Lesson Plans
Students will learn what causes wind, how scientists measure wind, and how it impacts ships. This NGSS-standards-aligned Earth Science lesson includes an activity to create a wind vane to measure the direction of the wind.
(Grades K – 4, 5 – 8)
Have your students learn about the history of ocean shipping, how shipping on the Great Lakes differs, and how climate change may affect shipping in the region in this NGSS-aligned lesson plan.
(Grades 5 – 8, 9 – 12)
Conduct an experiment making aluminum foil boats.
(Grades 5 – 8, 9 – 12)
Read more about immigration and disease and create interactive historical images.
(Grades 5 – 8, 9 – 12)
Read about refrigeration on ships and try an experiment to keep ice cold. (Grades K – 5, 5 – 8, 9 – 12)
Try this solution chemistry lab practical based on a boiler operator handbook.
(Grades 9 – 12)
Use steamship resources to learn this method for converting measurements.
(Grades 9 – 12)
Learn how salt effects the density of water in this fun, quick-and-easy experiment.
(Grades K – 4)
Conduct a sink or float experiment and then test buoyancy with Lego boats.
(Grades K – 4)
Have students use visual thinking strategies to learn about museum objects and navigation.
(Grades K – 4, 5 – 8, 9 – 12)
Other Topics to Explore
Learn about the physics of sailing.
Secondary Sources
Click here to download the pdf of John Favill’s Primer of Celestial Navigation, “Sextant” (New York: Cornell Maritime Press, 1943).
Click here to download the pdf of John Favill’s Primer of Celestial Navigation, “Compass” (New York: Cornell Maritime Press, 1943).
Click here to download the pdf of R. A. Fletcher, Steamships and Their Story, “Primitive Experiments in Propulsion – Some Early Experiments with Steam” (J. B. Lippincott, 1910).
Additional Resources for Science
Interactive learning tool on Wind and Ocean Currents.
Smithsonian Museum of American History’s online exhibit, Dangerous Waters, Injury and Sickness at Sea.
Watch the videos below and learn about ocean currents from Bill Nye, ocean and climate from NASA, and the physics of sailing.