How to Sail/Boat Lab

Goals:

  1. Students will participate in a hands-on learning experience of sailing, on a small scale.
  2. Students will be introduced to the process of experimentation and writing lab reports.
  3. Students will understand the effects of wind on a large object, such as  a sail.
  4. Students will develop problem solving skills.

Resources:

  1. Information on sailing


    For example:
    Books:

       Bond, Bob & Sleight, Steve. [1983]. Small Boat Sailing. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc.

      Farnham, Moulton H. [1967]. Sailing for Beginners. New York: MacMillan Publishing Company, Inc.

      Graham, Ian. [1993]. Boats, Ships, Submarines, and other Floating Machines. New York: Kingfisher Books.

    Video:

       Sixty  Minute Sailor. Marina Del Ray, CA: Bennett Marine Video.

      Sailing for New Sailors. Marina Del Ray, CA: Bennett Marine Video.

  2. A body of water, such as a pool, lake, river, etc.
  3. Depending on availability of materials, a viable medium to construct a boat out of, such as wood, Styrofoam, or paper
  4. Materials to construct a mast, such as straws, wooden dowels, rigid wire, swizzle sticks, pencils, etc.
  5. Materials to make sails, such as muslin, canvas, cloth, paper, plastic wrap, etc.
  6. Materials to provide ballast for the boat, such as a roll of pennies
  7. Fans to simulate wind
  8. Multiple copies of:
      Avi. [1990]. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle. New York: Avon Books.

      Avi. [1991]. Windcatcher. New York: Avon Books.

Note:  Imagination is the key. Let the students experiment with different materials as they see fit.

Time required for lesson:

Procedure:

  1. Conduct a webbing activity on the board to find out what the students already know about sailing.  Also, this step will identify class "experts" who can serve as resources for the other students later in the lesson.
  2. Watch a video on sailing, such as those mentioned in the resources section.
  3. Discuss the film and the new concepts it introduced.  Also, review material covered in the Types of Ships  lesson to get students thinking about the different designs of ships and what type they want to build.
  4. Students create groups and look through The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Windcatcher for examples of sailing techniques.
  5. Discuss these passages as a class.
  6. The teacher demonstrates how to make a sailboat out of some of the above listed materials.  For instance, the instructor could use a piece of Styrofoam to make the hull, a dowel for the mast, thread for the shrouds, and canvas for the mainsheet.  Construction time varies depending on how intricate a boat is being created.
  7. Students design and construct a boat out of the above listed materials.  This activity can be done individually or in teams as is appropriate for the class.  At this point the students begin the compilation of a lab report which should include their choice of construction materials, the reasons behind that choice, and a sketch of the boat they are making.  The report should also include observations dealing with difficulties in construction (see attached lab questions).  Note: The scale o the boat should be appropriate for the body of water to be used.  For example, if a small, plastic pool is going to be used, the boats cannot be as large as if a lake is going to be used.
  8. At this point, it is time to test out the boats in whatever body of water has been chosen. Students should experiment to see how the boat is affected by wind from different directions and by sail positions.  Students should try to sail the boats with the wind coming from different directions such as upwind, downwind, and crosswind.  They should include observations made during this step in their lab report.
  9. Volunteers share their observations from the experiment with the rest of the class.  For example, students could describe how well their design of the boat worked, what they could have done better, etc. There should also be a conclusions section in the lab report that addresses these issues.  The teacher should insure that specific topics have been covered.  Some examples may include:
      - sail configurations to get the boat to travel in different directions with respect to the wind
      - shape of the hull
      - ballast and stability
      - the physics involved in transferring wind energy to motion of the boat

Assessment:

  1. Each student constructs a boat.  (Criteria for success: The student constructs a boat that will "work", i.e. float, sail, etc.)
  2. The student completes a lab question sheet.  (Criteria for success: The lab sheet should have an answer for each question.  Our recommendation for grading of the lab report is to weigh the content of the report at eighty percent of the total score.  This portion should insure that the information is an accurate reflection of student observations during the experiment.  The rest of the points should be devoted to insuring appropriate grammar, spelling, etc.  Some examples may include a certain amount of points (1 or 2) off the total lab score for inaccurate spelling, improper sentence and paragraph construction, or incorrect punctuation.)

Subjects and Major Concepts Covered:

  1. Language Arts


    - writing a lab report
    - use of trade books as a resource

  2. Science


    - effects of wind on objects
    - laboratory techniques
    - problem solving

Possible extensions:

  1. Visit a model sailing club.
  2. Take a sailing trip.
  3. Visit a maritime museum.
  4. Go to a boat show.
  5. Internet resources such as http://www.mailbag.com/users/stobo76

Back to Curriculum Outline

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