#1. How can I/we contact the students and others aboard the ship?
There are two ways you can contact Class Afloat students:
First, you can send questions for the Class Afloat students to us at Ocean Challenge by letter or e-mail (info@oceanchallenge.com). The best questions will be relayed by satellite to the ship. Some of the answers will appear in the bi-weekly newsletter and on the web.
Second, you will find in the teacher's guide a list of port addresses where you can mail letters to Class Afloat students. These addresses will also be on this web site soon.
2. Will Concordia visit the U.S. this year?
Yes, Concordia will visit Hilo, Hawaii and then Seattle, Washington in June. She is sailing around the world in the opposite direction from last year.
QUESTIONS SPECIFIC TO THE CLASS AFLOAT CLASSROOM PROGRAM
3. Can I only do either the fall/spring semester of Class Afloat?
Last year, OCI distributed CA to teachers through 24 Newspaper in Education partners. Newspapers offered either a fall, spring or full year program.
This year Class Afloat is designed as a year-long program offered directly by OCI.
4. How long is the video? What does it feature?
The video is approximately 12 minutes. It includes dramatic footage of Concordia under sail from Durban to Cape Town, South Africa during the 1994-95 voyage.
You will see:
- students working aloft in the rigging
- student quarters
- students in class (with the instructor trying to stay upright in rough seas)
- interview with the captain
- interview with South African students who were guest sailors for a week
5. Why did you switch from the Newspaper in Education format?
Last year, OCI produced Class Afloat for Newspaper in Education (NIE) programs. Last year we also produced and distributed a newsletter subscription service for teachers who weren't within range of our NIE papers. We learned that, whereas the space constraint of having only a 1/4 page NIE update prevented us from delivering the Student Journals and Q & A, we could publish those in the newsletter. We could deliver more information from Concordia and deliver it faster and more reliably.
6. Why should I subscribe to your Class Afloat program?
It gets students to think beyond the 4 walls of their classroom, beyond the local mall, and beyond their local community or city. Kids love the fact that this program is a real event with real people, happening right now! You and your students will find CA to be a great out-of-textbook experience! You will also find that kids like learning from the older Class Afloat students. Another result we've seen is that your students may be inspired to try and reach their own personal goals. Class Afloat is the only organization in the world that takes high school juniors and seniors on such a circumnavigation of the globe!
7. What if I purchase the program and find that I don't like it?
You have a 30 day time period in which to evaluate the program. If you find that this program isn't working for you, simply return the unit to us.
8. Is it a science program? (history? geography? sailing?)
This is an interdisciplinary program broken down into thematic units. Last year, our Class Afloat teachers used the program to teach social studies, language arts, science, math, geography and history. In a sense, you are limited only by your imagination.
9. If I sign up late will my students miss crucial parts of the program?
Ideally, it is best to subscribe as soon as possible, but Concordia still has many miles to sail! When you do sign up, we'll send you back issues of the newsletters that you have missed. But don't delay for too long!
10. You say that your teacher's guide covers Grades 5-8. If I teach 5th grade, will I find a section of the teacher's guide dedicated to 5th grade lesson plans?
You will find the teacher's guide includes student project teams so that students can work on projects related to the various aspects of the Class Afloat voyage. You may use or modify the suggested activities to meet the learning needs of your students. You will find the following teams: Technology team, Sailing and Navigation team, Geography, Environment, and Weather team, Nutrition and Health team, History team, Culture team, Politics, Economics, and Trade team, and the Life Skills team.
Last year 1/2 of our teachers were middle school, 1/4 were elementary, and 1/4 were high school. This confirmed our belief that in an adventure such as this one, there is something useful to be learned at every age level.
Here are some helpful hints for using this web site.
1. This site was built for Netscape 1.1N or beyond. Other browsers may not read all of our intended formatting.
2. We highly recommend that you remove your Toolbar, Location and Directory Buttons (under Options) so that you can expand the viewable page as much as possible. Those students aboard Concordia have a lot to say!
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