Goals:

1. Expand students’ knowledge on the space allowed for a slave on a typical ship.
2. Work with students to build a space similar to the size provided for slaves on a typical ship.
3. Use complex reasoning to describe how they would have felt under these circumstances.

Resources:

1. The Atlantic Slave Trade by David Northrup (1994). Lexington: D.C. Heath and Co. (ISBN 0-669-33145-7) (p.101)
2. Internet
   http://asu.alasu.edu/academic/advstudies/3b.html

Materials:

1. Large boxes or heavy cardboard (spray paint these materials black)
2. Rulers
3. Scissors
4. Activity Sheet

Time:

Approximate time of 2 to 3 hours depending on time it takes to complete the construction of the box, writing time and discussion time.

Procedure:

1. Describe for students the cramped conditions slaves lived in during the long voyage across the sea (dirty, dark, rough wood and shortage of fresh air).
2. Read to the students the second paragraph on page 101 of the David Northrup book.
3. Hand out the activity sheet and split the girls and the boys up. Then split the two groups into two smaller groups, creating four groups.
4. Give each group the materials they need and assign each group to build a box the size of either the boy’s, girl’s, woman’s or man’s area in the ship; the boys will build the male’s area and the girls will build the female’s area.
5. Allow the students plenty of time to create their project.
6. Allow the students to crawl into the boxes and only allow a small amount of light and air Inside.
7. After each student has had a chance to crawl into a box, give them time to write about their experience.

Assessment:

1. Each student should write a short paper on how they felt while they were in the Box and how they think the slaves felt (Criteria for success — see writing rubric).
2. Each student will efficiently work with other students to complete the project (Criteria for success — see group and self assessment rubrics).

Curricular Strands and Major Concepts:

1. Language Arts- Writing a paper on their feelings about the activity.
2. Math- Finding measurements and building a project by using those measurements.
3. Social Studies- Using historical information to understand what the slaves had to endure on the ship.
4. Art- Constructing a box with art materials.

Possible Extensions:

1. Find out the size of the average captain’s room and build it in comparison to the slave’s area. How many slaves could fit in one captain’s quarters?
2. View film: Goree: The Door of No Return Films for the Humanities Inc., 1992.

Next Lesson

Previous Lesson

Table of Contents

Back to Main Page