Boat-Based Navigation

Objectives:  Read a compass & understand cardinal directions  Understand & use landmarks  Gain a sense of place in the larger world

Vocab:  Landmark- An object or feature that is easily seen and recognized from a distance, especially one that enables someone to establish their location  Compass rose- A circle printed on a chart or map that shows the cardinal directions  Cardinal directions- North, South, East, and West  Ordinal directions- Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, Northwest  Lubber line- A line marked on a compass showing the direction straight ahead  Bearing- Direction from a current location given in degrees away from north (0-360 degrees)

1. Start by asking the students what they already know about navigation or how they navigate. How would they navigate from their school to their home? Do they look for anything familiar such as a restaurant or park? These are called landmarks. Landmarks are familiar, recognizable, and usually permanent (i.e. the Tacoma Dome is unlikely to disappear into thin air) 2. How would they find their way around a new place? Ask them to think about if they had no technology. How did people used to find their way around? 3. Map of Puget Sound a. Map if on land, chart if on water b. What is this a map of? (Puget Sound) Where did we start this morning before we got on the boat? (Tacoma) Where was the boat docked? (Thea Foss Waterway) Where are we now? (find current location in Commencement Bay) c. Introduce cardinal directions with compass rose d. Never Eat Soggy Waffles (clockwise around the compass rose) 4. Compasses a. Have each student get a clipboard with a compass on it. Lay the compasses flat on the table, give the kids a few seconds to play with the compasses, and have them tell you what they notice b. How does a compass work? (magnetic fields, North and South poles are magnetic fields) Where does the red arrow always point? (magnetic North due to the magnet in the compass being drawn North) Have them test this out by moving their bodies c. Have them point to North.

d. Review cardinal directions and show them the lubber line 5. Tacoma Harbor Chart a. Use charts of Tacoma Harbor with each clipboard to chart the directions the boat took to the different station. b. Have them find the compass rose (there are two). Then have them tell you which way is North according to that. c. (If we go from the Seaport to the mouth of the Puyallup, we had to go NW to get out of the Thea Foss, then turn NE to get to the yellow buoy. From the Puyallup we go NE to Tyee Marina. From Tyee we go NW to Browns Point, then SW to Point Defiance/Owen’s Beach.) 6. Simon Says a. Have students spread out and all face a different direction while holding their clipboards flat. Align lubber line to North. b. Tell them to take a step in a cardinal direction. Repeat 2-3 times. c. If they all move in different directions, discuss why (they should all be moving in the same direction no matter where they are facing this is because the directions do not change, our relationship to them does.) 7. Whiteboard w/ Cardinal Directions a. N, E, S, and W are cardinal directions. b. Draw lines for NE, SE, SW, and NW. Have the kids label these. These are ordinal directions. c. Draw a line between any ordinal and cardinal direction (i.e. a line between SW and S. What would this be? (SSW) d. Draw another line between SSW and S. Use this to segue into bearings and how they can be used to head in a specific direction. 8. Bearings a. Point out numbers marks on compass. What are they? (degree marks) b. 360 degrees in a circle, clockwise (N = 0, E = 90, S = 180, W = 270) i. Degrees away from North = your bearing c. Calculate what the current bearing is as a group. d. If you wanted to sail from the Seaport to Hawai’I on a specific bearing, could you “set it and forget it?” (no, there would be obstacles in your way) e. Would you ever need to change your direction or bearing? i. Wind, currents, giving way, avoiding debris, etc. 9. Practice/Talk With Paul a. Have students work in pairs to practice directions and bearings on landmarks of their choice. (there is a sighting compass in the box that is useful for this) b. During this, students will take turns going into the wheelhouse to talk to Captain Paul