After introducing several different types of submarines, have students select one type and create a model. Instruct them on how to calculate scale and to choose an appropriate scale that would be accurate and manageable. Provide students with building materials, including empty plastic bottles, pieces of wood, clay, craft foam and construction paper. Some students may prefer to make an electronic model using a computer design program. If so, the model should still be mathematically in scale. As an additional project, consider asking students to create a cut-away model that shows the inside of a submarine.
Each student can select a model of submarine from any point in history. They then can pretend that they are a tour guide for that submarine and are taking a group of important VIPs on a tour. They should write a script or record it as an MP3 file in which they start at the entry of the submarine and take the guests through each room. Their tour should include interesting, historical facts about the submarine, such as when it was first commissioned, where it was used and any major action it saw in warfare.
Instead of a model, have students design a submarine that will float, sink and rise again in a tank of water. To do this, you will first need to introduce the concepts of density, mass and volume. Explain how buoyancy works. Discuss the characteristics of different types of materials. Let students work in teams to come up with a design that fulfills all of the requirements. Then have each group test its submarine. If it is not able to float, sink and rise, give them another opportunity to redesign the submarine or to produce an analysis of what went wrong.
Talk to students about the average length of service on a submarine and how long a sailor might be at sea once a mission starts. Discuss as a class what it might be like living in cramped quarters underwater for an extended period of time. Divide students into groups and assign each group a different aspect of life on a submarine. Tell them to research that aspect of life and what it is like for a modern-day submarine crew. If possible, try to set up a podcast interview with someone who has served on a submarine.