LOOK, THE ROMAN CORBITA!
Being in a landlocked state, my students have a great fascination with ships and sailing. The Lego® Group certainly adds to that enchantment with their collection of boats and ships! I like to take it one step further. I do not mind students role playing with the armada etc, but I like giving some direction to the shipbuilding ( for example
submarines ).
One project I challenge my students to undertake is to replicate the ROMAN CORBITA!
The CORBITA was a merchant ship for the Roman Empire. To quote THE VISUAL DICTIONARY OF SHIPS AND SAILING:
"The merchant ships of the Greeks and Romans were mighty vessels, too. The full-bodied Roman corbita, for example, could hold up to 400 tons of cargo, such as spices, gems, silk, and animals. The construction of these boats was based on a stout hull with planking secured by mortice and tenon. Some of these ships made long trading voyages, sailing even as far as India. To make them easier to steer, corbitas set a foresail called an "artemon." It flew from a forward-leaning mast that was the forerunner of the long bowsprits carried by the great clipper ships of the 19th century."
Stolen from The Visual Dictionary of Ships and Sailing, 1991, p8. Run out and buy it!
I recommend this ship: There is a wonderful historical, shipbuilding ( e.g. mortice and tenon fastenings ), language ( why exactly is the "poop deck" called that? ), artistic ( e.g. the "swan neck" ornament ) and sailing ( how do you steer this thing? ) perspective!
Okay WebLanders...let's see same HISTORICAL BOATS out there!
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Copyright© 1996 1997 by Richard Wright for PCS Education Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved