The New England Pirate Museum

Pirate Ship's Log

1. Divide the class into groups of four or five.
   
   
2. Assign or have each student select four or five dates for which they will record the Ship's Log. (Dates for the entire group will cover approximately one year - remind the students that sailors were often at sea for long periods of time.) The group will then create a story of a voyage by making their log entries.
   
   
   • "Date" entries must include month, day, and year.
   • "Latitude" and "Longitude" must be in degrees and minutes.
   • "Wind" should include speed and direction.
   • "Land Sightings" must give compass directions relative to the ship's position.
   • "Ship's Business" must include the direction and speed that the ship is traveling.
   
   
   
3. Students may submit their work to the teacher in a notebook or folder, or they may share their "voyages" by making oral presentations to the class. (Pirate's Diary activity may be included as part of an oral presentation.)
   
   

Remind students that a Ship's Log contains only factual information, not personal opinions. (However, you may want to combine this activity with the Pirate's Diary activity to have students record personal feelings etc. about the factual events of the voyage.)

Remind students that the distance traveled between entries has to relate to the time between entries.

Caution students that the "Weather Conditions" will be affected by the date (season) as well as latitude and longtitude.

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