Fun fact: did you know the Pilgrims first sought religious freedom by moving to the Netherlands?
This week, we used math to help us get a better understanding of how difficult the Mayflower journey was.
We first introduced area by measuring a square foot.
We learned that the Mayflower was a small cargo ship, only 90 feet long by 25 feet wide. (The height of the cargo hold where the Pilgrims spent a majority of the trip was only 5 feet high!).
To simulate the cramped conditions of the Mayflower, students designed boats that could not exceed an area of 12 square feet. Some groups chose to measure the squares before cutting; others cut out individual squares and taped them together.
Our Pilgrims will spend quite a bit of time on their boats -- we shall see how comfortable their designs will allow them to be!
Our ships are waiting in the harbor!
Students voted on a writing passage that was thoughtful, used complete sentences, and included detail. Congratulations, Mercer!
