Many of the important systems on the Col. James M. Schoonmaker relied on the transfer of energy to make them work. One example is the steam engine, which created heat by burning coal, the heat boiled water to make steam, the pressure from the steam turned pistons, which turned the propeller, transferring energy the entire way.

Listen to the audio “Fireman,” under the Auxiliary Machinery tab to hear what it was like to work in an engine room.

Another example of the transfer of energy is the steering system. By turning the wheel in the pilothouse, mechanical energy transferred over 600 feet to the engine room, was amplified by the steering engine and turned the 24 foot rudder.

Listen to the audio “Steering Engine” to learn more.

Visit the engine room and look for the yellow and red rods that connected the wheels to the steering engine.

Build a device that uses a series of energy transfers to complete a task. Use materials you can find at home. It could be simple or as complex as a Rube Goldberg device.

Science Learning Standards: Grade 4: Physical Science: Electricity, Heat and Matter: 2. Energy can be transferred from one location to another or can be transformed from one form to another.

Sailing on the Great Lakes could be dangerous. There have been more than 8,000 shipwrecks since 1679. Weather was one of the biggest factors in making the Great Lakes so dangerous.

Listen to the audio “Storm of 1913,” under the Pilothouse tab to hear the messages that Captain Slade sent during one of the Great Lakes most dangerous storms.

Improving communications technology on the Great Lakes was really a matter of life and death. The Schoonmaker was equipped with the wireless telegraph, which meant they could receive messages instantly from shore and other ships. That meant better weather forecasts, frequent updates, warnings about dangers and faster help when they needed it. The telegraph was cutting edge technology, and though it used radio waves to transmit, it just transmitted dots and dashes, not voices. Operators sent messages using Morse Code, an alphabet of letters created using dots and dashes. Captain Slade’s messages had to be translated into Morse Code to send and then back into English when they were received.