“Assessing Basic Navigation Skills with Captain Seabury”

UK Literacy Teaching and Learning Lesson Plan

Teacher Names: Yu Huang (Paris) and Alison Dorsi

Date: July 23rd 2018
Grade/Proficiency: 4-5 grade
Lesson Plan Type: Standard Lesson, 1 day
Duration: 30-40 minutes

Abstract
In this lesson, students are reviewing the very basics of map reading, navigation and natural
resources. The concepts of relative and absolute location, latitude, longitude, and cardinal
directions are discussed, as well as the use and principles of a map and compass. These concepts
are brought together in a series of activities that together help solve a problem. The combination
of individual, group, and class work are used to assess students’ understanding of the concepts
before formal testing is done. The activity should also help students gain perspective on how
different concepts from the classroom can be used in combination with each other in the real-world
in order to attach greater meaning and purpose with their everyday lessons.

Common Core Standards:

Speaking and Listening: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one,
in groups and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 5 topics and texts, building on others’
ideas and expressing their own clearly.

Writing: Use words, phrases, and clauses to create cohesion and clarify the relationships among
claim(s), counterclaims, reasons, and evidence.

Reading: Explain how an author uses reasons and evidence to support particular points in a text,
identifying which reasons and evidence support which point(s).
Integrate information from several texts on the same topic in order to write or speak about the
subject knowledgeably.

Reading Science/Technical: Follow precisely a multistep procedure when carrying out

experiments, taking measurements, or performing technical tasks.
Analyze the author’s purpose in providing an explanation, describing a procedure, or discussing
an experiment in a text.
Assess the extent to which the reasoning and evidence in a text support the author’s claim or a
recommendation for solving a scientific or technical problem.

Materials:
Paper, markers/crayons/colored pencils, bottle, internet access

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Documents:
Captain’s note, constellation sheet, compass sheet, sun rise/set sheet, world map with legend and
latitude/longitude, map worksheet.

Preparation
This lesson will be used to assess students’ understanding of a term studying natural navigation
tools, including the sun, the stars, and latitude and longitude. Students would have had a series of
days or weeks of studying different these kinds of natural resources and navigation tools and
should be close to mastering these concepts by the time this lesson is given. The assessment
combines knowledge from the previous lessons in order for students to solve a real-world problem.

Key Vocabulary:
Map
Sun
Moon
Stars
Constellations
Big Dipper
North Star
Atlantic Ocean
Latitude
Longitude
Compass

Learning Goals / Objectives

I. Students will be able to identify different natural resources and what each of those
resources can be used for.
II. Students will be able to understand the orientation (South, East, West, North), how to
measure longitude and latitude, how both are used in navigation.
III. Students will be able to connect different concepts about natural resources and provide
sequential explanations and instructions to solve a navigational problem.

References / Citations:

Compass Directions
http://www.teachingideas.co.uk/maps-and-atlases/compass-directions

Ellis Island Interactive Tour With Facts, Pictures, Video | Scholastic.com

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/

Movable Type Scripts - Chris Veness

https://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html

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My Happy Place by Susan Jennings Tpt Products
https://www.pinterest.com/sgjennin/my-happy-place-by-susan-jennings-tpt-products/

Navigation Primary School

http://www.navigationprimary.com/

Session Instructions and Activities

1. Warm-up (10 min)

Teacher explains that during this lesson the class is going to review what we’ve learned this term
about maps, the sun and the stars and how people can use these things in daily life. A general
question to start off could be: how do we know where we are? (Possible answers: Because we can
see we are in the school, we have maps, we just ‘know,’ use a compass, use a phone.) Discuss for
a couple minutes, trying to get students to be as specific as possible, ideally referencing using some
kind of map. Students are then given worksheets to fill out individually, which quickly reviews
key features of a map. Teachers can go around to students and do a quick assessment of knowledge
from previous lessons. The class is brought back together to discuss their sheets and connect the
natural resources with initial question of how we know where we are.

Then draw attention to the fish tank for the daily fish feeding. Ask a student who has participated
well to feed the fish, and ask them to describe what’s going on in the fish tank today. The student
points out the bottle, and one teacher pulls it out. The teachers pretend to not know why it is in the
fish tank, asking the other to explain why it’s there and neither knowing the answer. The teachers
then ask the students if any of them put the bottle in the fish tank instead of recycling it and they
say no. Finally, a teacher notices the note in the bottle, takes it out, and reads it to the class.

2. Read the note from the lost ship together (5 min)

The teacher reads the note out loud to the class.

Note Reads:

“SOS! My name is Captain Seabury and I am writing from my ship that is lost in the Atlantic
Ocean. My ship is sailing from Portugal to America in hopes of bringing new immigrants through
Ellis Island. Our journey has not gone well. My navigation experts onboard have just become sick
from scurvy and they cannot guide us to Ellis Island. One of my passengers told me that in America
they teach young people how to navigate the oceans so I have sent this message hoping it reaches
a classroom. As a Captain I can help steer the ship but I need your help finding some key
information to set my ship on course again. All I know is that our last known coordinates were 33
N, 40 W. I need to know three things: how to orient the ship, what direction Ellis Island is in, and
the distance in KM from the ship’s location to Ellis Island. If you could write the directions for me
and include some pictures as guides that would be even better. When you’ve found this

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information, please send it back through the bottle in the fish tank! Thanks for helping to get my
passengers to safety!”

