Nova Scotia Archives ~ www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/

Educational Resources

Experience the sea without getting wet! A new and exciting online resource, containing nine interlocking virtual exhibits, searchable databases and contextual guides that explore and tell the story of Nova Scotia's relationship with and dependance on the sea, across four centuries of European settlement. Includes over 6700 historical photographs and artworks, sea-charts, log-books, vessel records, early newspapers, personal papers and government documents — everything from the history of privateering, to a sea-captain's diary in the Age of Sail, to twentieth-century fish catches on the Grand Banks. Presented in both official languages, 'Nova Scotia and the Sea' also offers a variety of stimulating lesson plans for secondary school students. The following are five webquests in Adobe Acrobat format. Please request from nsarm@gov.ns.ca answer sheets with specific course outcomes.

 

Webquest: Brigs and Barques

Throughout the 1700s, 1800s and even well into the 1900s, Nova Scotia shipyards built hundreds of sailing vessels. They ranged in size from small inshore sloops to large, globetrotting, full-rigged ships. Vessels names such as, Warsaw, Malta, Maid of England, Angola and Hamburg tell us to what extent Nova Scotians traded all over the world. While there were an almost infinite number of designs and adaptations made to sailing vessels, there were five basic types of sailing vessels: Brigantines, Brigs, Barquentines, Barques, and Full-rigged Ships.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/brigsbarqs/

 

Brigs and Barques: Telling the Difference

Throughout the "age of sail", many different styles of sailing vessels were designed and built in shipyards all over Nova Scotia. A ship is a type of vessel - all vessels are not ships. The design of a sailing vessels was determined by a number of factors: what was it going to be used for, how maneuverable did it need to be, how many crew members were necessary to sail it and what speed could it maintain. Sometimes the design of a vessel was influenced simply by the whims of the captain, who might believe that having sails set up in a certain way made the vessel easier to sail. While there were an almost infinite number of designs and adaptations made to sailing vessels, there were five basic types of sailing vessels: Brigantines, Brigs, Barquentines, Barques and Full-rigged Ships. Each type had a unique design and a skilled observer could tell the difference between a one and another by a quick glance.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/brigsbarqs/

 

Webquest: Sea Shanties

If you were a sailor on one of the ships you have seen on the website, you would have spent many an hour each day singing sea shanties. Each shanty had a different rhythm depending on the type of work the sailor was doing.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/brigsbarqs/

 

Webquest: Schooners

Schooners are as much a part of the image of Nova Scotia as anything you can name. People from all over the world immediately identify the Bluenose with Nova Scotia and it is not only an important symbol of the province, but of the nation as well. This exercise will help you understand a bit more about schooners and their role in the history of Nova Scotia.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/schooners/

 

Webquest: Ports and Harbours

The countless coves and harbours around the coast of Nova Scotia attracted the first European settlers to the Province. Some of the communities that emerged prospered like Halifax and grew into large metropolitan centres while other communities that boomed 100 years ago are virtual ghost towns. This webquest examines some of the ports and harbours around the provinces as they appear up to about 150 years ago.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/ports/

 

Webquest: Royal Navy in Nova Scotia Water

The history of Halifax is tied to its harbour. The fact that it is ice free during the winter and considered one of the best in world made it a natural for settlement and military use during its history. The British navy had a strong presence during the first 200 hundred years of Halifax's existence.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/royalnavy/

 

Webquest: Shipwrecks

Nova Scotians have lived and died with the sea. Our rocky coastline and stormy weather make for very dangerous navigation. Thousands of wrecks have dotted our coastline along with the loss of countless lives. This activity gives you the chance to view images of some of these wrecks and learn of some of the famous stories of heroic rescues and tragic losses.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/shipwrecks/

 

Webquest: The SS Atlantic: A Historica Minute

On April 2, 1873 the SS Atlantic crashed on Mars Island at the entrance to Halifax and sank very quickly with the loss of over 400 people. News of the terrible marine disaster spread quickly with the aid of new technology, the telegraph. This was the worse marine disaster off the Eastern coast of North America, until the sinking of the Titanic 40 years later.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/shipwrecks/

 

Webquest: The Sinking of the SS Atlantic

On April 2, 1873 the SS Atlantic crashed on Mars Island at the entrance to Halifax and sank very quickly with the loss of over 400 people. News of the terrible marine disaster spread quickly with the aid of new technology, the telegraph. This was the worse marine disaster off the Eastern coast of North America, until the sinking of the Titanic 40 years later.

www.gov.ns.ca/nsarm/virtual/shipwrecks/