Afterschool Science & Sailing –Middle School
Long Island Sound offers an exceptional environment to learn how to sail, develop navigational skills and study a wide range of marine life and habitats, water quality and human impact on the environment. The SoundWaters Science and Sailing curriculum is focused on teaching students the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that are inherent to sailing and offers a deeper look into many of the environmental science concepts learned during weekly experiments. We offer a high quality sailing instruction for all levels of experience. From beginner to seasoned racer SoundWaters will help students advance their skills to the next level.
The program meets twice a week for 3 hours a day after school for 10 sessions.
Activities
Boat Anatomy
Students will learn the different parts of a boat as they rig and sail them on Holly Pond. Learn how to identify and understand the parts of your sailboat by playing fun games to reinforce what you’ve learned.
Navigating a boat
Sail like a scientist! Sailors have been using their engineering skills for hundreds of years to help them navigate their world; now it’s your turn! Use real charts, compasses, simple tools, and a little old-fashioned ingenuity to discover our location and track our speed and progress through the Long Island Sound. How do these ancient skills compare to a modern GPS system? Learning how to sail can be hard. But with SoundWaters you will learn how to position your body and hold the controls of the sailboat to be successful. Develop skills to steer your boat straight, read a chart and plot your course.
Sail Handling
Learn how to make your boat stop, and go by controlling the sails. This is important for beginner sailors to know how to do so they can be comfortable no matter the weather conditions. Play games like ‘what time is it Captain?’ to reinforce.
Points of Sail
By the end of this lesson, sailors will understand how to position their sails so they can sail in any direction, no matter where the wind is coming from. Play games on land to practice each point of sail. Head out on your boat and play games like ‘follow the leader.’
Reading the Weather & Harnessing the Wind
Learn about the conditions that make your sailboat move. Make your own anemometer so you can take measurements of the wind speed.
Animal Adaptations
The Long Island Sound is teeming with life! Help launch and retrieve our special trawl net, and see what’s living down deep in the Sound. Every sail brings a unique catch! Learn about what makes the creatures we find uniquely suited to their habitats, and get an up close and personal encounter with each species. What can we discover by using our senses to investigate these animals?
LIS Observations
It’s amazing what our powers of observation can do! Learn how to turn the things we can observe from on board our schooner into a wealth of knowledge! Learn what the “road signs” all around us mean, and how sailors use them every day. What are these things telling us now? Feel the wind on your face – what’s the direction and the speed? How should we sail the schooner as a result? And how do we fit in to the world of the Long Island Sound?
NGSS Alignment
Science & Sailing is:
- Creative and STEM oriented: complements academic learning, outdoor exploration and the natural beauty of the Long Island Sound watershed;
- Investigative and project oriented: focusing on observation, interpretation of science through art and various media;
- Aligned with NGSS Components: supporting and amplifying specific grade content and directly fits in the classroom instructional sequence.
- Practice 1 Asking Questions and Defining Problems,
- Practice 3 Planning and Carrying Out Investigations,
- Practice 6 Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
- Practice 8 Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information
- Math: MP1, MP2, MP5, MP6, Science: SP1, SP3, SP4, SP6, SP2, SP5, SP8, ELA: EP1, EP3, EP4.
Sample Schedule
Sample weekly sessions include:
3:00 Gather sailing gear (life jacket, gloves, wet suits if needed, whistle etc.)
3:15 Rig your boat
3:30 Chalk Talk
3:45 Launch!
3:50 Figure 8 course
4:15 Tacking & Jibbing Drill
4:45 Race course
5:15 Down-Rig & put boats to bed
5:30 Sign -Out
Pricing
Science and Sailing is open to middle schools during the academic year. The program cost is calculated depending on the number of sessions. For example, a 10 week session, after school from 3pm -5:30pm for 20 students costs $10,000. This is under $20per student contact hour and includes 2 certified sailing instructors, all gear, boats, lab materials, live animals and a final on the water sailing showcase for family and friends at the SoundWaters Coastal Education Center.
For more information or to schedule a program please contact education@soundwaters.org.
Next Steps
This program is open to students in grades 6-8 during the school year.
For more information or to schedule a program please contact education@soundwaters.org.
Contact
Cove Island Park
1281 Cove Rd
Stamford, CT 06902
Phone: 203 323 1978
Fax: 203 967 8306
