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Classrooms with a Difference:

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Curriculum: English/Social Studies/Technology
Strands: Place & Environment
Oral, Written and Visual Language

Learning Intentions:

Research and describe and become familiar with the geographic points of interest that they will see during an inter-island journey.
Prepare and recreate a virtual cruise on the Interislander and share this with other classes.
Demonstrate ability to use web based technology for research.

Skills Used and Developed:

Research • Information • Communication • Work & Study

Related Curriculum Areas: Technology • English

Introduction

Every year, hundreds of lucky students get to take a Cook Strait cruise on The Interislander. This may be for a class visit to Wellington or as part of a school trip to a South Island destination.

In this Interislander adventure we look at how preparing your class for your trip provides a rich curriculum experience and how the ferry trip can become a learning experience in itself; a classroom with a difference!

Tuning In
• Find out how many students have been to ‘the other Island’. Share experiences, eg

- how did they get there? - where did they go
- how long did they stay - what did they enjoy most?

How many students have been on The Interislander ? How long did it take? What was the best part of the cruise?

Tell students that the inter-island ferry serice as we know it today was started 42 years ago. The ferry service is part of the railway system and the ships are known as roll on — roll off ferries, capable of carrying railway wagons, trucks,cars and passengers between Wellington and Picton.

A Special Scenic Journey Tell students that a lot of information can be found out about the journey between Wellington and Picton by using an atlas. In groups, have students trace the path of the Interislander from Wellington to Picton locating the following geographic points of interest along the way. What other information about the crossing does the atlas provide? (Visual Language) Allow groups time to visit The Interisland Voyage website to have a virtual cruise. http://www.interislander.co.nz/The-Voyage.aspx Have each group gather ‘evidence’ from the pictures that prove the claim that the journey across Cook Strait is regarded as one of the most scenic cruises in the world.

(Written Language) Challenge each group member to write a suitable caption or short descriptor for one or more of the clip as if they were found in a tourist brochure.

Preparing for Our Journey

Introduce the idea that one of the best ways to get the most out of a cruise or a journey is to ‘do some’ research about the places they will see along the way. Tell students that they can find out more about the geographic features they identified in the atlas research by playing the video clips on an ‘interactive map’ on The Interislander website at: http://www.interislander.co.nz/The-Voyage.aspx

Task One: Have groups/individuals adapt the information from the video clips and interactive map and prepare an informative and illustrated tourist brochure to enhance the journey.

A Virtual Cruise
(Oral/Written Language)
Introduce The scenario that The Interislander wants to update the on-board announcements to include brief but interesting comments about places of interest and happenings along the route.

Divide the class into groups and assign two or three points of interest to each group.The group task is to write a script that would be spoken over the P.A. system of the vessel as the cruise progresses. Ideas could include:

- all points of interest along the route
- sightings of whales and dolphins
- passing another ferry going in the opposite direction
- information about the destination (Picton or Wellington) …

Allow time for practice and then have all groups deliver their scripts in succession to simulate a virtual cruise.

Invite Other Classes

Before students invite other classes to enjoy the virtual cruise, brainstorm ideas as to how the experience can be made ‘more real’ or enhanced for the visitors, eg

- print out and enlarge interactive map and use to indicate progress during the journey
- print out and enlarge pictures from the image gallery and have on display
- paint large murals to re-create the feel of the journey
- record background sounds of the boat motor, sea birds etc to add atmosphere
- re-create a comfortable deck in the classroom where the visitors relax and enjoy the journey

Learning About Cook Strait

Tell students that Cook Strait is well known for some often fierce storms and that although The Interislander ships are built strongly to cope with extreme conditions, they will cancel sailings if it is too uncomfortable for passengers.

Using atlases, show the students that Cook Strait is the only gap between the almost continuous ranges of high mountains in both the North and the South Islands. This is why Cook Strait will often get strong winds.

Print out the Cook Strait article from the Met Service learning centre at:http://www.metservice.co.nz/public/learning/cook-strait.html Distribute to students and share/read as a class.

Suggestions for discussion and activities include:

- How and why Te Rauparaha showed respect for Cook Strait.
- Who was the first European to see Cook Strait?
- What problems did Captain Cook have in Cook Strait?
- Make a timeline of the history of shipping disasters.
- Analyse the causes of these shipping disasters.
- List the causes of the fierce storms that Cook Strait can have.
- Produce a Cook Strait fact sheet wall chart.

Web Scavenger Hunt Quiz at: www.interislander.co.nz/Our-Ships-And-Services.aspx

Using information from the website, have each group devise an 'Interislander Internet Scavenger Hunt' for interesting facts and figures and challenge other groups to complete, eg

• Facts and figures about the Interislander ships
• What are the English meanings of the names of the ships?
• Which ferry carries the most passengers?
• Research into the tasks are responsibilites of different crew members
• Special facilities and activities that are provided on-board.
• How long is the voyage and what is its distance?