Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 4th - 6th
This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load line...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Cardboard Boat Challenge

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students build a boat out of cardboard and tape. They apply Archimedes' Principle to their design.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Transportation Systems: Two Liter Boat Activity

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students design and build full-size boats made out of two-liter plastic bottles, chicken wire, and plywood. Then they race the boats, with the boat's designers "manning the hull", in the school's swimming pool.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dragon Boats

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students create a model boat. In this art lesson plan, students identify what makes a boat float and use milk cartons to create their own boat.
Lesson Plan
Bonneville

TinkerCAD: Introduction to 3D Printing

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
Steer young minds to build better boats. Future engineers first spend a few days exploring the TinkerCAD software and completing some embedded lessons. They then design sea crafts with buoyancy in mind and print them using a 3-D printer.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boat Hull Design

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Working in small groups students develop three alternative boat designs. They discuss the rationale for the type of hull, propeller, location of ballast, and type of building material used in their design. They build their boat.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Weighty Issue

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies.  The group who is able to put the most...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Building Boats

For Teachers 1st - 12th
Students research different types of boats in various time periods and cultures. Then they locate photographs and information about construction details of one type of boat. Students also use their research as the basis for designing and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating the Ideal Cargo Boat

For Teachers 5th - 7th
  Students build boats out of clay to test the buoyancy of the boat in water.  Students break into pairs and construct their boat to specific guide lines, then experiment with their boat in the water.   
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Gift for the Indians: Model of the Mayflower in the Ocean

For Teachers K
Students build a miniature replica of the Mayflower. They make the boat float in a cup of water while studying the concept of gift giving on Feast Day.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Boatbuilding Curriculum Outline

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Pupils build a boat. They explore and examine the types of materials used in boat building. In groups, pupils copy their plans onto the plywood and begin to build the boat. During this fifteen day program, students follow instructions to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build Your Own Submarine

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics lesson, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some do not.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Build Your Own Hovercraft

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students construct a hovercraft following specific procedures. In this technology lesson, students explain the physics principles behind hovercraft. They compare and contrast this machine with the aircraft.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

A Good Boat is Hard To Find

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders design and construct a safe and efficient human powered watercraft that can be used on a trip on the Great Lakes. Students utilize math and measurement skills to design and cut the pieces for their boat. Working in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Junkyard Wars: Wild Watercraft

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students develop a fast travelling hull for a boat. In this physical science lesson plan, the students' hulls will be tested in a channel (built by the teacher) with a fan as the driving force. The students will compete for who has the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Machines: Designing Form and Function

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars design a boat model with simplified steam engine. In this ecology lesson, students compare renewable and nonrenewable energy sources. They determine the efficiency of their boat model.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Mag Mile and ... Torque!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
High schoolers use paper plates and detailed directions to build a model of the Michigan Avenue Bridge's gear system. By carefully measuring and cutting "teeth" for the gears of the "Gear Train," they create small gear that will...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ship Building Trip

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students travel to a ship building plant to see how they are built. They enter into discussion and writing about the task of the building. This lesson is multiple intelligence in design and valuable because of the real life exposure.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Create a Volunteer Spirit

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students evaluate how volunteering helps others. In this philanthropy activity, students define what a volunteer is and brainstorm a group volunteer project to implement in the school. Students write an essay describing how volunteering...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ships 3: Grand Designs And Great Failures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Journey to the Afterlife

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers work together to design an Egyptian funerary barge. They discover the importance of the afterlife to Egyptians. They create their boat and share their design with the class. They compare and contrast the technology of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Captain Cook in Hawaii

For Teachers 5th - 10th
Young scholars research Captain Cook and why he died and create a radio program script of the announcement of his death. In this Captain Cook lesson plan, students are given pictures, letters, and background information for their research.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Classroom Fun with Flat Stanley

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Complete a series of activities based on the Flat Stanley books in this literature study lesson. Introduce the book with a discussion of supernatural qualities, then studentscan create character webs, write news articles, build kites and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paddle-Wheel Steamboat

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Students use the internet to research the advancements in transportation on rivers throughout 1800 and 1900. In groups, they use a picture to build their own model of a steamboat using everyday materials. To end the lesson, they use...