• Organize students in groups of up to four per group. Each student group should contain a variety of ability levels.
• The ‘Introduction’ section of each activity may be read as a class or by the student groups.
• Each group should have a job for each group member, which can be alternated so that each has an opportunity to complete that job. Examples would include: reader, recorder, etc.
• Determine prior to the activities which should be completed by the student groups or on an individual basis.

Begin this week’s activities with this lesson. Students will have time to create their journals, which they will be using in each of the subsequent topics.

Prior to the journal activities, gather a selection of early day explorer journal excerpts for students to view. Examples might include journal entries from Marco Polo, the Lewis and Clark expedition, Christopher Columbus, etc.

Prior to the activities, gather materials for the ship displacement experiment and the sounding line activity, which accompanies the lesson extension.

List and gather resources (maps and texts) that describe the creation of the ocean floor, its geography and features. Students can use these materials as a point of reference.

Gather star charts for use in the explanation of constellations that sailors would have identified for navigational purposes.

Collect world map relicas from the 14th and 15th centuries to demonstrate to students how maps evolved as early explorers discovered the globe.