Essential information
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Key Stage |
Key Stage 2
|
| Curriculum links |
Design & technology
History
Maths
Science
|
| Session length | 90 minutes |
| Session times | Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, 10.15-11.45, 12.30-14.00 |
| Capacity | 30 pupils per group |
| Price | Up to 30 pupils - £150. Limited bursaries are available |
Session overview
Introduction
Learners are given a brief overview of the ship's history and are asked to discuss which objects make our life easier (tap to get water, etc). Learners are asked to work out what could be on Cutty Sark that made seafaring easier. A lot of these ideas are scientific. A ship designer drew up plans and needed to consider lots of different elements to make a successful ship.
Science On Board
Learners are taken on a tour through the ship to look for objects that have been engineered to make living/working on a ship easier (using a checklist with hints that learners can tick off). Once learners reach the main deck, we split into two groups: one continues their investigations; the other moves part of the ship to see engineering in action. Learners then swap.
Design and technology
Learners pair up to make a working winch, which can be taken back to school.
Learning objectives
Learners will:
- Identify, investigate and record the science on board a historic sailing ship
- Identify and use forces in action and how mechanisms mean a small force can have a greater effect
- Make a winch (a mechanical device)
- Discover how Victorian engineering helped make Cutty Sark famous
Curriculum links
KS2 Science
- Asking relevant questions and using different types of scientific enquiries to answer them • Making systematic and careful observations
- Identify the effects of air resistance, water resistance and friction, that act between moving surfaces
- Recognise that some mechanisms, including levers, pulleys and gears, allow a smaller force to have a greater effect
KS2 Design and Technology
- Understand and use mechanical systems in their products (for example, gears, pulleys, cams, levers and linkages)
Key words
Sail, sailing, sailor, cargo, China, Australia, Greenwich, captain, river Thames, import, export
Suggested pre-visit knowledge and activities
Research what engineers do. Make a list of everyday things that have been designed or engineered.
Suggested post-visit knowledge and activities
Design a cargo ship - what features does it share with the Cutty Sark? Make a pulley using a coat hanger, a cotton reel and some string.
You'll find instructions in the British Science Week 2025 Primary activity pack (page 22, 'Heave-to').