Use the news: How row can you go?

Lesson for grades 9-12

A 21-year-old bartender from England has achieved something that likely has led many in her country to raise a glass and shout “cheers!” Jasmine Harrison has set a new world record as the youngest woman to row alone across any ocean. Harrison successfully rowed solo across the Atlantic Ocean, and observers noted it was somehow appropriate that a bartender set a world record in an event sponsored by a whiskey company.

Harrison completed her 3,000-mile journey of the Talisker

Whisky Atlantic Challenge in 70 days, 3 hours and 48 minutes. She started in the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa and finished on the island of Antigua on the edge of the Caribbean Sea.

Harrison had little rowing experience when she entered the event and had several frightening experiences. On two occasions her 550pound boat was tipped over by waves, and on another occasion she nearly collided with a ship at 4 a.m., the New York Times newspaper reported. On the flip side, a pod of dolphins followed her for hours near the end of her trip, and a blue whale surfaced so close to her boat that she could almost touch its flipper with her oar.

Rowing across the Atlantic Ocean was both a challenge and an adventure for Jasmine Harrison.

Activity: In the newspaper or online find and closely read a story about an adventure you would like to have. Write the word ADVENTURE down the side of a sheet of paper. Use each letter of the word to start a phrase or sentence telling why you would like to have this adventure.