Watson on the Orient Express
Companion Homeschool Module

Research the route that the Orient Express would have taken from Paris to Constantinople, and draw your own map showing the journey that Watson and Lucy took.  You can also use the free printable map of Europe here: https://homeschoolhelperonline.com/europe-notebooking-page/

 OR if you’d like to do it the easy way 😉 scroll down to the mapping short cut on our last page: 

Travelers would have been required to show their passports at the border crossings – though as Watson learns, on a luxury train, this bit of official business could be handled by the train conductor, who was like a hotel concierge. 

If you like, you can download this cute passport template with passport stamps and make your own passports.  Stamp them with the countries the train would have passed through.  To download, you will need to create a free Teachers Pay Teachers account, but it’s entirely free to do so, all that’s required is an e-mail address.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/FREE-Passport-Booklet-Template-Bundle-Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah-Designs-2998626

Or you can download this free countries of the world activity/coloring pack, and use it to learn a little more about some of the countries the Orient Express would have passed through:

https://www.123homeschool4me.com/free-18-countries-of-world-book_30/

Bonus math activity: Given that the journey across Europe took around 53 hours, calculate how many miles per hour the train had to average in order to complete the journey on time.

The original Orient Express was a steam locomotive.  Research the history of steam trains and write about your findings.  You can record your notes using this free notebooking page:

https://homeschoolhelperonline.com/steam-train-notebooking-page/

Watch these videos about how to make your own simple steam engine at home.  Huge bonus points if you’re brave enough to actually give it a try!  Although of course use proper safety guidelines and adult supervision.

Or here is a model that’s a bit more kid-friendly and uses common household materials:

Although Holmes, Watson, and Lucy are too busy foiling assassination attempts and escaping villains to do much sight-seeing, Istanbul (or Constantinople, as it was known in the late 19^th century) is a city rich in artistic and architectural treasures.  One of the city’s most famous attractions is the Hagia Sophia, which was once a Greek Orthodox Christian patriarchal cathedral, then later an Ottoman imperial mosque and is now a museum. 

You can learn more and take a brief virtual tour of the Hagia Sophia here:

and here: https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-art-history/early-europe-and-colonial-americas/medieval-europe-islamic-world/v/hagia-sophia-istanbul

The Hagia Sophia has beautiful mosaic art, which you can view here:

https://fineartamerica.com/featured/hagia-sofia-mosaic-01-antony-mcaulay.html

Try making your own mosaic art!  Here are some ideas and tutorials to get you started:

https://buggyandbuddy.com/mosaic-art-project-for-kids-using-dyed-pasta

https://www.favecrafts.com/Papercrafts/Paint-Chip-Mosaic-Art

https://orangeartbox.com/blogs/news/how-to-make-mosaic-art

Imagine you’re a passenger on the train during Watson’s time. Look out the window. What do you see? Oops, are you saying that it all depends on where you are?  Hmm, better check that map you drew during the geography module. Or scroll down to the last page 😉

Now look around you, in your compartment. Would you be comfortable? Would you get a good night’s sleep? 

Feeling ambitious?  Here is a dinner menu from the Orient Express Train Club. Could you recreate the meal? And, more important, could you eat it all?  We couldn’t!

And here’s how your meal would have been served – quite ambitious, no?

If you’re eager to learn more about The Orient Express, there are tons of great websites. There’s even an app for that!

https://www.iosnoops.com/appinfo/orient-express-history-for-ipad/1038824442

And finally, the short-cut to the mapping project we mentioned on the first page. Watson took the route highlighted in solid red.