Transatlantic Travels

Design an interactive map with modes of transportation that actually move across the ocean.

• 1.

  Research maps of North America and Europe. Locate New York City and Paris, France. Find out about various current modes of transportation between the two cities, including times, flight or cruise paths, distances, vehicle weights, and speeds. Locate similar information about Charles Lindbergh's first transatlantic flight.

• 2.

  On poster board, use Crayola® Colored Pencils to draw a map (to scale) showing the two continents and the Atlantic Ocean from New York City to Paris.

• 3.

  Cut small pieces of poster board with Crayola Scissors to make sign posts for the two cities. Attach to the map with a Crayola Washable Glue Stick.

• 4.

  Make a three-dimensional boat and plane to string from New York to Paris. Cut out the body of an air plane from poster board. Draw the airplane body on each side, then glue on wings cut from poster board. Add a small tab under one wing by gluing two sides of a small piece of poster board to the wing, leaving the middle of the tab pulled away from the wing a bit. Dry. Thread string or yarn through the tab, anchoring the ends to New York and Paris.

• 5.

  To make the boat, fold a small piece of poster board in half and draw each side of a boat. Place string inside the fold, then glue the bottom inside edges together. Be sure to keep string from sticking to glue. Anchor the ends of the string to both cities

• 6.

  Create fact cards by folding index cards or poster board cut to size. Use Crayola Markers to write topics on the outside of cards and information inside. Glue cards to empty spaces on the map.

Benefits

• Students construct transatlantic maps of the northern hemisphere and imagine what it would be like to operate various modes of transportation between North America and Europe.
• Students research and create examples of various ways to travel from New York to Paris, including information about times, distances, weights, and speeds of modes of transportation, which enables them to recognize attributes of real journeys, historic and
• Younger children discover that models are different from real objects, and can be used to better understand real items and events.

Adaptations

• Work together to research the life of Charles Lindbergh, including his childhood, family life, accomplishments as an aviator, and his military and public life.
• Make a transatlantic travel map of Lindbergh's famous flight from New York to Paris. Include details of the journey on fact cards.
• Research various ways immigrants, have come to the United States from other parts of the world. Design vessels similar to those used to cross oceans or land. Include the lengths of journeys on fact cards. Create fictional quotes from people coming to the United States in different time periods.