The simulation encouraged collaboration and critical thinking as twelve different scenarios were presented throughout the exercise. The goal of the activity was for students to draw their own conclusions about what made early settlements a success or failure.

At the very beginning of the exercise, fourth graders were placed into groups and asked to pick a settlement name and to select a leader. Ms. St. John then read different storylines, such as: “England is insisting you send some of your crops across the ocean to them. This may make your king and country happy, but it could severely deplete your own supply. What do you do?”

 

The options included: 

A. Keep the king happy, and send him all the crops we can manage to survive without.

B. Send some of the crops, but keep enough to make sure we will survive next winter.

C. Lie to the king and tell him we do not have any crops to send. He’s far away - it’s not like he’ll find out!

 

After each situation was read, the students had one minute to discuss which decision would be the best for the settlement to choose and why. The Grade 4 students had to be cautious, however, that the decisions they made individually and as a group did not lead to disease, war, or famine. To track this, each group started out with the same scores in different categories such as population (200 settlers), happiness (100%), supplies (100 lbs), and food (100%). Based on the conclusions that the students made and the answers Ms. St. John revealed, the young explorers would recalculate their scores at the end of every scenario.

 

Early on, the Grade 4 students realized that the obstacles they were faced with didn’t always come with an easy solution without consequences. However, they learned that through careful analysis and probability tactics, they could ultimately make the best decision that would harm their settlements the least. 

 

At the end of the simulation, the students analyzed their final standings and synthesized ideas about factors that led to the success or failure for early English settlements.

 

What the students haven’t experienced yet, however, is a final twist at the end of the unit. Next week, a mysterious box will be left with each of the settlements. The students will have the ability to choose the package’s contents from a curated list with the goal of creating a positive outcome for their settlement. Several options include receiving help from a Native American shaman/healer or an English master farmer. If you were a fourth grade student, what would you hope to find in the box?