Inspiring People: Tracy Edwards MBE Teaching and learning resource for Geography/English/Social Education

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1 The Royal Scottish Geographical Society Inspiring People: Tracy Edwards MBE Teaching and learning resource for Geography/English/Social Education Rachel Hay, Education Officer RSGS: Helping to make the connections between people, places & the planet

2 Inspiring People: Tracy Edwards Highs & Lows of Life on the Ocean Wave Tracy Edwards won international fame as skipper of the first all-female crew to sail around the world in the Whitbread Round the World Race (now called the Volvo Ocean Race). Following her great success onboard the yacht Maiden, Tracy set out to consolidate her position as one of the world s top sailors, and has since broken numerous world records. The activities outlined below focus on developing pupils understanding of Tracy Edwards experiences and achievements, then move on to look at a recent all-female expedition that attempted to raise awareness of the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans, and its impact on human and environmental health. You will need access to the internet, and speakers connected. The activities below can be adapted to meet the needs of your class and the time you have available. They may be used to prepare pupils before they attend Tracy Edwards talks in Inverness, Perth or Stirling in March 2015, or afterwards as follow-up work. The activities have also been designed to stand alone and be used in a variety of different subject areas, even if pupils are unable to attend the talks. Key Learning: Learners can: Demonstrate understanding of the physical and mental challenges of taking part in an around-the-world adventure race. Identify the locations of at least five ports used during the Volvo Ocean Race on a world map. Comment on the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans, and suggest ways to reduce the problem. Apply ICT skills to create a presentation or short report to summarise findings. Possible tasks: Learners could: Individually, or in pairs, create a presentation, which outlines Tracy Edwards background, career path, and achievements. Create a presentation, individually or in small groups, which outlines how you would prepare for a journey around the world. Create a presentation or short report about the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans, and how we can reduce the problem. Peer assess presentations and suggest possible improvements. 1

3 CfE Experiences & Outcomes I can make notes and organise them to develop my thinking, help retain and recall information, explore issues and create new texts, using my own words as appropriate. LIT 3-15a / LIT 4-15a I can use ICT effectively in different learning contexts across the curriculum to access, select and present relevant information in a range of tasks. TCH 4-03b I can consider the impact that layout and presentation will have on my reader, selecting and using a variety of features appropriate to purpose and audience. LIT 3-24a I can identify the possible consequences of an environmental issue and make informed suggestions about ways to manage the impact. SOC 3-08a 2

4 Suggested Activities 1. Discussion: Have you ever been on a boat/yacht? What was it like? Describe your experiences to a partner in as much detail as possible. If you have never been on a boat, try to imagine what it would be like. Discuss your ideas with a partner, and try to find three similarities and three differences between your ideas. Share ideas with the class. 2. Read, or listen to, the information about Tracy on Wikipedia: Without looking back at the information, try to list 5 facts (in total) about Tracy Edwards, her achievements and career path. What surprises you most? 3. Look carefully at the image on p4. Describe it fully to a partner. For a full description, you should try to include information about the foreground, background and colours. Where in the world do you think it was taken? Can you explain your answer? What do you think it would feel like to be on the yacht? What might you be thinking at that moment? What might happen next? 3

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6 4. Tracy fought hard to recruit an all-female crew for the Whitbread Round the World race on the yacht Maiden, but faced some resistance. Why do you think she felt it was important to have an all-female crew? What kind of resistance do you think she faced to this, and why? Possible development: Have you ever experienced discrimination on the basis of your gender, or have you heard of any times this has happened to someone else? Have you seen the #LikeAGirl and #ThisGirlCan publicity recently? What do you think of these campaigns? Do they make a difference? o Like A Girl (Always): o This Girl Can (Sport England): 5. Watch the first 17 minutes of the coverage of the Whitbread Round the World race: As you watch, think about the following questions, and be ready to discuss your ideas afterwards: i) What was it like to take part in this race? ii) What are living conditions like on the yachts? iii) What are the main physical and mental challenges for the sailors? iv) How is technology used to improve performance in the race? v) How many days will they spend at sea in total? vi) What do you think are the positives of taking part in the race? 5

7 To take you further: Sailors must regularly analyse the weather forecast to ensure progress and to stay safe. Investigate how meteorologists put detailed weather forecasts together. What technology do they use? Can you describe the different conditions that are brought by High Pressure systems (Anticyclones) and Low Pressure systems (Depressions)? How would each of these systems affect the sailors in the race? One of the sailors on the clip mentions Trade Winds. Find out what these are, and explain why they are so important (some knowledge of history will help here!). 6. To see the end of the race, including Tracy Edwards team on Maiden, go to 2:05:00 If you were in this situation, what would you look forward to most about getting home? 7. If you had just returned from a round the world race like this, what would you do with the boat? Sell it? Put it on display in a museum? Keep sailing on it? Take a class vote, then complete task 8 to find out what happened is the 25 th anniversary of Maiden crossing the finish line of the Whitbread Round the World Race, with the world s first all-female crew to sail around the world. At 11am on 28 th May 1990 Maiden crossed the finish line in second place overall. Find out what is happening to the boat this year by visiting: 6

