Shipwrecked Adventure
QuickT ime ™an d a
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QuickT ime ™an d a
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Qu ic kTi me™ a nd a
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are n ee de d to s ee th is pi ctu re .
Quick Time™a nd a
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The History of Ships and Navigation
Adapted from Shipwrecked Island Adventure!
http://oncampus.richmond.edu/academics/education/projects/webquests/shipwreck/
to meet the needs of our 2nd graders.
The History of Ships and
Navigation
This slide show will tell you about tools
and type of ships sailors used years ago.
Sailors of Ancient Times
Egyptians were sailing as early as 2750
B.C. Greek sailors were learning more
about India and England through wars
and trading. Arabian, Chinese, and
other cultures were also doing exploring
and mapping before the European
discoveries began.
Early Ship Building Techniques
• Ancient ship
builders used
three patterns
to cut shapes
from wood. This
was called
moulding.
Take a look at ships from
different cultures.
Egyptian
Chinese
More ships from ancient cultures
Can you imagine
getting on one of
these ships and
heading out far into
the ocean?
Viking
Greek
Sailors didn’t even have good tools
to tell where they were going!
Look at these old charts. They were not
very accurate. No wonder ships often
sailed off course!
Sailors used nature to help
them figure out their location.
QuickT ime ™an d a
TIFF ( Uncomp res sed) deco mpre ssor
ar e need ed to see this pictur e.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see this picture.
QuickTi me™ and a
T IFF (Uncom pressed) decom pressor
are needed to see t his pict ure.
Animals like whales
and birds let sailors
know they were
close to land.
QuickTi me™ and a
TIFF ( Uncompressed) decompressor
are needed to see thi s pi ctur e.
The sun, moon and
stars helped sailors
find their location.
The North Star,
also known as
Polaris, helped
sailors to figure
out their
position.
This is a quadrant.
A sailor would see
the North Star along
one edge, and
where the string fell
A sailor could also
would tell
use this astrolabe.
approximately the
You lined it up so the
ship’s latitude.
sun shone through
one hole onto
another, and the
pointer would show
your latitude.
So what is
latitude,
and why was
it important
to sailors?
Lines of
latitude are
imaginary
lines running
east to
west on the
Earth’s
surface.
90 degrees
0 degrees
90 degrees
The Equator is an imaginary circle
around the Earth halfway between
the North and South Pole. It is
marked by the blue arrow on the
picture. The latitude is 0 degrees on
the Equator. As you travel north or
south from the Equator, latitude
lines (the red lines) help to figure
out location.
A ship’s longitude tells sailors their
position east and west. (Remember,
latitude tells position north and south.)
The red lines are
imaginary longitude
lines that go from
pole to pole. The
Prime Meridian is 0
degrees longitude.
In 1764, John Harrison
created a very
accurate
chronometer (clock)
that would keep time
at sea. Finally sailors
had a tool to measure
longitude at sea
So why were navigators trying to sail
anywhere far in the first place?
Why were they willing to risk their life
through storms, flimsy ships, and bad
maps?
•Humans have always been curious.
•Some sailing was done because
people wanted to explore new lands.
•Missionaries were interested for
religious reasons.
•There were also those interested in
finding gold, and other valuable
goods.
K
•Trade became a very big reason to
improve navigation. Explorers wanted
to make money by trading, and by
finding newer, faster routes to
countries to trade with.
Well mates, we’ve seen that sailors
have made progress over time. They
have developed and perfected their
tools and skills. We can always learn
more from these ancient cultures.
It’s time to put all you’ve
learned to the test and see
if your investigation can
find the shipwrecked sailor
and help the Coast Guard
rescue him. Good luck!
References
Text and Images From:
Boat Safe Kids:The History of Navigation.
[Online] 7 April 2000
http://www.boatsafe.com/kids/navigation.htm
Copyright Nautical KnowHow Inc., Stuart, FL 1998
European Voyages of Exploration.
[Online] 7 April 2000
http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/HIST/tutor/eurvoya/Know
.html
Copyright The Applied History Research Group, The
University of Calgary 1997
References Continued
Latitude:The Art and Science of Fifteenth Century
Navigation.
[Online] 4 April 2000
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~feegi/
Polaris.
[Online] 7 April 2000
http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/constellns/pol
aris.html
Ships of Discovery Research.
[Online 4 April 2000
http://einstein.stcloudstate.edu/Dome/constellns/pol
aris.html
References Continued
The Columbus Navigation Homepage.
[Online] 3 April 2000
http://steggy.minn.net/~keithp/index.htm
Copyright Keith A. Pickering, Watertown, MS 2000
The Mariners’ Museum: The Age of Exploration
Curriculum Guide.
[Online] 3 April 2000
http://www.mariner.org/age/menu.html
Copyright The Mariners’ Museum, Newport News, VA
1999
Voyage to Puna Ridge: Science Factoids.
[Online] 4 April 2000
http://www.punaridge.org/doc/factoids/Default.htm
Portions Copyright Woods Hole Oceanographic
Institution 1998