Webster Elementary School fifth-graders recently explored a shipwreck from the 1400s as part of an environmental education program designed by Heal the Bay.
During the environmental lesson, students were given a plan of an actual shipwreck from the 1400s. The shipwreck was recreated in Webster’s science lab, and eight artifacts from that time period were placed on the ship. Students were placed in research vessel teams and then “sailed” their ships to the dive site and sent in “divers” to find artifacts. Students made sketches of the artifacts, recorded where each piece was found on the shipwreck, identified what each artifact could be and came up with ideas about how early American explorers might have used the artifacts.
The lesson was designed to place students in a simulated real-world environment related to their social studies and science curricula, where they were required to work collaboratively, think critically and respond to a unique set of challenges.