Sara E. Thomas
Each student will be assigned a report on a specific type of boat. Students will draw types of boats from a hat. They will be expected to report on the history of their boat: who used it, what it was used for, its shape and any decoration the boat may have had. Students should also begin thinking about how the boats use energy and the efficiency of their boat. Below is a brief history of boats from which report topics may be chosen.
The first models of boats were canoes carved out of one solid piece of wood. These boats were quite heavy and took a long time to build. Canoes had two possible sources of energy. The first was the current of the body of water around them. If the current was moving quickly, the boat would also move quickly, however this source of energy was very unreliable. The second source of energy was manpower through paddling. This source of energy was obviously more reliable because men could judge how long and with how much force they could paddle to move the boat along.
Eskimos created boats of a similar style. They created a simple wooden frame and stretched animal skin over it. Other cultures used this same wooden frame and covered it with bark. This made the boats lighter and therefore they took less energy to power because men, wind, or current could move them more easily through the water. All of these boats used sap or pegs to keep the pieces together.
Romans and Greeks created boats which are similar to those we use today. This construction is called carvel planking. The keel is a piece of wood that runs up the center of the boat and serves as the backbone. U shaped pieces come out from the keel called ribs. These give the boat its form. Boards are then nailed or pegged to the ribs lengthwise along the boat. Caulk is used to fill in the holes between each of the planks.
These boats were used until about two hundred years ago when man began manufacturing flat boards and nails. Flatiron skiffs became the boat of choice. They were much easier to build because they could be quickly assembled and do not require a form to build around like carvel planking boats. Large sheets of cheap wood are curved and cut to create each side and the top. This is similar to the initial shape of our steam engine. Our boat will have curved sides and a flat bottom similar to the construction of a flatiron boat. Still these boats are all powered by man or wind through paddles or sails. (Michalak 9-14) They are extremely different from the boats powered by engines that we have today.
The above is a brief history of the progression of the boat, leading up to the production of the steam engine. The following are boats which students might choose from: canoe, kayak, Viking, powerboat, jet ski, pontoon, rowboat, powerboat, inflatable boat, army boat, emergency boat, fishing boat, yacht, cruise boat, ferry, oil rig, sailboat, raft, paddleboat, etc.