3. Summary of Note - Plan of Action (5 min)

Teachers act surprised at this situation and ask students if they think they can help this Captain.
Teachers are on the same level as the students, and can use the guiding questions below to prompt
the students to think through answering the questions and figuring out the solution.

First, they will discuss what information they learned from Captain Seabury (ship is in the Atlantic
Ocean; ship is sailing to Ellis Island; and ship’s last known coordinates were 33 N, 40 W.) Second,
they will think about the three pieces of information they need to need to give Captain Seabury.

Prompting Questions:
· What is Captain Seabury’s problem? How did that problem arise?
· What do we know about the problem?
· What is Captain Seabury asking for?
· How do we find out the information?
· What is the best way to communicate the information?
o Giving clear, sequential directions

4. Group Activity (20 min)

Once situation is established, ask students what the first step in establishing the ship’s location
would be e.g. how do we know where the boat is relative to other things? How do we figure out
what direction we’re going in? The teacher can say that we can use the materials from previous
lessons to help give directions for the Captain.

A. Use the sun or the stars to find due north (15 minutes)
a. Teacher asks how to find due north? Does it matter what time of day it is (yes, use
two different methods if searching during the day or at night). Split the class into
two groups, one to work on nighttime method and one for daytime.
i. Group 1 Using the Stars - have the students draw the North Star or the
Plough Constellation (The Big Dipper) for Captain Seabury to look for at
night to find North.
ii. Group 2 Using the Sun – the sun rises in the East and sets in the West, so
the Captain must observe where the sun is rising and where it is setting.
Once you know where East and West are, you know where North is.
iii. Teachers split with each group and help guide them towards the drawings.
b. Once both groups are done, come back together and ask each group to talk about
how they determined which direction North is. Now that the Captain knows which
way North is, how does he remember which way to steer the boat (students say
using a compass).
c. Find the outlines of the compass and different students to fill in the different
sections (each student can fill in one box - 8 boxes total).

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Teacher can ask, now that we know how to know find north and use a compass, how do we tell
the captain which way to go? Using a longitude and latitude map.

B. Establish where in the ocean the ship is

a. Knowing what we know, and having the resources that we have (the internet) have
the class problem solve how to figure out where the captain should go.
b. Use the last known coordinates and mark them on a map (33 N, 40 W)
c. Find latitude and longitude of Ellis Island (same as NYC classroom – this can be
displayed on the wall as 40 N, 74 W)– have map of Atlantic Ocean with latitude
and longitude – students look at map and mark the coordinates
d. Ask students what tools we have used to calculate distance between two points.
They can say we can use the online system that we’ve used before (cue up this link)
https://www.movable-type.co.uk/scripts/latlong.html
e. Once students find the distance in kilometers.
C. Repeat the steps every day to ensure you’re on the right track

5. Put the materials in the bottle and put back in the fish tank, check back tomorrow (5
min)

Ask students to hand in drawings of the constellations, sun navigation, compass, and coordinates
of Ellis Island with approximate KM distance to put into the bottle. Have a student drop the bottle
back into the fish tank and then prepare students to leave for the end of the day (or another break
where they leave the classroom).

6. The next morning or next time students are in the classroom, check for new message
from Captain Seabury.

The next time students are back in the classroom have a new message from Captain Seabury that
he received the instructions and has been able to safely navigate the ship to Ellis Island. All his
passengers are safe and are excited to start their new lives in America.

Possible Homework Assignment:

This lesson plan assesses students’ skills using maps, compasses and understanding of basic
navigation tools, but the lesson also introduces Ellis Island as a place where immigrants came to
America. This introduction can help transition into a social studies lesson on immigration. If the
class can be scheduled to visit Ellis Island in the upcoming weeks after this lesson, a homework
assignment can be used to introduce students to what happened while on Ellis Island. The teacher
should ask students to start thinking about what the passengers on Captain Seabury’s boat may
experience once they get to Ellis Island. Tell students to explore this website on Ellis Island,
http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/, and “start the tour” online in order to
prepare them for the new lesson on immigration.

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 Assessment:
In order to assess the students’ progress, the teacher will observe students during the activities to
measure how well they have understood the term’s lessons. Students will be assessed by their
contributions to the group work, discussion, and the writing process. Teacher can use past
classwork and homework assignments to track progression of skills and monitor whether students
will need additional interventions in order to master concepts.

Appendix:

Below are the worksheets that we used during this lesson. These or similar worksheets that depict
how to find the North Star and Big Dipper, use the sun to find East and West, create a Compass,
and a map that shows latitude and longitude would also work. They can be adjusted to reflect
students in different grades and make the activities more or less difficult.

Sun Activity

World Map

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Map Identification Sheet

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Stars Worksheet with Big Dipper and North Star

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Captain Seabury’s Note

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