Exceeding Expectations

     This year I gave my students a boat project with the hopes that it would be an interactive way for the students to learn about the various ships used during exploration.  My students by far went over and above my expectations.  The research plan started simple... I gave them a list of ships that were famous during the period of Exploration.  I attempted to tie in information from multiple countries and then gave a basic assignment.  Find out information about what the boat is made out of, what the purpose of the boat was used for, benefits of the ships, and drawbacks of the ship.  They created a poster and a model of the ship (which had to float).  Each group member made their own poster and tied in their information on the board to present to their classmates.  We also sailed them in my "ocean" (huge plastic container filled with water).  The fastest boat won bonus points, and the physical boats were graded based on details and flotation capability.  The Galleon group earned bonus points based on how much weight the ship could carry.  Here are some of my students marvy creations...

 

 

       The projects exceeded my expectations.  My classes did very well and while some students did not do well in the overall presentation of their information I was overall very impressed both with my Honors and my Regular classes.  Most of them also retained lots of information about their boats because they spent time researching it and had a more vested interest than a basic lecture.