The boat project was originally a part of a larger thematic unit centered around water. The components of the theme had been pre-planned and organized by the teachers to develop specific skills and expertise. However, the boat project was developed with the children; the nature of this work is such that the children's interests and abilities guided the direction of their work. The project work allowed children to engage in different kinds of activities and choose how they wished to represent their new learnings and understandings.
The topic of boats and buoyancy and building things are part of the grade one and grade two Alberta Science curriculums. The Alberta program of studies is based on the following principles:
Children's curiosity provides a natural starting point for learning
Children's learning builds on what they already know and can currently do
Communication is essential for learning
Students learn best when they are challenged and actively involved
Confidence and self reliance are important outcomes of learning.
The Science curriculum's focus on problem solving, inquiry and decision making fits very nicely with the project approach.
The topic of boats was also easily integrated into language arts and math. The children engaged in writing personal experiences, conducting interviews and surveys, making detailed observations, writing how to plans, reading related stories- both fictional and factual; reading for information, using the internet as a research tool, questioning, designing, testing materials, and using measurement all in real life situations
To begin the process of planning for the unit as the teacher it was necessary to develop a web of ideas. The teacher's web was used as background knowledge and a map of possibilities for the directions the project might take. The children also constructed a web of ideas based on their knowledge and experience. As children shared their ideas and stories; information was added to the web by the teacher. This web was a useful tool both as a word bank and a source of ideas during personal writing for the students.