The Benjamin Banneker is a 2-foot long plastic, experimental boat constructed by Dr. Jackson for the students of the Benjamin Banneker K-8 Charter School of Cambridge, MA. The boat was injected with self-hardening foam to provide extra bouyancy and a 7 inch plast keel for stability.

The boat contained a note, a self-addressed envelope and $5.00 in cash to cover the postage costs for any finder of the craft. The Benjamin Banneker was launched over the side of the Montserrat Ferry approximately midway between Montserrat and Antigua of January 8, 2003 (at approximately 7:30 A.M. Montserrat Time). The Benjamin Banneker was recovered on Frigate Bay Beach on the island of St. Kitts Kitts on January 11, 2003 by Wilmoth Johnson (approximately noon time) and several of his friends:

K-12 COLLABORATIVE PROJECT 1

The First K-12 Collaborative* Project of the RIMES Program Between the students of The Banneker School, School 636 (St. Petersburg, Russia) and the Montserrat Secondary School is as follows:

1. Calculate the approximate speed of the Benjamin Banneker given the information above(as Dr. Mousseau said; "that boat was moving!").
   
   
2. What direction were the winds and currents that carried the Benjamin Banneker moving Hint: Determine what side (compass direction) of St. Kitts Frigate Bay Beach is located?
   
   
3. How many miles/kilometers approximately did the Benjamin Banneker travel?
   
   
4. If the Benjamin Banneker did indeed land on St. Kitts at noon on January 11, 2003, did the landing occur at high-tide or low-tide?
   
   
5. The Souiffre Hills on Montserrat volcano regularly emits ash clouds. Based on the information you gather on the voyage of the experimental boat, Benjamin Banneker, determine what direction an ash cloud emitted at 7:30 A.M. on January 8, 2003 on Montserrat was likely to travel.
   
   

*Best RIMES Investigator to collaborate with in this project: Bruce Schwoegler; who will be able to help with wind & current directions, and wind & speeds for that region and the relevant dates.