Sea Bisquit Unit Studies-

An inspiring true story of three men-a jocky, a trainer and a businessman - and the undersized racehorse who took the entire nation on the ride of a lifetime.

Movie: Sea Bisquit-with Tobey Maguire, Jeff Bridges, Chris Cooper DVD with special educational features ( I would recommend watching it first because some scenes you may have to explain, though they are not that graphic it still shows Jocky for example in a house of Ill-repute.

Other related horse movies: Black Beauty, Black Stallion, National Velvet

PBS has Seabiscuit (PBS American Experience) online Teachers guide I recommend especially for older kids

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/

Seabiscuit - The Lost Documentary (1939)
Also these on tapes 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: Laura Hillenbrand, author of Seabiscuit for older kids- or Sea Biscuit Vs War Admiral Childrens book by KatSheta

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

Geography: Kentucky – Have children find it on the globe, or learn more about the state of Kentucky

PBS has a small section on Geography for Sea Bisquit-http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/tguide/index.html#geog

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: Depression years

Check out pages like

PBS has a time line just for Sea Bisquit http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/seabiscuit/timeline/index.html

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 kids keep track of how many horses you see in the movie. Discuss how horses are measured by hands. How much oats/hay does a horse eat? How much in a month. At one time in the movie they talked about how much food & drink it took to feed all the people that came to the races something like 17 thousand gallons of lemons- 60,000 hotdogs? Beer 2000 kegs and parking was as long as 15 blocks away. Do something with these figures.

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

From the Kentucky derby museum a math pdf file for 4th-12th grade

http://www.derbymuseum.org/derbyedu/programs_online/KDM_4-12_Math.pdf#search='math,%20horses'

Life learning lessons/bible: Caring, commitment, Facing a challenge, Patience, Cruelity-Words to discuss like Gambling and the controversial issues involving it. 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 that they sell at the Kentucky Derby

http://marilee.us/intrntlfoods.html

Field Trip: If you have a stable or lucky enough to have a race track near you take the kids to go see a race.

Extra Discussion Questions or to use as a Quiz:

What was one of the reasons why a little horse like Sea Bisquit important winning during the depression years? Answer: Could be because it was during the depression years where everything was hard and we needed encouragement. A small underdog horse like Sea Bisquit encouraged people that they could survive too even through tough times. Everyone related Sea Bisquit as being like themselfs.

Why did Sea Bisquit constantly think he had to lose? Answer: He was taught to train other horses to win so he had to lose to give them a boost of confidence. He was trained to lose.

What was one reason why sea bisquit would go faster when another horse came neck to neck with him? Answer Sea Bisquit loved Competition especially he now knew he was allowed to win!

How were the Jockey and Sea Bisquit similar? Answer could be they both were stubborn and mad at the world, they both had rough lifes till then. Both had gotten crippled but mananged to pull through

What new car manufactor was created during the 1920's besides Ford? Answer: Buick

With older children if you want discuss the pros and cons of gambling. On one hand gambling to much and out of hand could be bad, but in another it helped us get out of the depression by taxing on gambling it helped pay for roads and building to be built and in turn gave jobs during and financial aid to the needy and in turn they had money to buy things which created more jobs and businesses.

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

Find out the proper way to feed a horse?

What year did horse racing start?

Why did they make a official place to race instead of the streets like they used to do?

Show how horses are used today to help humans heal

Related Links:

Kentucky Derby Museum

http://www.derbymuseum.org

Churchill Downs JR Jockey club house-Race horses on line!

http://www.churchilldowns.com/visit_the_track/plan_your_visit/junior_jockey_club/

History of Churchill downs

http://www.churchilldowns.com/history/