13 Colonies Simulation
Imagine that you live in England in the year 1607. It is an exciting time for you.
Your country has emerged as a world leader; your navy dominates the ocean;
you have a new king; and you hear wonderful stories of a land of possibilities.
There’s a new world to explore—a world where hunting is easy and gold is
plentiful. You’ve read pamphlets, letters, and advertisements about the new
world—how land, forests, and precious metals are abundant.
You think about the new world and all its possibilities. Your life in England
doesn’t offer you much hope for improvement. You’re not going to rise much
above your station in life, the cities are getting crowded, your religion is not
accepted, or your family is suffering because you can’t get out of debt. Maybe
you are the younger son of a wealthy family—you’re not going to inherit lands
or titles because you have older brothers. The new land offers you chance to
succeed.
For whatever reason, you are planning to start a colony in America. You will be
involved in all stages of your colony—from planning the voyage to choosing the
crops to determining the governmental structure. Plan carefully.
Ships:
Choose the ship that will take your colonists to the new world. Choose the ship
number and delete the other ships.
Ship #2
Sturdy, medium speed
(12 weeks)
2000 lbs. of cargo
2 cannons
100 people
Landing Locations
Choose the landing location. Calculate departure date and arrival date. Delete the
landing locations you didn’t choose.
Plymouth
You must land by September 1.
Departure Date: __6-6 -1607__
To calculate your departure date, find the date by which you must land at your colony
location. Then count backwards from the arrival date the number of weeks it takes your
ship to arrive at its destination. Subtract an additional week to account for bad weather,
pirates, etc.
Example: We are going to build our colony in Savannah. We must land by November 1.
We are in Ship #2 and it takes 12 weeks to get to its location. That’s roughly 3 months.
We should leave by August 1. Let’s push the date back one more week so that we have
extra time in case of bad weather. Our departure date is July 24 or the last week of July.
Captain
Choose your captain and then type in the information you are given about him. Then
make the changes to the slides as needed before going on. Delete the other captains.
Captain Jones
Passengers
Underline the number of passengers for your ship 50
100
200
Choose the passengers that will be on your ship. You must have the full amount your ship
is allowed. Hint: It is easier to keep track of your passengers if you write the numbers on
the line rather than a check. Remember that you need many different people to survive
in this new country.
2_____ doctor & family (6)
___2_ carpenter & family (6)
_2____ family (5)
___3__ soldiers (10)
__3___ farmer & family (10)
__0___ landed gentry (5)
__0___ seamstress
___1__ weaver
___1__ potter
___1__ mason
__1___ miner
_____ convicts
_____ blacksmith
_____ minister
___1__ butcher
___1___ teacher
______ surveyor
______ city planner
______ indentured servants
__2____ fisherman
___2___ baker
___1___ single males
___1___ single females
People added because of the
captain: __captin jones ________
Cargo
• You must have 50 lbs. of food and 2 barrels of water per 25 passengers you have.
• You do not have to provide food for any indentured servants added because of
your captain.
How many pounds of cargo does your ship hold? ____2000____ lbs.
How many pounds of food must you take? (subtract) --____200____ lbs.
How many pounds of water must you take? (subtract) --____100____ lbs.
Total amount of pounds remaining: = ___1700_____ lbs.
Choose the cargo you wish to take on your journey.
Choose cargo from the list below. You may “spend” the amount of pounds you have
remaining on the cargo listed below. Stock your ship carefully. The new world is a vast
wilderness and the nearest stores are an ocean away. Plan for all emergencies. (The actual
weights of the items have been simplified to make the math easier and faster.) You will
cross out the supplies as you use them. Plan out carefully the supplies you will need to
survive.
