Different types of transport - Part 3 Boats - Information and a task for little ones

♪♪Row row row your boat, gently down the stream...♪♪  If you want to move from one point to another on water, you will most probably use a boat or ship.  

Boats can be used for recreation, fishing or as part of the Navy.

They can be big or small, but one of the main things we wonder about when we look at a boat, is how do they float?

If the watercraft is smaller, it will be called a boat and if it is bigger, you will call it a ship.  They can float on any water body, meaning it can be a river, a dam or the sea.

Different boats are 'propelled' in different ways, meaning it has something different that makes them move forward.

• You have boats that are propelled by human power, where the row, like a canoe or a gondola.
• You have boats that are propelled by an engine that will use petrol. This can be a motor boat or a passenger ship.
• There are also boats that will use the wind and sails to move forward and these are called sail boats.

1. Which part of the boat is called the 'hull'?
2. Why is the hull empty?
3. What helps the boat to go straight and what is the function of the weight?
4. What is the function of the rudder?
5. How can a sailboat move forward if there is no wind?
6. Which part of the boat will you use to stand on?
7. What are the windows of a boat called?
8. What is the 'spinnaker'?
9. What other sails will you find on a sailboat?
10. What controls the size and movement of the sails?

Most ships and boats will carry people, but their are also cargo ships that transport goods from place to place.

If you want to go on a boat, you need to know a few words so that if you hear the captain use it, you will know about which part of the boat they are talking.

• The right side of the boat is called 'starboard'.
• The left side of the boat is called the 'port'.
• The front of the boat is called the 'bow.
• The back of the boat is called the 'stern'.

Some luxury yachts (also called superyachts or megayachts) are over 70 metres (230 feet) in length with the longest examples reaching over 150 metres (492 feet) 

A submarine is a different type of boat that goes under the water, we will learn more about it next time.

Would you like to make your own little boats that you can play with?  Have a look at the video for ideas, or use your own plan.

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