Navigational Techniques by Land, Sea, Air and Space
Students explore the different modes of navigation that include on land, water, air and in space.Copyright Wikimedia Commons https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Air-sea-rescue-falmouth.jpg
Students learn that navigational techniques change when people travel to different places — land, sea, air and space. For example, an explorer traveling by land uses different navigation methods and tools than a sailor or an astronaut.
Engineers adapt their fundamental science and math skills to different situations. Understanding the science of natural phenomena enables engineers to design and build appropriate structures and systems. By combining their expertise in inventing measurement and data gathering tools with their ability to analyze and learn from past failures, engineers continually improve designs and systems for the benefit of people. This process of gathering and analyzing data to better understand problems and formulate solutions is used in all engineering disciplines.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Understand fundamental differences between navigation on land, water, air and in space.
- Identify major features and read the fundamental symbols and information provided on land maps, nautical charts and aeronautical charts.
- Explain the concept of dead reckoning (relationship between speed, time, distance and direction) as it applies to navigation estimation.
- Understand beacon nomenclature, symbols and information as found on nautical charts.