8 9. Tracy and her crew sailed around the world in the Whitbread Round the World race, which is now called the Volvo Ocean Race. The Volvo Ocean Race began on 4 th October 2014, and at the time of writing is into leg 4, with the boats on their way to Auckland, New Zealand. During this race, boats must sail 38,739 nautical miles and visit 11 different ports. a. Use the Route section of the official website to list all of the ports visited during the race: Choose the three that you would most like to visit, and explain why you chose them. How long would it take you to travel to each of these locations? (Use an airline s or travel agent s website to calculate this e.g. b. How far is 38,739 nautical miles in kilometres? Use a conversion website to help you: e.g. c. Read at least three of the entries on the From the Boats section of the race website: The Inside Track section of the website includes video clips, which will help you understand what life is like on-board the boats during the race. Discuss what you learned. d. Now play the free online game! Try being a skipper and navigating your way around the world in the virtual Volvo Ocean Race with 1 million other skippers: 7

9 10. In November 2014, the all-female Exxpedition crew sailed across the Atlantic Ocean on a yacht called Sea Dragon from Lanzarote to Martinique to carry out sampling of sea water and raise awareness about the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans. Emily Penn was their skipper. The long term aim of the project is to make more people aware of the effect of their consumer choices on their own health and that of the environment. Read the information and watch the video clip on the homepage of their website: Afterwards, work with a partner to compose a Tweet of 140 characters or less to summarise the research expedition. 11. Jen Pate, a scientist who was on-board Sea Dragon, kept a blog to describe her experiences: After reading the blog, describe what you remember about it to a partner. What emotions are described? What surprised you? How do you think you go about getting this type of job? 12. Jenna Jambeck, another scientist who was part of the crew, has been writing up her research findings, which the BBC have summarised here: Read the article carefully, and if possible, listen to the audio clips too. Work in pairs to list ten key facts about the issue of plastic pollution in the world s oceans. Afterwards, try to rank the facts in order of importance. Discuss your decisions with another pair, and decide if you would like to change your order. 8

10 13. Discuss what we can do in our everyday lives to try to reduce our use of plastic, and ensure that less plastic waste reaches the oceans. Make a poster to educate the public about this important issue, including what they can do to reduce the problem. Use the following websites to help you:

11 Possible outcomes: SAY: WRITE: MAKE: DO: -Describe Tracy Edwards background, achievements and career path. -Describe the Volvo Ocean Race, and comment on what it might be like to take part. -Explain why plastic pollution is a problem, and describe what we can do to reduce it. -A diary entry, imagining that you were on-board Maiden during the race. -An imaginative piece, with the title: Highs and Lows of Life on the Ocean Wave. -A newspaper article or documentary commentary/script to describe the Volvo Ocean Race. -A short report or blog post to outline what you have learned about plastic pollution. -a PowerPoint presentation or poster, which informs people about: i) Tracy Edwards, her adventures and the issues she campaigns about OR ii) The Volvo Ocean Race its history, route and what it is like to take part OR iii) How you would plan and prepare for a journey around the world, and the route you would take OR iv) Plastic pollution in our oceans, including details of Emily Penn s Exxpedition -Present to the class and peer assess the work of others as well as reflecting on your own performance. -Come along to Tracy s talk for the RSGS in March 2015 and ask questions (9 th March - Inverness; Perth - 10 th March; Stirling - 11 th March). Tickets cost 8, but are FREE for RSGS members and under-18s. Please visit our website for more information: 10

12 Time to reflect Can you describe some of the physical and mental challenges of completing a round-the-world yacht race? Can you give at least 3 facts about the Volvo Ocean Race? Can you comment on the value of having big dreams, and the importance of persevering to make them happen? Do you have any questions about Tracy Edwards and her adventures? Have you made effective use of the internet to find and select information about Tracy Edwards, the Volvo Ocean Race and/or the issue of plastic pollution in our oceans? Did you put information into your own words, and present it effectively? Please send any feedback or questions to Rachel Hay (Education Officer, RSGS): rachel.hay@rsgs.org 11

VOLVO OCEAN RACE - The Route

WISDOM S WORKSHEET 1.1 / TOPIC 1 / AGE 6-8 NAME: DATE: Hi I m a little lost! Can you help me by writing in the names of the different countries and oceans on the map? VOLVO OCEAN RACE - The Route Gothenburg