Mary Morton Cowan, For Teachers-Cyrus Field's Big Dream

For Teachers:

About Cyrus Field's Big Dream

Suggested Ages / Grades

Age 10 (Grade 5) and up. A "rousing good story." "Field's...diligence and perseverance shine brightly, and these attributes make this story a winner."

Enrichment Activities

There are several enrichment sources on pages 196-197 of the book, titled "Connections to Make."
Enjoy these videos: "The Trans-Atlantic Cable." "How To Build a Telegraph." "The Moment Communication Went Global." "How The Internet Travels Across Oceans." "How a Few Undersea Cables Connect the Entire Internet."
Search online for "Great Eastern." There are many sites, including "SS Great Eastern: Brunel's Great Babe." "Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s ‘Great Eastern’." "Brunel and the Great Eastern." "SS Great Eastern, Brunel." "SS Great Eastern, the Gigant." "The Millwall Leviathan: The Great Eastern." "SS Great Eastern: Too Big to Sail."
Visit the extensive website, "Atlantic-Cable.com." It's full of information on the transatlantic cable and on Cyrus Field and other cable pioneers.
Read John Godfrey Saxe's poem, “How Cyrus Laid the Cable" and Cyrus Field's explanation of how he laid the cable (on pages 175-185 in a 1905 volume of Great Events by Famous Historians.)
Check out this article written by the Steamship Historical Society of America.
See Cyrus's Congressional medal.
Download one or more of my PDF activities: Book Scavenger Hunt. Morse Code activity. Queen Victoria's messages. Comparing Currencies.

Curriculum Connections

Cyrus Field's Big Dream was designated a Best STEM Book by the National Science Teaching Association, in cooperation with the Children's Book Council. The book will meet STEM and STEAM requirements, and curriculum standards in the following areas:
Language Arts, Science and Technology, Mathematics, History, Geography.
Click here to download a PDF of this curriculum chart.

CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS

Content Areas	Categories / Activities
• Language Arts	READING: biography of a notable American WRITING: book reports, journals, letters RESEARCH: resource notes, selected bibliography
• Science and Technology	Pioneering use of underwater electric cables Development of the scientific method Compare Cyrus Field's undersea cable with today's methods of instant communication Telegraphy Uses of Morse Code Naval architecture PHYSICAL SCIENCE: weather/climate
• Mathematics	Recording and analyzing data Calculations Comparing statute miles and nautical miles Estimating and measuring distances, time, and weights Comparing currencies
• Social Studies: History	Chronology 1819-1866 Civil War Nineteenth century urban development and expansion in the U.S. U.S. relations with Canada and Great Britain
• Social Studies: Geography	North America and the British Isles Oceans and land masses The Atlantic Ocean, including ocean floor Using latitude and longitude to locate global positions

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