Nauticus - Port To Port: A Ship's Journey Curriculum

Curriculum Index

Curriculum Objectives

Curriculum Outline

Student Pages

Virginia SOLs

Lesson 1: Preparing For Your Journey

Lesson 2: Meet Your Ship

Lesson 4: Adding It Up

Lesson 5: Environmental Impact

Bibliography

LESSON 3 - PLOTTING THE COURSE

Objectives
Materials
Background Information
Key Questions
Vocabulary
Procedure
Evaluation

Objectives

Students will access the internet to record their ship's past reported data in their ship's log.
Students will access the internet to record ship's new data for length of time determined by teacher.
Students will plot ship's course on map.
Students will estimate ship's port-o-call.
Students will prepare a written report about the port-o-call of their assigned ship.

Materials

Internet access
Ocean Maps
- North Atlantic: Southern Region, Northern Region, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, SE U.S., NE U.S., North Sea
- North Pacific: Western Region, Eastern Region, SW U.S., NW U.S., Bering & Chukchi Sea, South China Sea
- South Atlantic
- South Pacific
- Indian Ocean: Northern Region, Southern Region
- Mediterranean Sea
- Australia Region
Wind Barb Calculation sheet
Atmospheric Pressure-Dew Point Worksheet

Background Information

International trade is a part of everyone's lives. We drink drink coffee from coffee beans grown in Brazil, wear perfume from France, eat bananas from Ecuador, build skyscrapers with steel from China and use oil from the Middle East.

People attempt to satisfy their wants by using resources available in their own countries and by trading goods and services with other countries if possible. When a country buys goods and services from another country, it imports.

Countries import goods and natural resources that they do not have in their own country or is too expensive to make themselves.

The Cartesian coordinate system is a grid that defines the location of two points. The two points are called the x coordinate and the y coordinate. The x coordinate is plotted along the x axis which runs east and west (horizontal) and the y axis which runs north and south (vertical). The grid is made up of a series of intersecting lines that are evenly spaced and are marked along each axis. A point on the grid is called an ordered pair and takes the form of (x,y).

The point where the x axis and the y axis meet is called the origin. For our plotting purposes here, the intersection of the equator and the prime meridian will be our origin.

The most recognized example of using order pairs is locating a position on a map. However there is one caveat when plotting latitude and longitude.

Now that we are familiar with the terms "latitude/longitude" and "x,y coordinates", we need to understand how they relate to each other. In math, you plot the coordinates as an ordered pair x,y. In navigation, it is standard practice to say latitude/longitude. It would be easy to think that they are plotted the same way, latitude for x and longitude for y. This is incorrect. Let's examine longitude first. Longitude is the distance east or west. This corresponds to the x axis. Latitude is the distance north or south. This corresponds to the y axis. It's important to note that "latitude" is NOT the x coordinate and "longitude" is NOT the y coordinate, it is the opposite!

Latitude is the distance North or South from the equator. The y axis.

Longitude is the distance East or West from the prime meridian. The x axis.

Students can visualize this by using their popsicle stick "T" that they created in Lesson One. In order to find a certain latitude, they would move the "T" either up or down, along the y axis. To locate a certain longitude, they would move the "T" either right or left, along the x axis.

Key Questions

Why do countries import goods?
What goods (products) do you use that come from another country?

Vocabulary

Port of call – A port that is not the ship's home port. A port where a ship stops to unload cargo or to repair the ship. The ship's destination.
Import – A good shipped from one country to another.
Trade – The voluntary exchange of goods.

Procedure

Plotting The Ship's Position

Materials

North Atlantic: Southern Region, Northern Region, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean Sea, SE U.S., NE U.S., North Sea
North Pacific: Western Region, Eastern Region, SW U.S., NW U.S., Bering & Chukchi Sea, South China Sea
South Atlantic
South Pacific
Indian Ocean: Northern Region, Southern Region
Mediterranean Sea
Australia Region

Procedure

Students will re-visit http://www.sailwx.info/shiptrack/ and enter their ship's ID number in the search field to obtain tracking data.

At this point, it is advisable to print out the ship's data as students will be referring to this data for several activities.

Students should plot at least 12 past points on their ocean map so they can determine what the port of call might be. The more points they can plot, the better. Remind your students that they can get more data points by changing the 240 to 480. Also remind your students that the data is listed in reverse order, with the latest data listed first. Their starting point is the last point in the list and then they work up the list.

Students will also record the lat/long and distance traveled for each past point in their captain's log.

You determine the length of time that students should plot new data. Ships report data every 3, 6, or 12 hours. Generally 4 or 5 days will provide plenty of new data points to plot. If you choose too long of a period to plot new points, the ship may make it to port.

Have your students plot the new data points on their map and record the new lat/long and distance traveled in their Captain's Log.

Wind Speed and Direction of Wind

Materials

Wind Barb Calculation sheet

Procedure

At this point, students are only collecting data. They will work with this data in Lesson 4.

Students will list wind speed and the direction of the wind for each point, old and new, on the Wind Barb Calculation sheet. The direction of the wind is listed in degrees from 0º. The numbers for the wind speed look like 270, 180, 90, etc. This means for the wind direction of 90, the wind is coming from the East, 90º, 180 is coming from the South, 180º, etc. Wind speed is listed in knots.

Weather Data

Materials

Atmospheric Pressure-Dew Point Worksheet

Procedure

At this point, students are only collecting data. They will work with this data in Lesson 4.

Students will record data for wind speed, barometric pressure, air temperature, and dewpoint for old and new data points. Again, the data points are listed in reverse order with the latest information listed at the beginning of the list. Position 1 is at the bottom of the list.

Determining Port Of Call

Materials

Internet Access
Ruler

Procedure

Once all data points have been plotted (old and new), use a ruler and draw a straight line from the last point until you hit land. This will be the estimated port of call. This is assuming that the ship has not already reached port.

In order to determine which country the port of call is in, have your students visit http://go.hrw.com/atlas/norm_htm/world.htm and click on the continent closest to the latitude and longitude for the port of call.

On the map of the continent, locate the country closest to the latitude and longitude for the port of call. This will be the country designated the port of call.

Have your students visit https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/. Click on the drop down box and choose the country for the port of call.

Students will locate information about the port of call for their ship such as natural resources, population, size, etc. and write a short report in their Captain's Log.