Floating and Flying Unit Presentations and Field Trip Ideas

For our end of the unit presentations, you will present one famous airplane or ship. Presentations should include why the ship/plane was important and one interesting fact about the ship/plane. Please also provide a visual aide (a drawing, model, sculpture, etc.) of the ship/plane.

For a more in-depth report, you can provide a fact sheet that includes:

Ships: Name of ship, dates it was in use, purpose (what it was/is used for), total (overall) length, width (beam), draft (how much of the ship sits under water), weight (if available), water displacement in tons or metric tons (mt), and a short description of the ship's history and where it is now (e.g., decommissioned, sunk, scrapped, on display, etc.)

Airplanes: Designated name, dates it was in use, purpose (what it was/is used for), wingspan, length, height at tail, operating weight, max takeoff weight, fuel capacity, payload capacity, cargo hold (length, width, & height), and a short description of the ship's history and where it is now

Select from one of the below ships or planes:

Santa Maria
Mayflower
USS Bonhomme Richard
USS Constitution (Old Ironsides) (1797)
Hunley, H. L. (1863)
Wright Kitty Hawk Flyer (1903)
Titanic (1912)
Endurance (1914)
Fokker Dr. 1 Triplane (flown by Red Baron)
Spirit of St. Louis (1927)
Lockheed Vega (1937)
Hindenburg (1937)
B-17 (Airplane) (1938)
Bismarck (1941)
Enola Gray (1946)
Spruce Goose (1947)
Kon Tiki (1947)
U-2 (Airplane) (1955)
USS Nautilus (1958)
Alvin, DVS (1964)
Exxon Valdez (1989)
Bell X-1 (Airplane)

After presentations, have a ship-and-plane themed lunch. Below are some recipe ideas to inspire you:

Tuna and Cheese Pirate Ships
Deviled Egg Boats
Pirate Ship Sub Sandwich
Veggie and Tuna Boats
Bell Pepper & Egg Salad Ship
Sandwich Boats
Tater Boats

Watermelon Airplane
Airplane Cake
Candy Airplanes

Also remember bowls or bags of pretzels and peanuts!

If you have a friend who owns a boat or plane, see if they'll give you a tour of their boat or plane. If you have an airport nearby, you can see if they offer field trips. During this unit we visited our local maritime museum, which has great ship models and some hands-on exhibits, and our state history museum, which offers numerous ship models (including ones the children can climb on) along with World War I & II plane models. We also drove by the airport and the marina to see some of the planes and ships from a distance.

Konos Curriculum
I use Konos Curriculum as a springboard from which to plan my lessons. It's a wonderful Christian curriculum and was created by moms with active children!

Konos Home School Mentor
If you're new to homeschooling or in need of some fresh guidance, I highly recommend Konos' HomeSchoolMentor.com program! Watch videos on-line of what to do each day and how to teach it in this great hands-on format!