Pirate
word search
Another Pirate
Word Search
Pirate
Bookmarks to print and color
Many
Pirate worksheets and project ideas (you must be a member)
Pirate
activities (you can purchase patches here if you want your child
to do activities to “earn” a patch):
Disclaimer: All links are for informational purposes
only - a link to a web site does not imply agreement with or endorsement
of that site. Because of the changing nature of the internet, always
preview a site before viewing it with your children.
