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Lighthouses & Marine Navigation
Pendleton Heights Middle School
Pendleton, IN
Information
Literacy Integration Project 2003
 Principal’s
Introduction:
Research such as that by Phil Schlechty and the Center for School
Reform points to the importance of the creation of engaging work
for our students. It is this type of work that will provide the best
chance for the students to be motivated to expand their skills.
The marine navigation unit developed by Shelly Thomas is a textbook
example of engaging work for students. I was fortunate enough to
observe her students on multiple days engaged in the activities of
the unit. I can say without hesitation that the students were engaged,
learning mathematical skills directly connected to the Indiana state
standards, and also learned life lessons related to navigation.
I would like to express my appreciation for
the support of our school’s
participation in the Information Literacy Grant. This grant provided
valuable resources to a creative teacher looking for ways to
engage her students in the process of their own learning.
Sincerely,
Dan Joyce, Principal
Pendleton Heights Middle School
Project
Description/Introduction/Timeline:
This unit will take your students on an exciting mathematical journey
through the exploration of lighthouses and marine navigation. Your
students will learn nautical terminology, how to work with nautical
instruments, and be able to plot their own course for a ship! All
of the activities in this unit are linked with state standards in
various subjects; however the emphasis has been placed upon mathematics.
Throughout the development of this unit I worked very closely with
our media specialists. Mrs. Eversole helped conduct research on various
lighthouses and Mrs. Lambert helped with the videography. Some of
the information was gathered from my own travels to lighthouses.
The entire unit spanned approximately a three-week time frame. This
unit can easily be reduced or expanded in length. The PBL unit will
take approximately one week. After teaching the initial concepts
of reading nautical charts and the plotting of a course on a nautical
chart, I used the other activities in the unit as stations. The students
rotated in groups through the different activities.
When I teach this unit again I will spend at least 5 days teaching
the students the initial concepts before I let them begin work on
their own. The students need to have a good understanding of nautical
charts and working with the instruments before some of the other
activities will make sense.
Thank you for taking the time to review this material.
Any comments or suggestions to enhance this unit would be greatly
appreciated.
Resources
Contact
Written by: Shelly Thomas, Math Teacher
Team Members: Margaret Eversole and Dana Lambert, Media Specialists
Contact Information:
Pendleton Heights Middle School
301 S. East St.
Pendleton, IN 46064
765-778-2139
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