Plot notes for the teacher

1914: Milo Thatch, grandson of the great Thaddeus Thatch works

in the boiler room of a museum. He knows that Atlantis was real,
and he can get there if he has the mysterious Shepherds journal,
which can guide him to Atlantis.
However, he needs someone to fund a voyage. His employer
thinks he's dotty, and refuses to fund any crazy idea. He returns
home to his apartment and finds a woman there. She takes him to
Preston B. Whitmore, an old friend of his Grandfathers. He gives
him the Shepherds journal, a submarine and a 5-star crew.
They travel through the Atlantic Ocean, face a large lobster called
the Leviathan, and finally get to Atlantis. But does the Atlantis
crew have a lust for discovery, or something else?
 Finding the Lost Empire
After introducing the topic and playing parts of the DVD (clips detailed at
the bottom of this plan), it is time to get on with your class activity.
The activity is for the students to make an ancient map showing the way
to the treasure buried under Atlantis which child wouldnt get excited
about that?!
The difference about this map is that it is written in the old Atlantis
language, so groups of children will need the Key of Language (opposite)
to complete their maps!

Making the Map Paper

This part is entirely optional! You can do this on standard white A4 if you
lack time or materials, but with just a little bit of preparation, you can
make really authentic map paper!
The night before class, soak your white A4 in strong tea and leave for 30
minutes. Carefully take out the paper and leave to dry. When its dry,
screw the paper up into a ball to form creases, straighten it out and
carefully burn the edges with a cigarette lighter. Two points I would like
to make here first, dont burn too much otherwise youll have to start
again from scratch and secondly, burn the paper outside in an open area.
Setting fire to your home, your school, or yourself is definitely not cool!
When you have finished, the map paper should look like the example I
made myself below. Great or what?!
A J S
B K T
C L U
D M V
E N W
F O X
G P Y
H Q Z
I R
 Drawing the map
This is where the kids can be really creative. They get to choose the shape
of Atlantis and the features that Atlantis has!
Before drawing, perhaps you could pre-teach them several things which
Atlantis might have i.e. waterfall, cave, river, monsters, mountains, forest,
dragon, treasureyou are only limited by your imagination! Remember
that any features that the kids want to label on the map must be written
in Atlantis words. For this, each group of students will need a Key of
Language to decipher the code.

Alternative Activities
Before class, get a giant A3 or A2 piece of paper and make your own
ancient map at home. Draw and label lots of fantasy places on your map,
for example, Skull Mountain, Ghost River, etc. Label it in Atlantis
language!
Bring the map to school and tell them that there is hidden treasure
somewhere on the map which the kids need to find. Hand out some
directions to find the treasure in Atlantis language and the kids have to
translate it into English to locate the treasure.
This is perfect when teaching directions or prepositions of place! This is
also a good activity for students just getting into using full sentences,
where their spelling and word order might be a problem.
 Parts of the DVD to watch
Scene One (Start from the beginning until 4:23mins)

The opening scenes show what Atlantis was and what happened to make it disappear. Atlantis
is thousands of years ahead of technology these days, but a huge tidal wave swallows it. Keep
the clip going to show the main character, Milo, giving a talk about Atlantis and The Book of
Shepherds. This scene also introduces the language of Atlantis, which is key for your lesson!
Stop the scene as the phone is ringing.

Scene Two (07:55 mins to 12:20 mins)

Show Milo going into his house and being driven to meet Preston B. Whitmore. The idea of the
Shepherds Journal is furthered and the submarine used to find Atlantis is shown. Stop the
scene at 12:20 as Whitmore is near the fire.

Scene Three (18:54 mins to 25:22 mins)

Milo is welcomed onto the bridge of the submarine and gives a talk of where Atlantis
disappeared to. They are chased by a sea monster and escape. Exciting for the kids! Stop the
DVD at 25:22 as the sub surfaces.

Scene Four (36:36 mins to 38:28 mins)

Milo gets out of his tent to go for a walk. A plague of fireflies descends and sets fire to
everything. All must escape! Stop the scene as the bridge snaps and they fall into oblivion!

Scene Five (40:00 mins to 43:29 mins)

First contact is made with the Atlanteans. They dig through a world to discover Atlantis.
Attempts are made to communicate. Stop the scene as they are driving over the bridge over
the lava lake.

Scene Six (51:24 mins to 53:26 mins)

Milo and Kida climb vines to the top of a mountain. This gives them (and your class) an
awesome view of the kingdom. After they get down, you get a glimpse of everyday life in
Atlantis. Stop the DVD as the two young children run into the strange house at 53:26 mins.

Good luck!