Sail Power

We have kicked off preparation for Beach Week(s) with rotations around sailing. One of which is about sails and how they work; 

"When a boat is sailing downwind, that is, with the wind behind it, the sail catches the wind and the boat is blown forward.  When the wind is coming from the side, the sail operates like an aeroplane wing, with the wind blowing across it. This creates a force called lift.  The sails are curved, just like an aeroplane wing and this creates a pressure difference between the windward side (the side that catches the wind) and the leeward side (the opposite side).  This pressure difference is what drives the boat forward."

There's some great maths concepts here! 

After discussing these ideas, we learnt about calculating the area and perimeter of a sail (triangle), creating a drawing of our own sail.  

Students have engaged well with this learning and are looking forward to taking this with them when we sail in Week 9.