How to be a Great Navigator!
In this lesson, students learn how great navigators of the past stayed on course — that is, the historical methods of navigation. The concepts of dead reckoning and celestial navigation are discussed.
What makes great navigators?Copyright U.S. Navy. Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:US_Navy_050721-N-5549O-038_Quartermaster_2nd_Class_Stephanie_Hudson_from_Plymouth,_Mass.,_peers_through_a_marine_sextant,_a_navigational_instrument_used_to_determine_celestial_navigation_aboard_USS_Ronald_Reagan_(CVN_76).jpg
Dead reckoning concepts are important for engineers who make predictions and analyze circumstances related to motion; they must understand the relationships between speed, time and distance. Engineering is built upon a network of knowledge extending way back in time. Even though celestial navigation is for the most part historical, the best engineers understand how things used to be done, building on the same mathematics concepts, such as geometry and trigonometry, used by engineers every day.
After this lesson, students should be able to:
- Understand the concept of distance equal to speed multiplied by time
- Interpret altitude data to form conclusions about latitude.
- Understand how a cross staff, sextant, and clock help determine your location
- Understand how modern navigation technology is founded upon a network of knowledge extending way back in time