Plymouth Plantation Background

• The Journey
  Sailing on wooden ships, like the Mayflower, all the way across the Atlantic ocean, took many months. In modern time, taking a non-stop flight from Los Angeles, California to London, England takes about 15 hours. The journey in the Mayflower from Southampton to Plymouth took 165 days.
  • How did the travelers navigate across the ocean with out the aid of modern technology? What prevented them from getting lost?

In order to keep all of the passengers alive while on the long journey, many provisions had to be stored on board the ship. The Pilgrims also had to think about what things they would need in the New World to survive.

In your notebook, write a list of all of the provisions you think the 102 Pilgrims needed to take with them on the long voyage across the ocean. Remember, they had to eat and survive in what could possibly be an unfriendly environment.  What would they need to have with them in order to build shelter upon their arrival?  Would they need any animals?  If so, what kind and how many?  What would the animals be used for?

For this part of the web quest, you are recording your original thoughts.  No additional research is necessary.
 

Now, you will be asked to answer some questions about who the Pilgrims were and why they came to America.  All the answers can be found on the websites listed below the list of questions. 

1.    Who were the first pilgrims (in other words, they were members of what group)?
2.    Where were they from and where did they land and build their settlement?
3.    How did they get to North America?
4.    Why did they make this dangerous journey?
5.    When did their journey take place?
6.    What was their journey like?

Bonus Question:
Remember to answer this question by critically thinking about  the information you gathered about the pilgrims.
�    When the pilgrims first arrived in North America, why did they stay on the ship for awhile before bringing everyone on land?  What were they doing during those months?

http://stufffromthelab.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/why-did-the-pilgrims-come-to-the-new-world/
Use this webpage for answers to questions 1-5.
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/journey.htm

• Plymouth Map Work
  Look at Plymouth on this historic map of the original colonies just before the Revolutionary War in 1776. This map was created 156 years after the Plymouth Plantation was established but the map has a very good detail of the bay and the cape. http://www.histarch.illinois.edu/plymouth/fortplan.html
   
  • Why do you think the Pilgrims chose to settle in Plymouth?
  • What geographical features make Plymouth a good location for the settlement?
  • What type of climate does Massachusetts have throughout the year? Click on (http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/psd/cgibin/data/usclimate/state.pllane=fast&state=MA)
     
• Tour Plymouth Plantation
  • Now let's visit a reenactment of Plymouth Plantation showing what life was like back in 1627 for those original colonists. Click on this Internet site to begin your tour https://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/virtual-field-trip

  • Plimoth plantation hearth cooking
    http://www.williamrubel.com/hearthcooking/museums/hearth-cooking-at-plimoth-plantation/

    Why do you think the early Americans put their baking oven outside?

    What do you think the colonists did for refrigeration? How did they keep things from spoiling?

    From whom do you think the colonists learned many of their ideas about cooking and food preservation?

    How did the colonists store food?

  • Transportation and Housing

    What do you think the colonists used for transportation over land?

  • Mayflower Compact

    In this section, you will answer questions about the Mayflower Compact and why it was important for the new colony.

    How did the Mayflower Compact help early Americans understand the idea of democracy (the idea the people should select their own rulers and laws)?  

    http://mrkash.com/activities/mayflower.html
    Read section two (after the blue writing) to answer questions 1, 3, and 4.  Read section four to answer question 2.  Read section three to answer the bonus question.

    Use your information from the first 5 questions to help you come up with an answer to question 6 on your own.

    1.    Why did the pilgrims need to Mayflower Compact?  Did something happen that made them realize they needed it?
    2.    What did the Mayflower Compact say?
    3.    Who wrote it?  Who signed it?
    4.    Where did they sign it?
    5.    When did they sign it?
    6.    How did the Mayflower Compact help them and their colony survive the first hard years?