Grade 4 Sets Sail on the Sultana!

Grade 4 students spent last Thursday, October 26 in Chestertown, Maryland aboard the Sultana, a modern vessel that is a full-scale replica of a 97’ topsail schooner that patrolled the mid-Atlantic, enforcing the “Townshend Duties” for Britain’s Royal Navy in the years preceding the American Revolution. 

Once onboard the ship, students worked with Sultana Education Foundation’s staff to learn what life was like for the 25 crew members. They trawled for fish and crabs, measured the depth of the river, read a map of the river, and learned about maritime life in the 18th century. The students could also go below deck to see where the crew slept and examples of what they ate, the games they played, and their medical tools. Tying into their initial social studies and language arts units, students used the Chesapeake Bay as their classroom for the day, examining the history and ecology of the area with their classmates and discovering the events that led to the need for British naval vessels such as the Sultana to patrol these waters. In addition to their time on the schooner, students were led by a team of experts through three sessions of hands-on experiences, including an interactive history of the Chesapeake Bay, examining local artifacts,  and learning to play colonial-style games. It was a fun, memorable experience for everyone!