Wonder Day/Wonder Week is an inquiry-based learning strategy where students spend either a day or a week researching and reporting on a topic of their choice. According to the all-knowing Wikipedia (2018), inquiry-based learning was developed in response to traditional instructional methods and is based on constructivist theories such as those of Piaget, Vygotsky, and Freire. The process involves students coming up with questions, researching the answers, and summarizing their results.
There are 4 different levels of inquiry:
- Confirmation Inquiry – Teacher develops the questions and guides students through the answers. The results are already known. This level reinforces concepts and procedures.
- Structured Inquiry – Teacher provides initial question & outlines procedures. Students develop their own evaluations.
- Guided Inquiry – Teacher provides only the research question. Students design and create their own procedures and evaluations.
- Open/True Inquiry – Students develop their own questions and do their own research.
Inquiry-based learning emphasizes critical thinking and developing individual connections to learning with no set result to achieve. It is driven by intrinsic motivation and personal curiosity. It is commonly used in the scientific method. Other formats include fieldwork, case studies, investigations, and individual/group research projects.
How would I use inquiry-based learning in a classroom?
Inquiry-based learning would be useful when students do research projects. It provides students with an opportunity to learn about topics that specifically interest them. It could easily be adapted to assignments such as Google Slides presentations, written reports, poster projects, interviews, etc. One of the issues is that it does take a long time to plan and the strategy needs to be front-loaded.
An Example of a Wonder Day Project
Inquiry Question: What is the cost of sunken treasure?
Research Question: What are the most valuable sunken treasures discovered?
Summary of findings:
UNESCO estimates that there are approximately 3 million shipwrecks on the ocean floor around the world (“Wrecks,” n.d.). In the case of our research question, we’re only looking at a few shipwrecks that have an estimated value attached to them.
According to Hestie Gerber (2013) of Listverse.com, some of the largest sunken treasures discovered are:
- The Belitung wreck – $80 million
An Arabian ship discovered in 1998 off the coast of Indonesia. It is one of the largest assortments of 9th Century Tang Dynasty jewels, ceramics, and gold ever found.
- The S.S. Central America – $100-150 million
Sunk during a hurricane in 1857 while carrying 15 tons of gold, the S.S. Central America was rediscovered in 1987. The ensuing legal battle involved 39 insurance companies laying claim to the cargo, but the discovery team was ultimately granted 92% of the gold found aboard.
Nigel Pickford (1994) notes that this vessel was a wooden side-wheel paddle steamer of 2,141 gross tons, three decks, and three masts. She was 278 feet long, 40 feet at the beam, and had a draft of 32 feet. Aboard was a cargo of gold bars and coins, largely belonging to Wells Fargo, valued at $1,219,179. It originally came from the gold fields near San Francisco via the ship John L. Stephens and was transferred to the Central America in Aspinwall, Panama for the final leg of the journey to New York. After pulling into Havana, Cuba, she took on additional passengers and gold for a total of $2 million and 575 passengers. Departing on September 8, she made some 500 miles before encountering strong winds on the 10th, which grew into a hurricane on the 11th. Taking on water and unable to control the vessel, 148 passengers were offloaded into boats and rescued by the nearby brig, Marine. She sank around 8pm on the 12th (p. 94).
It’s further noted that the cargo is valued at 1/2 to 1 billion dollars (in 1994 dollars). Although the gold amounts to about 3 tons with a value of around $35 million, the coins are very rare and possibly worth as much as $8,000 each (Pickford, 1994, p. 94). Columbus America Discovery Group located the wreck in over 7,000 feet of water and used remotely-operated vehicles to recover the gold and coins. However, rival claimants to the gold included Columbia University; Capuchin monks; Harry John, a treasure-hunting billionaire, and veteran salvor Jack Grimm (Pickford, 1994, p. 94 – 95).
