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For the Guan Ai 4th graders’ lesson on masted ships, Teacher Sun decided that the best way to learn about how masted ships function, students should build their own boats and find a way to make them work. The 4th grade Chinese language text required students to know the vocabulary of a masted ship’s parts, but Teacher Sun wanted the lesson to broaden the students’ knowledge of how ships floated and moved, not just memorize the parts of a ship’s structure.

After the students spend some time reading the text and looking at a few pictures of masted ships, Teacher Sun brought out plastic bottles, chopsticks, and rubber bands for each group of four students. Their objective was to first find a way to create a mast for the ship made out of the plastic bottle, then to find a way to balance the boat, which was extremely difficult.

After students built their ships and made sure it could float, we clogged up the kitchen trough/sink and filled it up with water, forming a small river. Then we brought over an electric fan and positioned it right behind one end of the trough.

The kids had an absolute blast building their ships, retooling them after trials runs in the trough, and finally, the race. I shot a short YouTube video of the students cheering for a ship during the race. Students even cheered for opposing groups because they couldn’t contain their excitement.

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