Portraits of a Port

Grades 5, 8 – 12

From Bartholomew Gosnold’s encounter with the Wampanoag people in 1602 to the peak years of the whaling industry in the 1850’s, this region changed from a subsistence agricultural community to a prosperous port called New Bedford. Participatory activities include stories of explorers, settlers, entrepreneurs, whalemen, escaped slaves and numerous others who helped to make New Bedford historically unique.

Learning standards will be met as students:
·        Hypothesize on the ways location, resources, commercial needs, and sources of labor shaped the local economy
·        Identify important leaders and groups responsible for the growth of the port of
·        New Bedford
·        Recognize the importance of maritime commerce in the development of the economy of
·        New Bedford
·        Consider how changes in supply and demand affect the price of a

product

ALL PROGRAMS CORRESPOND TO THE MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CURRICULUM FRAMEWORKS.

Suggested Pre-Visit Activities
·        Review the reasons for European exploration and what explorers found.
·        Have the students list the problems early settlers might have faced.

Suggested Post-Visit Activities
·        Make a timeline. Divide the students into teams. Assign each team a different period of New Bedford history: pre-Columbian; 17th century; 18th century post-Revolution years; and the 19th century whaling years. Each team will list important events and people, as well as illustrate how they think New Bedford looked during the assigned time.
·        Have students write letters to the Museum’s docents thanking them for the tour and mentioning things they remember from their visit.