The Story of the World Vol. 3 Co-op: Chapter 4: Searching for the Northwest Passage

Actvity for this chapter:

watch these videos on navigational instruments:

learn about making wine (in which certain yeasts ferment the sugars present in the fruit producing ethanol/alcohol and carbon dioxide) and vinegar (in which certain bacteria ferment ethanol/alcohol and produce acetic acid), and observe the process by making hard cider and then apple cider vinegar: http://talesofakitchen.com/raw/homemade-organic-raw-apple-cider-vinegar/, http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/02/how-to-make-apple-cider-vinegar.html, http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/make-raw-apple-cider-vinegar/

We will also put a bag of organic grapes in a bucket and try to make wine old school style by smashing them with our feet and hoping the right kind of yeast is on the grapes to ferment the must (grape juice) into wine without spoiling. It's the same process as making hard cider but wine is more delicate. We may also try to make wine vinegar with old left-over wine two ways: one by just letting the wine sit out on a shallow bowl, and two, by adding a little non-pasteurized vinegar to the wine to ensure the right bacteria is present.

Here is a picture of grape stomping from the Wikipedia article on the history of the winepress. Remember too, the lyrics of The Battle Hymn of the Republic "...He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.." which in turn is a reference to Revelation 14:19 (which actually refers to a winepress). Both methods have been used since the time of Ancient Egypt to the present.

Links for this chapter:

thorough article on all the expeditions to the Northwest Passage: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northwest_Passage

What we did:

We played a game with the discussion questions by dividing up into three teams--Hudson's Heroes, Champlain's Champions, and the Canadians (?). Champlain's Champions won!

Our show-and-tell projects.
A plaque and tartan for a Scottish clan:

A haiku poem:

Research on a long-term project--making a corset:

An Aztec shield project, note the handmade cordage:

The progress on the mini earth oven following the instructions in Build Your Own Earth Oven by Kiko Denzer and Hannah Field, the sand form, the newspaper layer, and the clay/sand layer: