 The Age of Exploration
Essential Question: Why is the age of exploration considered a turning point in history?
1. Today you will be part of the design team for ship builders for Spain of the late 1400’s!
Recently, the Portuguese ship builders built the Caravel, which sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in only 33 days.
You have been given orders from the King and Queen to build a ship that can sail from Portugal to India to help
Spain establish a sea trade route. Here’s the catch, you will be in competition with the other groups!
For the King and Queen to choose your ship, you must consider how much it will cost to build your ship,
how many people and supplies it can carry, and how many days it will take to travel. These considerations are called constraints.
A constraint is a limitation or restriction that must be kept in mind when designing and building. The constraints you must work with are:
a. You must be able to carry at least 4 people
b. You can only present your idea if you have a bill of materials, design matrix, and a sketch of your final design
c. It MUST be ready to present and test on Friday
Here is how it will work: You will be given this week and certain materials to construct a ship that will float and sail
from one end of the tub to the other. It will move by wind power (a fan). As mentioned above, you will need to decide how many people
you will want to bring. The more explorers that can travel on your ship, the more appealing your ship will be for the king and queen.
2. The schedule will go as follows:
Day 1: Read design challenge, read about the design process using the QR code, and discus the red flow cart
and the circular arrows. This shows the process that engineers go through to create solutions to problems. You will be using this
process as you design as well! Finally, read about each stage of the design process and the questions you should be asking each other.
Day 2: As a group, identify the problem and discuss the features of the inspiration photos. After this,
complete the design matrix with a partner. Then, again with your partner, create two different drawings of a possible ship design.
Finally, share both designs with your group. If you have time, gather the materials you need and keep them in your group’s box.
Day 3: Vote on a design that you think will be most effective and construct a prototype. Make sure everyone
is involved (remember your extra sheets you must turn in)! Once completed you may test. Then, you may go back and make any changes
you would like to make it more appealing for the king and queen. Just make sure it will be ready to go when time is up!
Day 4: Complete test and redesign
Day 5: Present and test for the king and queen!
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