- The Antikythera Treasures – $120-160 million
Discovered in 1900 off the coast of Antikythera in the Aegean Sea, this wreck turned into one of the first underwater archeological expeditions in history. In 1976, a dive recovered the famed Antikythera Mechanism (possibly the oldest known analog computer). In addition, the wreck also contained jewelry, pottery, glassware, coins, and statues.
Pickford (1994) writes that a salvage operation conducted in 1901 by the same sponge divers who discovered the wreck brought up several bronze and marble statues. Items included a bust of a philosopher, a statue of a young boy, a discus thrower, Hercules, a marble bull, and a bronze lyre. The bronze statues date from the 4th century B.C., but the marble statues are copies of earlier works from the 1st century B.C. Amophorae aboard the vessel originated from various places such as Rhodes, Kos, and the south of Italy. The pottery likely came from Asia Minor and the glassware from Alexandria. All of these materials suggest that the ship sank around 70 – 80 B.C. and was sailing on a Roman – Aegean trade route. It’s even been theorized that this ship was carrying loot from Athens when it was captured in 86 A.D. by General Sculla (p. 14 – 15).
- The S.S. Republic – $120-180 million
The victim of another hurricane in 1865 off the coast of Georgia, the S.S. Republic was en route to New Orleans with a cargo of gold and silver coins estimated to be worth $400,000 at the time. In 2003, the Odyssey deep sea salvage company located the wreck and recovered more than 51,000 coins and 14,000 artifacts from the wreck.
- The S.S. Gairsoppa – $200 million
Torpedoed by a U-boat in 1941, the Gairsoppa was carrying 7 million ounces of silver. In 2010 the UK government awarded Odyssey salvage a contract to recover the cargo with the stipulation that it could keep 80% of the salvage. In 2011, Odyssey found the Gairsoppa in the North Atlantic at a depth of about 2.8 miles. To date, about 48 tons of silver have been recovered.
- The Whydah Gally – $400 million
The flagship of pirate “Black Sam” Bellamy, the Whydah was discovered in 1984 by Barry Clifford. This is a true example of pirate loot, with artifacts such as cannons, gold, coins, and the ship’s bell having been recovered.
The short, but famous, piracy career of Samuel Bellamy arguably began when he and several others set out to get rich off of the salvage of several Spanish treasure ships that sank in the Caribbean in July of 1715. However, by the time they arrived on location, the Spanish government had already recovered a substantial portion of the gold. Bellamy then turned to piracy and proceeded to successfully capture a number of ships; one of which was the Whydah Gally. The Whydah was an English galley of 300 tons, armed with 18 guns, and carrying a cargo of sugar, indigo, gold, silver, and ivory; after having completed a slaving run from Africa to Jamaica while operating on the Triangular Trade routes. Bellamy captured her in February 1717 off of Long Island in the Bahamas following a three-day chase. Known for showing mercy to his victims, Bellamy took the Whydah with no loss of life and sent the captain off in another ship with $30 in gold coins. Aboard the vessel were gold and silver valued at around $30,000, with each pirate receiving some $75 as their share of the booty. Bellamy then transferred to the Whydah and proceeded to capture even more vessels as he sailed north (Pickford, 1994, p. 68 – 69).
Bellamy’s success didn’t last long. In April of 1717, the Whydah and several other pirate ships captured the Mary Ann which was loaded with a cargo of Madeira wine. The pirates subsequently became drunk and the Mary Ann was caught in a storm that grounded her off Sluttsbush, Massachusetts. Similarly, the Whydah, with Bellamy still aboard, hit the bar off Cape Cod roughly 10 miles north of the Mary Ann. The Whydah went down with 144 of her crew, Bellamy included. The 2 survivors, John Julian, and Thomas Davis made it ashore and then proceeded to salvage what they could. However, the community was already combing the sandbanks and the shore, looting whatever they could from the wreck. The governor of Massachusetts sent Captain Southack to take charge of the salvage. Southack had a reputation as a cartographer; he recorded the wreck site at 3.5 miles from Billingsgate and noted that it was overturned. Unfortunately, he arrived on the scene nearly a week after the incident, and by then the wreck had been thoroughly looted by the locals. Though he managed to salvage some $300 worth of goods from the wreck, he suspected Thomas Davis and other locals of having hidden most of the treasure before he arrived (Pickford, 1994, p. 69).
