The Perils of the Ship Captain’s Journey Unit Plan
Unit Author
Alan Thwaites & Joan Walklate
Southern Metropolitan Region
Pakenham Secondary College
Pakenham, Victoria
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Unit Overview
Unit Plan Title: The Perils of the Ship Captain’s Journey.
Curriculum-Framing Questions
Essential Question:
Why might exploration be seen as the 'extreme sport' of its
time?
Unit Questions:
How would the captain of a convict ship choose the best route to get his ship from
England to Australia?
Would the shortest route be the best route?
What problems would the captain have to overcome?
Content Questions:
What choices are there on the route to the captain could take?
Is the shortest distance the best route?
How long would the journey take?
Would travellers in the early 19th century get some form of jetlag?
How did they keep their food fresh?
What would life on the ship be like during the journey?
Unit Summary: Students will research the issues faced by the captains of convict
transport ships in the early 19th century. They will also research navigation methods of
the era and how captains planned the route. Using this knowledge students will plan a
journey and evaluate their choices by comparing their decisions with other students.
Students will design and produce:
1. A presentation explaining the problems faced by the captain of the ship.
2. A captain’s log (or diary for a crewmen or convict)
3. A publication that includes navigation charts documenting the journey and show
calculations of the distances travelled and time zones crossed for each stage.
4. A website which demonstrates an understanding of time, time zones, distance and
speed. Students will analyse these areas and relate them to a journey from England to
Australia in 1813. They will include a discussion of the impact of time zones upon
travellers in the early 19th century and compare their findings to modern day travel.
Teaching and Learning Strategies
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Students will work in groups of 2 to 4 for each project.
Tasks are open ended requiring the analysis and application of knowledge to
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the decisions the captain of a long-voyage ship would have to make in1813.
The task requires collaboration between members of the group at each stage.
Students may use multimedia to present sections of the tasks in written,
pictorial (charts and drawings) and oral (sound recordings) formats.
All work will be self/peer assessed and teacher assessed.
Professional Learning
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PD coordinator to run internal PD on MS Publisher and PowerPoint. Review
Bloom’s taxonomy as a group, meetings run after school three weeks before the
end of the term before the unit will run. A Professional Learning Team consisting
of Year 7 Mathematics & English teachers and student representatives with?***
Professional Reading:
 Bloom’s taxonomy and Gardiner’s multiple intelligences article at
http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/educ_school2/docs/stai_manual/manual10.htm
 Writing units in Multiple Intelligences at
http://www.huntington.edu/education/lessonplanning/Gardner.html
 Review of Copyright Laws at
http://www.copyrightaware.gov.au/resources/presentation/intro.html
Minutes from meetings will be posted to the college mailing list. Please contribute
your suggestions and observations to the list.
Year Level(s)
Years 5 to 9
Key Learning/Subject Areas
Mathematics & English
Learning/Syllabus Outcomes
Maths: CSF Outcomes. Students will be able to:
MAMET501: Measure, estimate and calculate time and duration of time.
MASPL501: Draw and interpret diagrams representing familiar situations.
MASPL502: Use coordinates in 4 quadrants, grids and bearings to specify location of
points.
MASPL503: Use information on a map to specify and obtain distances, heights and
directions.
MASPS505: Enlarge (or reduce) two-dimensional figures or three-dimensional
objects using scale factors.
MANUC504: Select and use an appropriate sequence of operations and appropriate
computation methods to solve problems.
MARSR501: Make, test and modify conjectures.
MARSR502: Make judgments about the quality of the reasoning in a mathematical
argument expressed verbally or in symbolic form.
English:
ENWR0504: Use a range of strategies to plan, compose, revise and edit texts that
present some challenging themes and issues.
Procedures:
1. Before commencing this unit teachers should email a copy of the documents
Ship_student_resources.doc, Ship_student_support.doc and
Planning_a_Web_Site.doc to all students.
2. Introduce students to the unit “The Perils of the Ship Captain’s Journey”. Begin
with a general discussion and brainstorm issues that a Captain in 1813 might
face. Use the document Ships_unit_guiding_questions.doc to give an overview
of the nature and scope of the tasks. Form working groups and complete
Ship_student_support.doc to aid in organising their individual roles within their
groups.
3. What were the perils of long distance sea travel in 1813?
a. Use the document Ship_student_resources.doc to begin gathering
information to address this question.
b. Allow 2 periods for Internet search for data on the difficulties facing
sailing ship crews.
c. Group members work together to gather, collate and discuss the
implications of their research.
d. PowerPoint presentation of conclusions made.
e. Section self-assessed by group before submitting to teacher for final
assessment.
