Pirates and Parrots
Learning Program
Key Concepts
§ Pirates are thieves of the sea.
§ Pirates live and work on the sea.
§ Pirates have lived all over the world and in all times of history.
§ Pirates needed to have particular skills and knowledge to find and keep treasure, survive at sea and avoid being caught.
§ Pirates work together as teams.
§ There are lots of pirate characters in movies and books.
§ Many of these characters are based on the stories of real pirates.
§ Not all pirates look(ed) like the pirates from movies and books.
Pirates and Parrots
Teacher Notes
§ The Pirates and Parrots excursion day is based on the theme of helping Parrot Samm to find his missing treasure.
§ The children will rotate through a series of 5 activities, following the clues and helping Samm search for his treasure.
§ The children will be given a treasure hunt booklet to use in one of the activities. They will not need to bring a ong any pencils or paper.
§ The schedule of activities will be organised for you and the order of activities does not affect the outcome of finding the treasure.
§ When the treasure (a treasure chest full of pirate tattoos- ssssssssssssh!) has been located Samm will share it with the students before they go back to school.
Pirates and Parrots
Before your Visit
Before you come:-
§ Familiarise yourself with the program. You do not need to make copies of the treasure hunt booklet- these will be ready for you when you arrive at the museum.
§ Read through your schedule (this will be faxed to you in the week prior to the excursion) and familiarise yourself with the day’s activities. Please make a copy of the schedule for each group leader.
§ Encourage your students to come along dressed as pirates on the day of the excursion. Children could dress up at home or you could make pirate hats, patches etc. at school before the excursion day.
§ Some of the Pirate and Parrots activities are held outside so please ensure students have sunscreen and hats.
§ Talk about pirates at school. Read some pirate stories and find out what your students already know about pirates.
§ Explain to your students that they will be helping Samm; the parrot to solve the mystery of his missing treasure during their excursion visit. The children need to know that Samm has two ‘m’s because his name stands for South Australian Maritime Museum. Do the children know what these words mean?
Pirates and Parrots
Curriculum Links
The Pirates and Parrots program has strong links with the Early Literacy and the study of Society and Environment and can be readily integrated into other areas of study.
SOSE Learning Outcomes:
§ Identifies prior knowledge.
§ Asks and writes relevant questions.
§ Locates material to gain information
§ Organises and analyses findings.
§ Identifies differences between their life and the life of others.
§ Identifies and values aspects of community ways of life that have endured or changed.
§ Explains and communicates how people interact and identify with environments.
§ Demonstrates a capability to see and value points of view other than their own.
Pirates and Parrots also provides opportunities for students to explore the essential learnings of:-
Identity Interdependence Communication Thinking & Futures
Pirates and Parrots : Excursion Program
A schedule showing the timetable of these activities for your school group will be faxed to you in the week prior to your excursion.
Activity / Location / DescriptionMeet Samm
(Rockpool) / RockPool / Students meet Parrot Samm and hear about his dilemma. There is also time to have a go at pirate games and activities. The students work with the Education officer for this session.
Pirate Ship Cruise
(Archie) / Archie Badenoch-(meet at the lighthouse) / Students embark on a Port River cruise on our boat the Archie Badenoch.
Museum Treasure Hunt
(Museum) / SA Maritime Museum
(Bond Store) / Students explore the museum and look for the objects in their booklets. This activity is self-guided.
Pirate Exhibition / Inside the Maritime Museum / Students explore our brand new, interactive Pirate exhibition.
This activity is self -guided.
Visit the Light House / McLaren Wharf / Students climb the lighthouse and view the area from a great vantage point. Will they find any clues?
Pirates and Parrots
After your Visit
§ The pirate theme is a great way of exploring issues such as values, stereotypes, teamwork and culture.
§ There are many great resources and learning opportunities to extend the pirate learning experience beyond your excursion to the SA Maritime Museum.
§ Your Pirates and Parrots pack includes a set of task cards to be used back at school after the excursion. These tasks are designed to be open ended to enable them to be used in multi-level classrooms and in a range of classroom learning situations.