Instructions

1) Show the “Map of Pacific Ocean Currents” acetate to put Hawai‘i and Nuku Hiva (in the Marquesas Islands) in context. Ask students if they know which main South Pacific island group the islands of Hiva belong to. (They are in the Marquesas, a part of the “French Polynesia” group of islands.)

2) Divide the class into groups of three to six students. Explain that each group is a team in a voyaging canoe race from Nuku Hiva to Hawaiʻi. There are just a few more details to complete in planning their journey before they can set sail.

3) Give each group a copy of the Student Page “From Nuku Hiva to Hawaiʻi: Charting a Course.” Groups should work cooperatively to complete the assignment quickly and accurately. The rest of the crew of Hōkūleʻa is waiting for them­—the wayfinders—to complete their work.

4) Allow groups about 20 minutes to complete the student page. If no groups are finished at the end of 20 minutes, you may allow more time. If a few groups finish before 20 minutes are up, quickly check their work to see if there are any obvious flaws they need to correct.

5) When all groups have finished, review the assignment asking groups for their responses to each of the tasks on the student page. Use the teacher version of the Student Page “From Nuku Hiva to Hawaiʻi: Charting a Course” (pp. 9-11) and the “Reference Course and Course Heading Map”acetate (which charts the correct course headings). As additional background, you may use the “Map of Currents Between Hawaiʻi and Nuku Hiva” and the notes in the Teacher Background “Wind and Current Zones in the Pacific” (pp. 7-8).