Analysis of a colonial industry: Shipbuilding in Nova Scotia, 1861

Overview

Senior students retrieve data on the inputs and outputs of the colonial shipbuilding industry from an electronic database. After analysing data on the number of vessels built and launched, the fishing industry, raw materials and employment, students should have a sense of the extent of the shipbuilding industry in Nova Scotia in 1861.

Contributor: Murray Ault, Education Consultant.

---

Objectives

• To retrieve data from an electronic database
• To analyse the inputs and outputs of the colonial shipbuilding industry
• To appreciate the value of the shipbuilding industry to Nova Scotia in 1861

---

Suggested grade levels and subject areas

Secondary
Geography, History, Social Studies

---

Outcomes

Students will produce a set of tables on the shipbuilding industry in Nova Scotia in 1861.

---

Vocabulary

Boat
Deals
Hands employed
Square timber
Vessel

---

Materials

• Access to E-STAT
• Handout: Instructions for Accessing E-STAT
• Student worksheets

  Task 1 — Shipbuilding

  Task 2 — Fishing

  Task 3 — Ship Building — Source of raw material

  Task 4 — Processing raw materials: saw mills / foundries

---

Resources

Computers with Internet access.

---

Classroom instructions

1. Introduce topic and review terminology.
2. Read the student worksheet with the students. Spend a few minutes on each question to review the terminology.
3. Have the students start E-STAT.
4. Students can then follow the handout "Instruction for Accessing E-STAT" which is used as a reference in each lesson.
5. If students do not complete the activity in class, it can be assigned as homework to be handed in at the next class.

---

Evaluation

1. Grade student worksheets.
2. Grade the tables for completeness.

---

Enrichment

1. To what extent was the shipbuilding industry important to the economic well-being of the province and people of Nova Scotia in 1861? Be sure to defend your position using the analysis of the data examined in this lesson.
2. Having completed all the tasks, did you have any problems using the maps to fill in the tables in:

   Task 1 — Shipbuilding
   Task 2 — Fishing
   Task 3 — Ship Building — Source of raw material
   Task 4 — Processing raw materials: saw mills / foundries

3. Can you think of a more efficient method? Explain.

---

Please e-mail comments or examples of how you used this exercise in your class.