Read Works
Read Works: Sailing the Seas
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about the Santa Maria, Christopher Columbus' ship. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Read Works
Read Works: Sailing for Freedom
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about African slaves who rebelled and overtook their slave ship the Amistad. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Other
American Merchant Marine at War: u.s. Merchant Marine in World War Ii
Gives an excellent history of the sailing ships and sailors of the Merchant Marine in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Links on the page include many firsthand accounts of the sailors and their experiences during the war.
TED Talks
Ted: Ted Ed: How Does Math Guide Our Ships at Sea?
Explore the history of logarithms and sailing by watching this animated video. [4:19]
Other
Waylands: A Brief and Concise History of Medieval Shipping
This article presents information on the development of Keels, Hulks, and Cogs, the ships of Medieval Europe. Includes diagrams, illustrations, and explanations.
Other
Salariya: You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Whaling Ship Essex!
This online book for younger readers tells pitfalls of sailing on a New England whaling ship. Although a cartoon format, it contains valid and useful information about whaling in New England.
Texas Instruments
Texas Instruments: Sailing Through the Fog: Solving Systems of Linear Equations
Tracking equipment is used to help ship navigators traveling in dense fog determine if they are in danger of colliding with other ships that may be in the area. For this activity, we are going to assume two ships are traveling along...
Other
National Maritime Museum: Ships and Seas: Christopher Columbus
Learn about Christopher Columbus's reason for sailing west instead of east. Also, discover what he found on his voyages and his return journeys.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Buoyancy: Calculating the Maximum Load of a Ship
Students will use critical thinking skills to predict the maximum mass that a ship can hold without sinking. Students will then test their prediction by sailing their loaded ship.
Other
Usmm: u.s. Merchant Ships, Sailing Vessels, and Fishing Craft Lost During Wwi
A comprehensive list of U.S. merchant ships lost due to German raiders, torpedoes, and undersea mines. Includes ships lost before the U.S. joined World War I.
Curated OER
Web Gallery of Art: Sailing Ships at Deauville
An image of "Sailing Ships at Deauville", created by Eugene Boudin from 1895-96 (Oil on panel, 46 x 37 cm).
University of Illinois
University of Illinois: Early Trade With China: The China Trade 1830 1860 [Pdf]
In the years following the American Revolution, speed was the most important consideration for any ship even if it came at the expense of cargo space. Sailing ships tended to be small and swift so that they could outrun and outmaneuver...
Other
New Bedford Whaling Museum: Online Exhibitions
The New Bedford Whaling Museum provides a well-done, comprehensive site that includes all aspects of American whaling. This site is a pleasure to amble through if you love the lore and legend of late eighteenth-century sailing ships,...
Huntington Library
Huntington Library: Land of Golden Dreams: Li's Journey: China to California
Li is a 14-year-old boy from Guangdong, China, who travels to California during the Gold Rush. Read about his journey on a sailing ship from Southern China to San Francisco. Along the way experience, the sights and sounds of sea travel...
Curated OER
Merriam Webster: Visual Dictionary Online: Caravel
Illustration of a caravel, a sailing ship.
Science Buddies
Science Buddies: Science Careers: Marine Architect
The marine architect is the one who designs many kinds of vessels which sail the seven seas. This Science Buddies site lays out the requirements needed to become a marine architect, as well as the education and job description. Included...
Other
Uss Constitution Museum: Constitution Collage
Tell the class that they will be making collages of USS Constitution. Reproduce the sails and hull pages to hand out along with scissors, rulers, paste and pieces of paper 11" x 17" on which students may assemble their collages.
Mariners' Museum and Park
Mariners' Museum: Resources: Age of Exploration
Scroll to the bottom of this page to access activity resources and lesson plans that encourage students to explore an understand the practicalities and difficulties involved in sailing to new places during the Age of Exploration.
Read Works
Read Works: Magellan Was First
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text about Ferdinand Magellan, the first explorer to sail around the world. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Digital History
Digital History: Roots of American Economic Growth: Speeding Communications
Find out the many reasons why communication speed increased in the early 19th century. It wasn't just because of the telegraph.
Texas A&M University
Ocean World: Satellite Oceanography
What does a satellite in space have to do with the oceans? Discover the answer to this question as well as uncover some interesting facts about satellites at this site.
Other
St. Vincent College: Hms Victory
Examination of the HMS Victory, an eighteenth-century sailing ship.
University of Houston
University of Houston: Engines of Our Ingenuity: No. 1338: The Last Masts
Read about the history of the steamboat and the difficult transition that led to the eventual relinquishing of a ship's sails. This article is a transcript of a radio broadcast.
Smithsonian Institution
National Museum of American History: On the Water: Maritime Nation: Shipwrecks
Illustrated accounts of the destruction and loss of two ships sailing to America across the Atlantic illuminate the dangers of nineteenth-century travel and the modes of rescue available at the time. With a range of archival material,...