Make Your Own Sailing Game
Grade Level/Subject: Science/Intermediate
Goal: The students will apply angles to wind direction and sailing.
Materials: Blank spinner, large piece of paper, marker, game pieces, a protractor, a die.
Construction: Take a large piece of paper (perhaps chart paper) and divide it into 1" boxes. A large piece of graph paper would work very well. Label a starting line and a finish line. Label spinner: 1."wind direction"; 2. draw one line and label it 0 degrees; divide the remainder of the spinner in 15 degree increments without labeling the increments.
Procedure: Teach the students to use a protractor. Then explain to them that using angles is important in many real life situations, and that one of those situations is in sailing. Tell the students (a toy boat or some drawings would be good visuals) that, in general, the closest that a sailboat can sail directly into the wind is at a 45 degree angle. Get the students to give feedback on why, then, it is important for sailors to know angles (i.e. so they can get to where they are going, etc.). After the lesson, have students play the game.
The Game: Game pieces are place at the starting line. The spinner is placed at the finish line, with 0 degrees pointing toward the starting line. Explain to the students that each playing piece is a sailboat and that the direction the spinner is pointing is the wind direction. Each player rolls the die in order to see who goes first. Each turn is as follows: 1. The player rolls the die. 2. The player spins the spinner. 3. The player uses the protractor to measure the angle between 0 degrees and the joint at which the spinner landed. 4. If the angle is 45 degrees or greater, the student may move his game piece the number of spaces indicated on the roll of the die. If the angle measures 44 degrees or less, the player may not move. 5. the first player to cross the finish line wins.
This game could be adapted in a variety of ways to make it less or more complex. Be creative!
Lesson plan by Greg Handal.