A thorough set of activities, articles, and reference material can enlighten your class about the history of whaling in New England. Kids travel back to a time when whale products were valuable and hunting whales was a way to help the blooming American economy. They can also role play as a sailor on a whaling ship. The packet includes details about products from the whaling trade, the life of a whaler, and a list of vocabulary relevant to whaling and sailing.

Additional Tags

social studies

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Instructional Ideas

• Use the packet after reading Moby Dick or another book about the whaling industry (resource references Moby Dick but does not depend on learners' knowledge of the book)
• Great for a cross-curricular project between language arts and social studies

Classroom Considerations

• Some kids might be sensitive to the depictions of killing whales in the lesson
• Provides more information about the history of whaling than the effort toward conservation; consider bringing in your own resources about recent acts to save the whales

Pros

• Features a variety of activities and articles that include both math and writing practice

Cons

• None

Common Core

RI.5.2 RI.5.6 RI.6.2 RI.6.6 RI.7.2 RI.7.6