ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 2
ASSIGNMENTS - FILM 2
Film 2: The journey across the ocean
Sailing across the Atlantic Ocean was a terrifying journey for many poor farm workers who had never before left their village. They had a long and dangerous journey before reaching America.
Assignments - film 2
These assignments are about the journey across the ocean. What conditions did the travelers face on the ships and what hazards had to be avoided to reach America?
These assignments are about the journey across the ocean. What conditions did the travelers face on the ships and what hazards had to be avoided to reach America?
Assignment 1: Larsen's Place
Larsen’s Place (Larsens Plads) was the center of emigration from Denmark. Even when you came from the farthest corners of the country, this was where you went before going further. It was here the big steamships docked and where people shuffled together to get onboard. It was an exciting place, swarming with people filled with hopes and dreams, but also with fears of the unknown. Would they succeed, or fail?
1. Produce a radio news report from Larsen’s Place. Describe what is happening and how it feels to be there. You can get some ideas from the people in the painting. Use some different tools and narrative techniques (e.g. background sound, interviews).
2. Search Google Maps for “Larsens Plads, Copenhagen” and check it out on Street View. What is the place used for today?
2. Search Google Maps for “Larsens Plads, Copenhagen” and check it out on Street View. What is the place used for today?
Assignment 2: Om the sea
The journey across the Atlantic was long and inconvenient. Poor weather caused panic and seasickness and the poor hygienic conditions led to hunger and disease. The steamships replaced the sailing ships around the 1860s and made the journey time shorter, but conditions for the third-grade poor did not improve much.
1. Use Google Earth or an atlas to see how far the emigrants travelled.
2. How long did it take a sailing ship to cross the ocean and how much faster was it with a steamship?
3. Make a photo collage to illustrate the conditions on board a ship heading to America. Give the collage a title. (Try using the program “ThingLink”: www.thinglink.com/)
2. How long did it take a sailing ship to cross the ocean and how much faster was it with a steamship?
3. Make a photo collage to illustrate the conditions on board a ship heading to America. Give the collage a title. (Try using the program “ThingLink”: www.thinglink.com/)
- Good search terms could be: “Immigrant ships America,” “immigrants sailing to America”
- Remember to think critically when you find a picture. Evaluate: is it a good source that appropriately illustrates what you want to show?
Assignment 3: Shipwrecks
At 7:50 in the morning on June 28, 1904 the Danish steamship S/S Norge hits a rock far out on the Atlantic Ocean. There are 722 passengers on board and most are stuck together on the third class deck. There are only eight lifeboats with space for a total of 251 passengers. 645 drown.
In the painting of Larsen’s Place, you can see in the background the emigrant ship S/S Danmark from the shipping company Thingvalla.
1. Investigate what happened to the S/S Danmark in April 1889. Read the article here: www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/great-disasters.asp?articleid=114&zoneid=1.
2. Imagine you were on the ship the day it shipwrecked. Write a letter home to your family in Denmark after arriving in America. Tell them in detail about your experience.
2. Imagine you were on the ship the day it shipwrecked. Write a letter home to your family in Denmark after arriving in America. Tell them in detail about your experience.