WILD WHIRLPOOLS

SHORT TERM GOALS:

  1. To help students understand how whirlpools could be one of the ways that a ship could get lost in the Bermuda Triangle.
  2. To allow students to see how a whirlpool works and let them construct one with a partner.

TIME ALLOTMENT: 1/2 hour

CONTENT AREAS ADDRESSED:

  1. Science
  2. Computer usage
  3. Language Arts
  4. Social Studies

CONCEPTS ADDRESSED:

  1. Research Methods
  2. Lab Skills
  3. Journal reflections
  4. Whirlpools - locations and facts
  5. Group participation

MATERIALS:

  1. Computer with Internet access
  2. Reference materials about whirlpools
  3. Two 2-Liter plastic bottles (preferably clear) for every group
  4. Colored water
  5. Tape or another material strong enough to hold the bottles together
  6. Jellybean or something that will show the functions of a whirlpool

PROCEDURE:

  1. Introduce the students to the idea of whirlpools by asking students if they know what a whirlpool is or what one looks like. Relate the information they give to the possibility that ships disappeared within the Bermuda Triangle. Also make a connection to Charybdis in The Voyage of Odysseus because Charybdis was the god of whirlpools in the adventures of Odysseus.
  2. Allow the students the opportunity to research whirlpools on the Internet or in informational books. Information about whirlpools is hard to find in book form, but encyclopedias should be of great help. Even try to locate some famous whirlpools.
  3. After the students have finished their research, inform the students that they will have an opportunity to create a whirlpool with a partner. Show students an example of what they will be creating and put them into groups of two. Distribute the following things to each group:

    Two--2 liter bottles

    Tape (Duck tape or a very strong tape that will create a seal)

    Colored or plain water

    Jellybean

  4. Give each group a lab procedure sheet that contains instructions relating to the creation of their very own whirlpool. Refer to the lab sheet included within this lesson as an example.
  5. After creating their own whirlpools, each group should work together on their lab sheet in order to complete the answers.
  6. Students should hand in their lab sheets to the teacher. A class review of the sheets and experiment can take place as well. Allow time for any questions that the students might have from the experiment.

ASSESSMENT:

  1. Group Participation Rubric
  2. Experiment Rubric
  3. Observation Checklist
  4. Journal Rubric

EXTENSION:

  1. Let students see if they can think of any other ways that a whirlpool could be created. What materials would they use? How would they control it? Give students some time to talk with their partners to come up with various ideas. Then discuss their ideas with everyone within the class. Pick the best way, by class vote, and let the students create the "new and improved" whirlpool.
  2. Another possible extension would be to fill a sink with water and release the cork at the bottom. Put a ship in the sink and let the students see what happens to the ship. Discuss this as a possibility of why ships disappear within the Bermuda Triangle.
  3. Let students take some time to reflect within their "Odyssey" journals on how the activity is relevant to the core book, The Voyage of Odysseus, by James Reeves.
  4. Let students research currents and make up a list of vocabulary words that can help them throughout the unit and a test.

REFERNCE LIST:

Internet Sites:

  1. See "Current Direction" reference list.

Go to:

Current Direction lesson

Quicksand and Earthquakes lesson

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St. Norbert College Ocean Voyager's page