Humanities and Social Sciences School Activities for Foundation to Year 2

Learning about Bermuda
Skills: historical skills | Geographical inquiry and skills
Level: foundation–year 2

Materials

• At least 1 copy of Myra and the Magic Motorcycle: Book 1—The Business in Bermuda, ideally one per student or group of students
• A world globe, or more than one

Read Myra Book 1 to your students including page 45.

Download some photos of Bermuda to show to your students on the digital whiteboard or ipads. You can visit Wikipedia or Google Images to find a range of photos to use for your students.

Group Activity—Discussion

Do you know how to use a world globe? Can you find Australia on the globe? Can you find Bermuda on the other side of the globe? Hint: it is on the other side compared to Australia. Where would you like to go for a holiday? What might you find on a holiday in Bermuda?

Learning about Bermuda



Bermuda is a country made up of islands.

Bermuda's official name is"the Bermudas" or "Somers Islands".

Bermuda is a British overseas territory in the North Atlantic Ocean. This means it is part of the British empire, which is ruled by the Queen of England, like Australia. Australia and Bermuda share a monarch. At the

present time this is Queen Elizabeth II.

The land has one main island and 180 smaller islands. Bermuda is a popular tourist place, with mild weather during the winter months.

It is located off the east coast of the United States.

Its capital city is Hamilton.

Bermuda is in the Atlantic Ocean, near the western edge of the Sargasso Sea.The territory has 181 islands. The total area is 53.3 square kilometres. The largest island is Main Island, sometimes itself called Bermuda.

Bermuda Triangle



Bermuda is the easternmost point of the so-called "Bermuda Triangle"– a region of sea in which a number of aircraft and ships have allegedly disappeared under mysterious circumstances. Some people think there is a pattern to the disappearances, while other people think it is only coincidence.

Books and movies have made all kinds of outlandish claims over the years for what causes so many

vehicles to be lost in the Bermuda Triangle, including aliens, whirlpools, sea monsters and black holes.

Comprehension Questions

1. What is Bermuda?
   1. A city
   2. An island
   3. A country
2. What is one of Bermuda's official names?(Ans: "the Bermudas" or "Somers Islands".)
3. Bermuda is an overseas territory of what nation?
   1. Britain
   2. Australia
   3. The Somers Islands
4. The monarch of Bermuda is
   1. King Declan V
   2. Queen Elizabeth
   3. Queen Mary
5. How many smaller islands does Bermuda have?
   1. 100
   2. 210
   3. 180
6. The capital city of Bermuda is: _________. (Ans: Hamilton)
7. What is the Bermuda Triangle?(Ans: open-ended, they can answer in their own words)

(Sources: Bing Creative Commons, simple.wikipedia.org)

Learning about the rich and the poor

Level: foundation–year 2

Materials

• At least 1 copy of Myra and the Magic Motorcycle: Book 1—The Business in Bermuda, ideally one per student or group of students
• A pair of old high heels or “designer shoes” (be creative).
• An empty old hand bag.
• A wide-brimmed hat
• Big sunglasses
• Any other clothing embellishments to symbolise fancy apparel worn in a hot country
• 1 x H1—Money and Needs Activity Sheet for each student
• Digital images to go on digital whiteboard or projector: Download the following photos from the book to show to your students on the digital whiteboard or ipads.

 

Or download all above images as a zip

Read Myra Book 1 to your students including page 45, which is supplementary information about Bermuda and the social theme of the Rich and the Poor.

Discussion and Activities for page 21

Using bermuda_myra1.jpg on your data projector, get one or more students to try on the funny clothes and be the person walking down the street. Ask the students:

"Why do you think the author mentioned the people walking down the street with "expensive clothes with matching bags and hats"?"

Pick out students of your choice and ask the following, get discussion going as a class:

1. Why did some of the shops have shoes and clothes at very high prices? (Ans: because of the wealthy people in Bermuda, including tourists)
2. Is $300 a lot of money to pay for a pair of shoes?
3. Would you pay $300 for a pair of shoes?
4. What else could you buy for $300? (To help prompt them you could say "Some examples I have here are model train set, a new bicycle, 15 DVDs, 4 new Playstation games, an Android tablet."

Discussionand Activities pages 26 and 39

Using bermuda_myra2.jpg and bermuda_myra5.jpg on your data projector ask the class:

1. What three things did Phyllis need the day Myra came to visit? (Ans: deliver the letters to Mr Valroyal, take the kids to visit their father in hospital, find some money to buy food)
2. What do you think Phyllis’ family circumstances are? Are they:
   1. Living in poverty
   2. Poor
   3. Comfortable
   4. Well off
   5. Wealthy
3. Which of these do you think your family is?
4. What are some of the challenges Phyllis and her children are facing at the moment? (Ans: father is sick or injured, father not working and earning money, mother having to work and look after the children, don’t have enough money for food, don’t have a way to transport the letters to Mr Valroyal, no way to get to the hospital)
   
   "Complete the worksheet H1—Money and Needs Activity Sheet . Read the words. Draw the answer. Write the answer."
   
5. What might have caused them to be in this situation? (To help prompt them you could say “Perhaps their father was injured at work, the mother and father don’t have permanent jobs, the family does not have any support from other people, they fell on hard times, had some bad luck etc.)
6. CHALLENGING:Whose fault is it that Phyllis and her family don’t have enough money or food today?
   1. The children’s fault
   2. Phyllis’s fault
   3. Myra’s fault
   4. The father’s fault
   5. Nobody’s fault
   6. We don’t know

Discuss and Activities pages 33 and 35

"Phyllis is struggling to make ends meet so as to be able to feed her family. She lacks support from her community. But there are some other people in her life that have the power to make a difference for her. Who are they?"

Next show page 33 and say:

"Each of the people shown on page 33 can have an impact on Phyllis’ family situation today. Why/how?"

Discuss.

"Although the three people have helped Phyllis today, what’s going to happen tomorrow. What might Phyllis need to solve her financial problems for herself?"

Discuss. Eg. some students might say "a job", "a loan" etc. You might need to prompt them with ideas like "child care", "government assistance", "call upon a friend", "ask a family member to help with the children", "sell something" etc. Discuss this in context of the story in Bermuda and the local situation where you are.