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Underwater Explorer

How do submarines travel? What are they used for? Students will explore these questions and create an original submarine using recycled materials.

Lesson Plan

Supplies Needed

Gather all the supplies needed to bring your craft ideas to life! From paints and markers to glue and scissors, our crafts section has everything to spark creativity and make every project truly special.

  • Coffee Filter(s)
  • Craft Materials
  • Paper
  • Recycled Materials

Steps

  • Step 1

    Submarines are vessels that can travel underwater. Have students think of some of the ways submarines are used. For example, some have mechanical arms, cameras, and other tools that help scientists study the underwater world. They are used by the military to patrol the ocean. And they are also used in tourism for underwater sightseeing. 

  • Step 2

    Have students investigate how a submarine works. Ask them to learn about the huge ballast tanks that allow it to dive and surface. The tanks fill with water to give the submarine the weight it needs to sink. When the submarine is ready to surface, the ballast tanks release the water. This lightens the vessel enough for it to float. Propellers push the submarine, which is fueled by engines, batteries, nuclear power or a combination of these through the water.

  • Step 3

    Have students create a submarine using recycled materials and craft supplies. They might use a cardboard tube as the base and cover it with paper that they've decorated. Additional features can be created using coffee filters, chenille sticks, and/or other craft items. 

  • Step 4

    Have students present their completed submarine to the class and discuss some of the facts they learned about their uses and how they function.

Standards

SCI: Ask questions based on observations to find more information about the natural and/or designed world(s).

SS: Science, Technology, and Society: Identify how technologies such as communication and transportation have evolved and how people have employed advances in technology to modify daily lives including health and economics. Explore historical examples and imagine future technologies. 

Adaptations

Have students investigate how whales and submarines are similar. For example, they both have streamlined bodies that help them move smoothly through the water. A whale's lungs shrink when it submerges, thereby reducing the amount of air that would normally keep it buoyant. The lungs re-expand when it surfaces. This mimics the way a submarine's ballast tanks take on water when it submerges, then release the water and take on air when it surfaces.

Read a book such as "Flying Deep: Climb Inside Deep-Sea Submersible Alvin" by Michelle Cusolito and Nicole Wong about the submarine credited with helping to find the Titanic or "Papa's Mechanical Fish"  by Candace Fleming and Boris Kulikov. Have a discussion about what it might be like to live in a submarine for a time and what students would like to explore.