__2___ vegetable seeds—25 lbs. (barrel)
__1___ cow—50 lbs.
__2___ pigs—10 lbs.
___0__ goats—10 lbs.
__0___ grain-- 25 lbs. (barrel)
__0___ bribery gifts—25 lbs. (barrel)
___7__ weapons—25 lbs. (case)
___6__ water—25 lbs. (barrel)
__2___ horses—50 lbs.
___0__ cloth—10 lbs. bolt
___4__ ammunition—50 lbs (barrel)
___2__ food—100 lbs.
_____ cat—5 lbs.
___3___ medical supplies – 25 lbs (barrel)
___1___ tools – 25 lbs. (barrel)
___2___ building supplies – 100 lbs.
____1__ salt – 25 lbs (barrel)
____1__ limes – 25 lbs (barrel)
___2___ household goods – 25 lbs (barrel)
___0___ loom – 25 lbs
____0__ lye – 25 lbs (barrel)
Round One
Before the voyage: Type in the information that was given with your choice. Then
make changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was
lost. Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 3
Gained
200 pounds of food
Lost
five people
Round Two
The voyage: Type in the information that was given with your 3 choices. Then
make changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was
lost. Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 10
Choice 4
Gained
Lost
all of our live stock
Round Three
The landing: Type in the information that was given with your choice. Then make
changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was lost.
Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 5
Gained
Lost
2 people
Designing the community:
You have 45 days to build your colony. It takes 5 (4 structures) days to build each
structure. It takes 2 days (2 gardens) to prepare the land for a garden. It takes 5 days
to build a wall. Design your colony and label each item on the next slide. On this slide,
list what you are building and how many days it takes to build.
Four walls (20 days)
Four houses(20 days)
Round Eight
Government and Politics: Type in the information that was given with your
choice. Then make changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and
what was lost. Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 5
Gained 6 settlers
Lost 0
Draw a picture of your colony and paste it here.
house
apartment
house
town
house
Round Four
Building the community:
Type in the information that was given with your 3 choices. Then make changes on
the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was lost. Delete the other
choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 6
Gained
Choice 13
25 people
Lost 41 people
Round Five
Planting: Type in the information that was given with your choice. Then make
changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was lost.
Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 7
Gained
Lost 0
Planting was good (when we didn’t have any plants)
Round Six
The Natives: Type in the information that was given with your choice. Then make
changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was lost.
Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 1
Gained
Lost
double are food supply
Round Seven
The first winter: Type in the information that was given with your 3 choices. Then
make changes on the slides as needed. Type in what was gained and what was
lost. Delete the other choices. Make changes on the Excel worksheet.
Choice 2
Gained 0
Lost 0
Choice 9
After the first year:
How many survived?
Total the amount of supplies you have remaining. Salt, limes, vegetable seeds, and food
count in the food category. Divide the food amount you have remaining by 20. The number
you get tells you the total number of colonists you can afford to feed. Total the number of
colonists you have remaining.
Use the following formula to help you determine the number of survivors.
______0____
+ _____1300___
+150_______
amount of animals
amount of food
amount of water
get remaining (pounds) remaining (pounds)
remaining (pounds)
number of
= 1450______
Divide by 20 to
the
colonists you can
feed
___83______
number of
colonists remaining
- ____72.5______
number of
colonists you can
feed
= _____10____
number of
non survivors
•
Was your colony successful? yes
•
What would make a colony successful? i
think workers food water weather people .
•
What factors impacted your survival? food
and workers
•
What factors could you plan for? workers
food no animals lots of workers and salt
Time Management
Determine how many hours in a day a typical colonist spends on the following activities.
Make a pie graph using all the following activities (remember your hours must equal 24
hours).
Hunting 2
Preparing food 1
Preserving food 1
Farming 1
Reading 0
Praying 0
Writing 0
Building a shelter 3
Making clothes/blankets 2
Tending to livestock/poultry 0
Laundry 1
Weaving 1
Baking 4
Guarding the colony 3 Sleeping 5
Time Management Graph
What environmental, technological, and social considerations do you need to
factor into your decisions? First, a lot of food, water, people like workers, a few
animals, salt and, carpenters.
What did you learn about settling a new country. Don’t forget to include the
number of settlers, type of settlers, possible dangers, etc. Sometimes, no matter
how well you’ve planned, accidents happen and the colony fails. You should have
lots of workers, salt, food, houses, and animals you don’t need.