Boating through the ages

Lesson plan 

Description: A guide for planning a lesson exploring how boats have changed through the ages.

Aim: To understand how boats have changed and developed through the ages.

Objectives: To understand that through different periods of history, materials and technology used in building boats have developed and improved power (propulsion), buoyancy and journey times.  To place boats correctly onto a time line.

Activities: Discuss different boats and their characteristics.  In groups, investigate boats from different time periods and share findings with the class.  Open up the interactive whiteboard activity.  Look at images of different boats on the whiteboard and drag them into the correct era.  View the finished timeline, with boats from 8200BC to 2005AD and discuss the changes in boats over time, and perhaps discuss the role of lifeboats and the RNLI.