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Boat Building Program

Building a Shellback Dinghy: An Integrated Field Approach to Core Math & Science Standards

Boat Building Course Description:
Each year in collaboration with the Penobscot Marine Museum, SDHS students will combine classwork and field work to build a shellback dinghy, while meeting math and science standards.  This course will explore marine physics and engineering concepts such as density and buoyancy and why boats float.  Newton's laws of motion will be discussed in determining the forces at work of a sailboat in motion.  Simple machines and the mechanical advantage and efficiency of those machines will also be examined.  

This course is a multiple pathway to meeting graduation requirements.  Students will earn 1 science experience and 1 math experience.  Students will regularly travel to Penobscot Marine Museum for field work, as well as participate in classroom-based activities and assessments.





Boat Building Program



Program Standards:
  • Students will understand the motion of objects and how forces can change that motion. 
  • Students will understand concepts in energy.
  • Students will apply inquiry and problem-solving approaches in science and technology, and 
  • will learn to formulate and justify ideas and to make informed decisions.
  • Students will communicate effectively in the application of science and technology.
  • Students will collaborate effectively in a scientificcommunity.
Through this course, students will meet the Numbers and Geometry math standards.
  • Students will use numbers to solve problems and perform mathematical computations.
  • Students will develop number sense and use numbers flexibly, using forms of numbers that best match a situation. 
  • Students will compute efficiently and accurately.  
  • Students will use measurement and observation to describe objects based on their sizes and shapes.
  • Students will model or construct two- and three- dimensional objects.
  • Students will solve problems involving geometric properties, compute areas and volumes based on object properties and dimensions.
  • Students will perform transformations on geometric figures. 


Many thanks

Gregg Rossel, Master Boatbuilder/Instructor
Our volunteers Fred Kirchais, Bruce Brown, Jerry Marancik, Rob Griffin, David Lawrence, Rick Fitzsimmons and Jeanne Gail

Contributing organizations and businesses - The Penobscot Marine Museum, Hamilton Marine, Wooden Boat, Chesapeake Light Craft, Maine Coast Lumber and Grant Gamble.