Skills used
- Latitude & Longitude
- Using scale to measure distance
- Using directions
- Tracing routes on maps
- Solving problems
Materials Needed
Globe in Horizon Ring Mounting
Lesson
The following is an example of a difficult ocean crossing that you can follow on your globe.
To begin, draw a small circle around Plymouth, England at 50N/3W. Remember that England is a part of the country that is now called the United Kingdom. Just to the left of Plymouth, write the date 9/16/1621. This is the date that the Pilgrims sailed from England, aboard the ship Mayflower, for the New World.
Next, place an "X" in the Atlantic Ocean at 45N/45W. Now, circle on your globe the city of Boston, Massachusetts. Boston is located at 43N/71W. To the right of Boston, write the date 11/21/1621. This is the date that Mayflower dropped anchored off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Cape Cod is about forty-five miles southeast of Boston.
Use your globe's mounting ring as a straight edge and draw a line from Plymouth, England to your X in the Atlantic and then on to Boston. What is the distance of this route? (1.) ___________ _________________________________________ This, approximately, is the shortest direct sea route between Plymouth and the point where the Pilgrims landed on November 21, 1621.
The voyage was not an easy one for the Pilgrims. The Mayflower not only landed in the wrong location (it was supposed to land in Virginia), but it took 66 days to make the journey. If it took 66 days for the voyage, how many miles a day did the Mayflower progress along the 3,100 mile sea route? (2.)_____________________________________________ As a comparison with a modern day ship, in 1952 the ocean liner United States crossed the Atlantic Ocean on a voyage of similar length in 3 days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes. The United States traveled about 900 miles per 24 hours.
Even the speed of ships like the United States seems to be too slow for today's travelers. Modern jet airliners have put all the big transoceanic (ocean crossing) passenger ships out of business. Use the Jet Airliner cruising speed shown on the globe's mounting ring to determine how long it takes a modern jet aircraft to make the journey from Plymouth to Boston. Don't forget that the aircraft can fly over land, so it can follow a great circle route. (3.) _______________________________
Look at your globe again and find the countries from where your ancestors migrated to North America. Note the distances they had to travel. If they came to this continent over a century ago, it could have been a risky trip indeed. Discuss with your classmates what kind of conditions these ancestors must have been experiencing to make them want to undertake such a journey. Try to imagine what they may have been thinking at the very moment that they last saw the shores of their homelands in Europe, Africa, and Asia.