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Home , Bugeye, Log canoe, Pungy, Skipjack (boat)

Virginia’s State Parks . . . Your Backyard Classrooms Water - Way to Get Around

oats of all kinds have been key fighting wars and racing. Some Grade Levels: 4-8 players in the ’s and are unique to the bay. Nine of history. In this activity, students these, the , sailing log canoe, Objectives Buse a dichotomous key to learn about , deadrise, , Baltimore Students will investigate variation in some types of boats used on the bay. clipper, , and ram, are il- boat design by: They also build models of the boats and lustrated and described in this activity. • using a key to classify types; float them at a local park. Many of these traditional boats can be • constructing models of various types; seen in Baltimore Harbor. • observing behavior of models on mov- Background ing water. Native Americans of the Chesapeake Procedure Materials region traveled and traded over a wide area. Before the Trip: • copies of information sheet and They used log canoes to travel by water. 1. Introduce the topic of boats by com- dichotomous key provided The larger loads of the early European set- piling, as a class, a list of “boats we • pencils and clipboards for each stu- tlers were most easily shipped by water. As have been aboard.” For each, note dent or group a result, their farms and villages grew along its purpose, approximate size and • a supply of cleaned trash, paper, cardboard and natural materials for the shores of the Chesapeake and on the unusual features. building models banks of its rivers. For the first 200 years of 2. Obtain some historical material • tape, glue, staples, string, rubber bands European settlement, ships and boats were about the use of boats in the Chesa- and scissors the most important transportation in the peake Bay region. Try “Chesapeake • line Chesapeake region. Bay Notes and Sketches” by Carvel • stakes or other markers Towns for trading and shipping usu- Hall Blair and Willits Dyer Ansel, • stopwatch • tape measure ally sprang up on rivers at the fall line, “This Was Chesapeake Bay” by • “wettable” footwear where the rivers tumble through rapids Robert H. Burgess and “The Lord’s and waterfalls on the edge of the Pied- ” by Gilbert Byron. When mont before meeting the placid tidal wa- 3. Select and assign student reading Late spring through early fall is the saf- ters of the coastal plain. Richmond, Al- (fiction or non-fiction) about pirat- est time to work around the water. exandria, Fredericksburg and Petersburg ing, shipping, travel or other use were all built on a fall line. of boats on the bay. For secondary Time Required Until the 1800s when canals were students, many sections of James At the Site: Sailing trials could take dug alongside the rivers, the fall line was Michener’s novel “Chesapeake” or from 20 minutes to an hour, depend- the point at which goods and crops had William Warner’s “Beautiful Swim- ing on conditions, number of boats to then proceed over land. The remains mers” would be appropriate. and number of trials. of canals can be seen today along the 4. Divide the class into workgroups of James, Potomac and Susquehanna rivers two or three students. Extensions above the fall line. Boats were towed up 5. Distribute copies of the accompany- Gifted/Advanced: and down the canal by mules or other ing Bay Boats Dichotomous Key Locate pictures and descriptions of animals. The C&D Canal, which con- and Bay Boats to each group. several other bay boats or ships. Ex- pand the dichotomous key to classify nects the upper Chesapeake Bay with 6. Review the dichotomous key in- them or design original keys to classify Delaware Bay, is still in use, not only by structions and “Special Boat Words” the boats in other ways. ships but also by migrating striped bass. with the class. Explain that the key Hundreds of kinds of boats and ships is similar to the kind of key scientists have sailed the Chesapeake Bay, serv- use to identify plants and animals. ing every possible use: transportation 7. Compare the group’s results. Did all of people and cargo from across a creek groups arrive at the same identifica- or around the world, fishing, piracy, tions? Discuss.

