Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days

Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?

Lesson: Vikings Extraordinary Engineers (Post Classical History)

Time Frame: 2-3 Days
Language of the Discipline: ballast, bow, buoyancy, hull, keel, rudder, starboard,
stern, styri, Viking
TEKS:
Science:
Grade (1.2D,E) (1.3C) (1.4)
Grade (2.2) (2.3) (2.4)
Social Studies:
Grade (1.3A) (13.A) (1.16) (1.18) (1.19A)
Grade (2.7C) (2.17) (2.19) (2.20A)
Language Arts:
Grade (Fig:19D) (1.20) (1.24C) (1.27A) (1.28) (1.29)
Grade (Fig: 19D) (2.21) (2.29) (2.30)
Math:
Grade (1.1A,C,D,E) (1.7A,B) (1.8B)
Grade (2.1A,C,D,E) (2.9A,D) (2.10A,B,D)
Technology:
Grade K-2 (2D, 4D)
Grade 3-5 (1A, B) (4B)

Objectives: Students will

explain how the engineering solutions are influenced and shaped by the
surrounding environment, availability of resources, and the world around
us.
design, test, and build a ship.
Students will be able to answer these essential questions:
1. What ideas and discoveries make exploration possible?
2. Why do individuals want to become explorers?
3. What problems do explorers face?
4. How do explorers contribute to our knowledge of the world?

The following lesson is adapted from Hands-on Activity: Viking Ship Design Challenge
Contributed by: Integrated Teaching and Learning Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado Boulder

Engage/Elicit
Play video to introduce or expand students knowledge of the Vikings. Then, read the
eight paragraphs in Who Were the Vikings? to students and discuss as a class. This will
provide background knowledge and motivate students to think about how the Vikings
were clever engineers. Help students make connections between Scholarly Behaviors
and the information found in the eight paragraphs as appropriate.
Primary: Discovery Education Video: Exploring the World: The Viking
Explorers
Play the segment titled Scandinavia and the Vikings (1min 35sec)
http://goo.gl/uPrkm8

Intm: Show segment 3, The Vikings and their Longships (6:09 minutes long).
Horsepower: Harnessed for War Discovery Education Video
http://goo.gl/cemv4C

Explore
1. Many Viking ships were designed to be long, lean, lightweight, and maneuverable.
2. Ask students to think about the Vikings clever engineering feats from the
perspective of a Viking. Explain to students that they should also consider the
perspective of the British, Irish, and mainland Europeans, who were attacked by the
Vikings. Discuss how it is possible to celebrate a cultures clever engineering feats
but at the same time not like their way of life in regards to how they treated their
neighbors. Show students the map.
Explain
1. Introduce students to the Engineering design process. Explain that students are to
use this model to solve a challenge. (There are several models and most are very
similar.) The following model may be used with intermediate and younger students.
a. ASK: What is the problem? How have others approached it? What are your
constraints?
b. IMAGINE: What are some solutions? Brainstorm ideas. Choose the best one.
c. PLAN: Draw a diagram. Make lists of materials you will need.
d. CREATE: Follow your plan and create something. Test it out!
e. IMPROVE: What works? What doesn't? What could work better? Modify your designs
to make it better. Test it out!

2. The challenge is for students to design, test and build one main component of the
ship in groups of two or three. Students will use only a limited amount of resources to
create a component of the ship just like the Vikings and engineers! Show students
the race course with the obstacles. (Place plants and other obstacles on the side

of the pool so the ships can still go in a straight line across the middle.) Emphasize
that their ship must move in a straight line to make to the finish line. For younger
students, pre-assemble some of the ships components (such as the hull, keel and
rudder). Then have the students put the ships together and design one or two main
components- the sail and/or mast.
3. As a class, define the problem. Include developing lists of requirements and
constraints for the Viking ship design challenge (write lists on the board). The
physical requirements might include making the ship watertight, sturdy, lightweight,
fast, able to maneuver obstacles and shorelines, and able

to travel in a

straight line using wind power. Primary grades may focus on the last physical
constraint.
Show students an example of a model/miniature Viking ship. Building a model
beforehand will greatly assist you in supporting students during the construction
process. Also, set up and test the race course ahead of time. Be sure to label the
start and finish points on the race course (See image below.)

Figure 1. Example race course set in a pool of water with potted plants as obstacles.2007 Lauren Cooper, ITL
Program, College of Engineering, University of Colorado at Boulder.

4. Before students design and build the ships sail, they must learn about the important
components that must converge to have a successful working model of a ship. Use
your model to demonstrate what happens when you take components away. This is
a good time to discuss the Vikings engineering contributions. (You may focus on the
main components but not necessarily all. See Viking Ship Anatomy handout.)
5. Students use the engineering process with teacher assistance. (Primary Viking Ship
Challenge PPT.)
6. Pass out materials.
7. Students must submit a drawing with the parts labeled.
8. Students build and add the sail to their ships. Students will need to adjust the rudder
to change the ships direction.
9. Remind students that ships should be tested and adjusted several times before they
are considered finished (sea worthy)!
10. Supervise each teams three trials. Each student records their data on a video diary.
Teacher, review results to determine the winning team.
11. Students share their video diary and discuss their trials, what they learned,

what to change in the future.

Evaluate: Teacher observation on student contribution to challenge; accuracy
of data results; oral presentation/video diary.

Elaborate/Extend: Using Google Drawer to create a sketch that shows the

important components of a ship. Example types of watercraft: Cruise ship,
racing shell (rowing boat), gondola, dinghy, coracle, kayak, raft, sail boat,
speed boat, jet ski, fishing boat, hydrofoil, junk, dhow, windsurfer, surfboard,
canoe, barge, catamaran, yacht.

HW Extension: On Google classroom working Doc answer these questions:

1. How was your design shaped by the environment, the available
resources, and the world around them?
2. Do you think that the engineering design process (design, build and test)
is a good way to solve a real-world problem?