- The Nuestra Señora de Atocha – $450 million
A genuine Spanish treasure galleon carrying jewels, gold, silver, and copper, the Nuestra Señora de Atocha went down off the Florida Keys in 1622 in a hurricane (this seems to be a common theme). Reportedly, this ship was so packed with treasure that it took almost two months to record and load it. The Spanish gave up locating the wreck, but in 1985, it was found by Mel Fisher who was later granted full rights to the salvage after an eight-year legal battle with the State of Florida. Unfortunately, Fisher died before he could complete the excavation, but the work is continued by his associates.
- The Black Swan Project (possibly the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes) – $500 million
This Spanish frigate was sunk by the British in 1804 during the Battle of Cape Santa Maria off the Portuguese coast. Sometime in the early 2000s, Odyssey salvage discovered a wreck (codenamed: Black Swan), and began recovering the salvage but refused to disclose its exact location. In 2007, Odyssey flew 17 tons of coins from Gibraltar to an undisclosed location in the United States. In 2008, the Spanish government laid claim to the wreck, believing it to be the Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes. In the ensuing litigation, Odyssey lost and was ordered to disclose the wreck’s location and return the coins to Spain in 2013.
According to Pickford (1994), this ship was en route from Montevideo, Uraguay to Cadiz, Spain loaded with a cargo of 871,000 silver pesos, in addition to gold, silver plate, and jewels (p. 176).
But wait, there’s more!
While these sunken treasure ships are certainly impressive, a recent article by the AP staff writers (2018) at the News Corp Australia Network note that there is an even bigger treasure recently discovered.
- The San Jose – $17 billion (yes, billion with a B)
The Spanish galleon (surprise, surprise) San Jose was sunk by the British navy in a battle known as Wager’s Action in 1708 off the coast of Cartegena, Columbia. She was carrying a treasure of silver, gold, and emeralds. In 2015 the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute rediscovered her wreck using the autonomous underwater vehicle, REMUS 6000. Her cargo is estimated to be worth upwards of $17 billion. Unfortunately, while UNESCO is asking the Columbian government not to exploit the wreck, they are keeping the exact location of the treasure a closely guarded state secret.
Altogether, at the high end, there’s $19,120,000,000 at the bottom of the sea in this list alone. Based on this small survey, we can easily conclude that there’s quite a bit of expensive loot that remains yet to be discovered. Not all of this treasure is gold, silver, and precious gems, but metals and countless artifacts of archeological and historical value to our understanding of past cultures and societies. Ships will forever be at the mercy of mother nature, and who knows how many treasure-laden Spanish galleons are really sitting on the bottom. Beyond the Spaniards, how many other vessels from ancient times succumbed to Neptune’s wrath? There’s treasure to be had and it’s not all buried in chests underground.
References:
AP Staff Writers. (2018, May 23). Sunken Spanish galleon has treasure worth as much as $22 billion. News Corp Australia Network. Retrieved from https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/sunken-spanish-galleon-has-treasure-worth-as-much-as-22-billion/news-story/d5a6d3e54dd5442a33da4cb936b54977.
Gerber, H.B. (2013, June 22). 10 Astonishing Shipwreck Treasures. Listverse. Retrieved from https://listverse.com/2013/06/22/ten-astonishing-shipwreck-treasures/
Inquiry-based learning. (2018). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquiry-based_learning.
Pickford, N. (1994). The Atlas of Ship Wrecks and Treasure. D.K.
Wrecks. (n.d.). In UNESCO. Retrieved from http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/underwater-cultural-heritage/underwater-cultural-heritage/wrecks/.
Fair Winds & Following Seas 