When the French Were Here
Champlain Quadricentennial
Activity III: Description and Reporting
Who Will Believe You?
(Why do people believe or not believe a traveler?)
A map is a description of a place in pictures. But places can also be described in words. Imagine that you traveled with Samuel de Champlain and that you had to describe to your friends a place that they had never seen.
- What would you do if you had to prove to your friends that your description was true?
- Do you think your friends would believe what you said?
- What if you were talking about rivers that stayed frozen for months and months?
- What if you described people who lived in the woods, who killed and ate wild animals and made clothing from animal hides?
- What if you talked about animals like elk and beaver that no one in Europe had seen?
Description
Now it’s your turn. Describe a place you know for a friend who has never seen it.
- What kinds of details will your description include? Why?
- Would you want to draw a picture for your friend? Would it help? Why or why not?
- Would you want to take a picture with a digital camera?
- Would the photograph “prove” anything that a drawing did not? Why or why not?
For teachers:
See for yourself. You may want to plan a field trip for your class to one of the many historic points in the Lake Champlain region in Vermont. Please consult this page as we continue to develop our recommendations for suitable destinations for field trips.
