Wayfinders are We! (Part I)
Students work in groups as they investigate the kinds of skills their wayfinding ancestors must have needed in order to travel the vast expanses of the Pacific, learn how to locate and measure distances on the curved surface of the Earth, understand the special history of the Hokule'a and the Polynesian Voyaging Society, and be introduced to the basic terminology related to the parts of a canoe and the specifications of ocean-going vessels.
Mathematical content covered includes: (1) How to solve simple problems involving scale factors, using ratio and proportion; (2) Volume and surface area; (3) The difference between nautical and statute miles; (4) Directions of north, south, east, and west; (5) Parallels of latitude as an angular distance north and south from the equator; (6) Longitude as an angular distance measured from the prime meridian; (7) The combination of parallels and meridians as a grid that allows us to determine exact locations on the Earth's surface; and (8) The relation of latitude and longitude to distance in nautical miles.