4. What was the journey like for the Captain or a passenger?
a. By applying their research from the PowerPoint presentation, complete a
record of details of the journey from the perspective of the captain or a
passenger on a trip from England to Australia in 1813.
b. Using MS Publisher students will publish the Captain’s Log/Journal or a
Passenger’s Diary as a record of the journey.
c. Evaluation completed by teacher.
5. How long did the journey take? Did travellers in1813 get a form of “jetlag”?
a. Group members investigate at least two different routes that the navigator
could have chosen to get the ship from England to Australia.
b. In MS Publisher, create a calendar indicating the different stages of the
journey. Include a navigation chart including Time Zones.
c. Calculate the distances travelled for each section of the journey, the total
distance and the average speed of the ship.
6. What are time zones? How did they impact on the journey?
a. Investigate time zones? How do they influence our life today? What are
some ways that time zones might effect you?
b. Analyse the issue of jetlag today and use the information to discuss
whether ship travellers in 1813 would have something similar or not.
c. If the captain had a wrist watch (in 1813!), at what points of the journey
would he have had to change the time on his watch? By how much?
d. Read the document Planning_a_Web_Site.doc. Prepare a storyboard that
will be used to create a website.
e. Using MS Publisher, create a website from your analysis of time zones.
Optional Extension Project: Research detail so of the journey undertaken by the First
Fleet. Using the software of their choice, students will create a series of information
posters reflecting features of the journey and crew/convicts. Copies of the posters will
be presented to the First Fleet Fellowship Inc..
Approximate time needed:
Example: Twelve 50-minute periods
Prerequisite Skills:
Familiarity with MS Publisher, MS PowerPoint, MS Word, Internet Explorer.
Knowledge of basic units of time and distance.
Materials and Resources
Technology - Hardware
Computer(s) 
Printer 
Datashow Projector 
Digital camera 
Scanner 
Internet connection 
Technology - Software
CD-ROMs 
Editing software 
Web page development 
Database/spreadsheet 
Internet Web Browser 
Word processing 
Desktop Publishing 
Multimedia 
Animation software 
email software 
Printed Materials: reference materials etc.
Supplies: Blank CD-ROMs for collations of presentations for take home viewing.
Internet Resources:
Teacher Resources related to higher order learning and teaching strategies.
http://www.newtown.tased.edu.au/library/teacher.htm
First Fleet Fellowship Incorporated Victoria
http://home.vicnet.net.au/~firstff/
Background graphic, pictures of Ships.
Captain Cook Country
http://www.captaincook.org.uk/chart.htm
Map of Captain Cook’s journeys
Astronomical Applications Department of the U.S. Naval Observatory.
http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/docs/world_tzones.html
Time zones map
Western Australian Convict records
http://www.sro.wa.gov.au/collection/convict.html
National Maritime Museum Greenwich England
http://www.nmm.ac.uk/
Others: Excursions to the Polly Woodside Museum
Accommodations for Differentiated Learning
Students with Special Needs: Consideration will be given to the students in the group
and an appropriately supportive combination arranged. Templates or partially
completed storyboards/picture boards will be provided. Aide support for the planning
stages and particularly for computer support.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Student: Students are working in groups which
will provide some support. More time will be permitted if required and students may
negotiate the size of the writing tasks. If the language is translatable through Babel
Fish internet translation tool http://babelfish.altavista.com/ students may write in their
first language and then use this tool to translate to English if preferred.
Gifted Student: Students will work with the First Fleet Fellowship Inc. to create a
database of the first fleet journey, demographics of the crew and convicts, ships’
manifest, navigational issues and course rationale. The information will be published
on the College Intranet.
Student Assessment:
 An evaluation rubric will be provided for each task.
 Prior to evaluations students will display their work (on screen) and invite
their peers from at least one other group to comment on their work. Some
additional time will then be provided for revisions.
 Final assessments will be undertaken by each collective group of their own
work and by the teacher.
 Parents will be given opportunity to return a comment on their child’s work
via a form that will be sent home with a CD of the classes’ work.
Key Word Search:
Key Words: time, distance, speed, kilometres, miles, “sailing ship”, “time zone”,
“wind power”, longitude and latitude.
© State of Victoria 2003
This work has been created by the teachers listed below as employees of the Department of Education
and Training, Victoria and copyright is owned by the Crown in right of the State of Victoria. It may be
reproduced in whole or in part for study or training purposes, subject to the inclusion of an
acknowledgment of the source and no commercial usage or sale. Reproduction for the purposes other
than those indicated above requires the written permission of the Department of Education and
Training. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and copyright should be addressed to the
Liability Management Manager, Department of Education and Training, 2 Treasury Place, Melbourne,
VIC, 3002
The State of Victoria accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of any part of this material and bears
no responsibility for any modifications made.
List of teachers name and materials produced – A. Thwaites & J. Walklate - ‘The Perils of the Ship
Captain’s Journey’ Unit Plan.