Science

Lesson Plans

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)
refrigeration on ships
Read about refrigeration on ships and try this experiment. (Grades K-5, 5-8, 9-12)
Try this solution chemistry lab practical based on a boiler operator handbook. (Grades 9-12)
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)
Learn how salt effects the density of water in this fun, quick-and-easy experiment.
(Grades K – 4)

Other Topics to Explore

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Learn about the physics of sailing.
Learn about the effects of weather.

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.