Virginia State Parks Your Backyard Classrooms | 1 Water - Way to Get Around

8. With the class, plan a boat building Follow-up: Credits session (or two). Students, working 1. Discuss: Adapted with permission from The in small groups or individually, de- • If you had to make your boat go Changing Chesapeake. 1989©. “Travel sign and construct a facsimile of one faster or slower, what are and Trade in Early Times; Working of the nine boats pictured on the the options? Boats and Ships of the Chesapeake Bay Boats sheet. Discuss options for • Are some designs better than oth- Bay.” V. Chase. National Aquarium in Baltimore, MD. construction materials and assign ers for certain purposes? responsibility for procurement. Ma- • Which is more important: cur- terials could include cleaned pieces rent, wind or auxiliary power? Additional Resources of trash (which would fit in with a • Virginia Trekkers: Podcast # 7 Fall Line • If you could own one of these • Chesapeake Bay Boats lesson on litter pollution) or natural boats, which would you want? • Chesapeake Bay Program 10 Boats of materials. Hulls could be made from Why? the Chesapeake Bay plastic tubs or plastic or cardboard • How have boats changed or milk cartons. Be sure to tie a long stayed the same over the last 200 piece (several meters) of to 300 years? to each completed model so that it • Are any non-power boats still doesn’t sail away to become litter. used? Why? have actually worked. Select some 9. Do a “test float” in the sink or bath- • What kinds of boats are most points between which some of the tub before field trip day. Students common today? Why? boats may have traveled in a day. should tinker with their designs 2. Examine a map of the whole bay or Consult the map legend for scale until they float with some stability. one of its tributaries and identify and note how many miles this typi- places where these bay boats may cal day’s run might have been. At the Site: 1. Take the models to a stream or other body of water at the site. Find a loca- tion where the current seems to be moving gently. Float a leaf to check speed and direction. Be prepared for wet feet. 2. Mark a starting point and finish line along the bank (perhaps 2 or 3 meters apart, depending on current speed). 3. Maneuver the vessels along a starting line so that their handlers are - ing them and standing behind them (up current). Release the boats, but hold on to the fishing line. Select a few students to clock the amount of time it takes for the vessels to reach the finish line. Time no more than four or five boats together to mini- mize collisions. 4. Repeat this once or twice (time permitting) for a more accurate ex- periment and average the times for each type of vessel. Be sure to collect all boats from the water when the activity is over.

2 | Your Backyard Classroom Virginia State Parks Bay Boats Dichotomous Key Directions: • Look at the pictures and read the descriptions on the Bay Boats page. • Write the number listed for each boat under the word “Boats” below. • Follow the arrows to the right and write the number under each heading for each boat that fits the description. • When each arrow stops, and there is only one answer, write the name of the boat under the description.

Window cabin

Powered by motor No window cabin Boats One or more xed masts Has sails

No xed masts Double ended (both ends the same) Has no sails Not powered by motor

One Not double ended (both Painted pink and More than and green di erent shapes) one mast ree or Not painted more masts pink and green

Fewer than Special boat words three masts

bow - front (forward) of boat stern - back (aft) of boat masts - poles that hold the sails upright - boat with one mast double ended - identically shaped bow and stern - boat with two or more masts close together topmasts - additions on top of masts raked masts - tilted backwards toward the stern

Virginia State Parks Your Backyard Classrooms | 3 Bay Boats

1. DEADRISE: Common watermen’s 2. SKIPJACK: Used for 3. SAILING LOG CANOE: These workboats used for crabbing oystering, in Maryland, they are the last commercial fast boats were adaptations of the Na- dredging and fishing. Often up to sailing fleet in the United States. Graceful tive American log canoes. Bow and stern 45’ long with a small cabin in front. Mo- boat with sharp bow, squared stem and a pointed, made from five logs and two tor powered. single mast with sloop rigged sails. removable masts.

4. BALTIMORE CLIPPER: Common 5. LOG CANOE: Native Americans 6. YAWL BOATS (“PUSH BOATS”): in the early 1800s these very fast ships made these open boats by repeatedly These little motor boats evolved from carried cargo all over the world. Two burning and scraping a single log. Both small boats carried by large sailing ships. raked masts, schooner-rigged. ends pointed, paddle powered, up to 50 They are used today as mini tugs which feet long. provide power for skipjacks.

7. RAM: Three or four masts, long, nar- 8. BUGEYE: Double ended with one 9. PUNGY: Similar to the Baltimore row and slow, these narrow fixed mast, these ships dredged oysters Clipper but designed for use on the bay. were sailing barges used in the C&D and hauled vegetables, lumber, coal and Schooner-rigged, two curved masts, typ- Canal at the top of the bay. illegal whiskey. ically painted pink and green.

Standards of Learning: Sols: VS.2, 5.1, 6.1 YBCWATEWAYT/2015 4 | Your Backyard Classroom Virginia State Parks