One Saskatchewan science project sailed its way onto social media

This was a year for change and different looks at learning in schools all across the country.

It was also Glen Smith’s last year teaching at Lucky Lake School, and he wanted to leave behind one last big project.

“I’ve always done interesting projects each year, at least a couple of very unique projects that I have never done before.” Smith said.

Smith teaches his Grade 7 and 8 homeroom classes science, art, and shop. The class was learning about the Titanic and its buoyancy when the gears in Smith’s head began to turn.

“One of the topics that always comes up is the Titanic because of the way it sank, it’s really interesting,” Smith explained. “(It’s interesting because of) the way the nose plunged under first and the rear of the Titanic rose up out of the water because of the watertight bulkheads and the way it struck the iceberg.

“I used to talk about this often over the years and I’ve also talked about building a model of the Titanic just to do that as an experiment.”

And so he did.

The project started in February with his class and was completed in June. The boat measures nine feet in length and between 12 and 13 inches in width . The structure is made of wood and Plexiglas and has working lights throughout.

Smith said the students are very proud of what they accomplished and they spent many hours completing this experiment.

“You could almost say 400 or 500 hours possibly if you added up all our individual time,” he said.

Once the build was done, it was time for the impressive model to hit the water.

Over the weekend, Smith and his class did a recreation of the Titanic sinking. At first, they thought they would let it sink completely. But after considering all the time spent working on it, the class decided they would like to see the model live on.

“Now the Titanic is back in the shop,” Smith said. “We dried it all out and it’s looking pretty good. We’re just gonna touch up some paint and put it on the wall somewhere in the school for some sort of permanent display.”

But the Lucky Lake Elementary School’s model Titanic didn’t end its voyage there. The ship was soon sailing across people’s feeds online.

“Our secretary, she came back one day and saw it and realized what it was and all she did was post two or three pictures … of the kids with the Titanic and it really took off,” Smith said.

“It’s all been great. It’s a very positive project and I’m still trying to read all the comments that people have put on Facebook.”

By Payton Zillich, 650 CKOM