Black Beauty Unit Studies-

 


Set in England, Black Beauty tells us the details surrounding his birth, and his perception of humans, since he has various owners throughout his life. While some of these proprietors are caring and compassionate, others prove to be cruel and crude to the vulnerable Beauty, often placing him in life-threatening situations -- which he may or may not survive

 


Movie: Black Beauty-Warner Bros.

Other related horse movies: Sea Biscuit

Black Stalion

PBS has these two shows check for show times

Nature horses

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/horses/

The wild horses of Mangolia

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/mongolia/

 

Reading: Black Beauty

 

Supplies: Have handy for any unit Study: Globe, Computer Internet, Enclopedia, Notebooks, Paper/Pens, books checked out of library concerning subject

 

Geography: England – Have children find it on the globe, or learn more about England

Yahooligan Countrys http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/around_the_world/countries/

Yahooligan States http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/Around_the_World/U_S__States/

Time in different countrys http://www.worldtimezone.com/

World Climate http://www.worldclimate.com/

 

History: Mid- to late-nineteenth-century-What else happened during this time?

Check out pages like

Digital History http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/

Mr Dowlings http://www.mrdowling.com/

 

Writing: Have them write two paragraphs or book report on what they liked and didn’t like about the movie how they would do things differently if they wrote it or directed it.

 

Math: Basic addition & Subtraction-Have them count how many Owners he had in the movie and subtract it on how many were the good Owners.

For older kids have them do the distance between a place he had been in England to another place, if not sure just guess the actual place try to use multiplication and division. Also convert it to Metric the distance. Discuss how horses are measured by hands. How much oats/hay does a horse eat? How much in a month.

Math word problem for Middle school/Highschool http://www.funtestiq.com/numbers/horses.shtml

Online Math problems with horses http://www.mysticmath.com/article1003.html

 

Life learning lessons/bible: Discuss-Cruelty, Ignorance, Loyalty,  Friendship, Neglect, Instinct Check out word search bible site such ashttp://www.blueletterbible.org/search.html#search

Science: Learn the anatomy of a horse http://www.circlekhorsepavilion.com/circlek/horseparts.html for printable 

Arts and Craft: Crayola has great ideas and not just coloring pages

If the link doesn’t go there try going to Crayola.com and put in subject area “horses”

http://www.crayola.com/search/results.cfm?keywords=horses

Foods: Make something from Marilees International foods site

http://www.mrdowling.com/

 


Extra Discussion Questions or to use as a Quiz:

 

What was the name of Black Beauty’s mothers name? Answer: Duchess

 

Where was he born? Answer: Meadow-large pleasant meadow

 

What country did it take place in? Can you find it on a globe? About what century? Answer: Mid- to late-nineteenth-century England.

 

What was the names of his two horse friends? Answer: Ginger & Merrylegs

What food did they give him to calm him down when they were saddling him?Answer: Oats!
How did he save his Masters life?Answer: By not going across the bridge like they wanted him too. He’s instinct’s told him not too.
Why did he get really sick? Answer: The boy didn’t take proper care of him after the storm and didn’t cover him with blanket, gave him cold water to drink instead of warm. When your chilled don’t you cover up and drink something warm? Do you think it’s the same for a horse? 

Who was his first Master? Were they good to him or cruel? Why did he have to leave them?Answer: Squire Gordon from Birtwick Park. Yes they were good to him. The Squires wife got sick and had to live in a warmer climate.

 

Were his second Master & Misteress good to him or cruel? Why did he leave them? Did they do anything to him that you thought was not right just for fashion?

Answer: No they were not nice to him. A man named Reuben ran him without a shoe and he fell throwing Reuben off and cutting his knees. The place was called Earlshall he had to be sold after that because he was not beautiful to them any longer.

 

Do you think his being rented out by his next New Master wore Black Beauty out? Answer: He was rented out to people that didn’t know how to properly ride a horse, tight reins, driving him too hard, whipped him too much, not watching where they are going, not properly attending to him with grooming and feeding him.

 

When he worked as a London cab horse what did the girl of his Master Jeremiah Barker do to him the first day so he would look pretty? Answer: Braided his hair

 

Why was it a hard life being a London cab horse? What was his dislikes about it? Answers: The cobblestones were hard on a horse’s foot; Very crowded he didn’t see any grass or trees around. Sometimes people were inconsiderate and would make him and his Master wait for hours in the rain or cold for them. It was then when he realized that people could be cruel to other people not just horses.

Did Black beauty ever find the boy named? Was he saved? Answer: Yes! Joe Green

 


Things to do for extra credit: Use related links below to find answers

Find out the proper way to feed a horse?

Find out more about the Author Sewell Anna

Show how horses are used today to help humans heal

 


Related Links:

Horse Country filled with Quizzes and info on horses

http://www.horse-country.com/

Horse and History

http://users.erols.com/mmaidens/

Cyber museum of Horse fossile

http://www.flmnh.ufl.edu/natsci/vertpaleo/fhc/fhc.htm

A history of Horses online visit

http://www.imh.org/imh/imhmain.html

 

Author

http://www.ricochet-jeunes.org/eng/biblio/author/sewell.html

 

Classic book shelf

http://www.classicbookshelf.com/library/anna_sewell/black_beauty/

 

 

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