Materials for making magnetic class aids for teaching Marine Rules of The Road.

Here are some of the class aids I use for teaching Marine Rules of The Road (ColRegs).

The class aids are magnetic backed boats, lights and day shapes.  The magnetic class aids can be moved around quickly on a magnetic white board.  I have two sizes of White Boards, one small, 16 x 22 inches with a small table top tripod, the larger White board is 24 x 36 inches with a floor standing tripod that was originally used with a flip chart.

Print the class aids you want to use from the PDF file then glue (double sided tape can be used but be careful to make sure the edges are fastened down solid) the class aids to Poster Board or thin cardboard.

After the glue sets up carefully trim around the edges of the class aids.  A sharp utility knife or Xacto Knife, remember to use some sort of backing to protect the table surface.

Back of the Magnetic Class Aids showing the magnetic pieces, nothing fancy required.

Use pieces of Magnetic Business Card backing on the back of the class aids.  The Business Card Magnets come with one sticky side that a business card can be stuck to, they work just like a regular refrigerator magnet that has advertising on it.  Refrigerator magnets with advertising can be re-purposed with just a bit of double sided sticky tape or some strong glue.  The magnetic backing does not need to cover the entire back of the class aid, just be large enough to hold the class aids to the magnetic white board.

When I am doing a seminar on just Rules of the Road, I hand out my one page “Executive Summery” of the Rules of the Road with the attached self test.  The magnetic class aids can be used to show the self test questions or to illustrate the different rules, and the class can discuss the answers, the boat positions can be adjusted a bit to make the questions a bit harder or to get a more spirited discussion started.

Rules Example

Since the Magnetic Class Aids can be moved around quickly – different situations can be shown quickly and situations students have seen on the water can be shown and discussed.

Day Shapes

Use the Wind or Current arrows to help illustrate their effects on boat handling.  Slips, piers, and docks can either be drawn on the white board using wipe off markers, or more class aids can be made to represent shore features.

There are two sizes of boats to fit the room size and number of students.  The file is PDF so it can also be scaled up or down depending on the need.

I have scaled down a set of the boats to about 2.5 inches long, that allows two boats to be cut from a single magnetic business card with a bit left over.  Print this size of class aids on heavy cover stock and stick directly on the magnetic business card.  This size works great for small groups or 3 or 4 especially if the group is sitting around a table at a coffee shop (yes I have done short Rules of the Road review at coffee shops for friends)

Put the Pecking Order or Hierarchy on cards and have the class arrange them in the correct order.  Give one card to each student and let them place their card in the correct order, or have the class arrange the order as a group effort.

Class Aids File

Download and save the Magnetic Class Aids (PDF) (422 kb) file.

For help teaching Aids to Navigation – see my  Aids to Navigation – Class Aids for help building Aids To Navigation that can be used in the classroom.  The class aids can be used on a table to illustrate Aids To Navigation.

I tried a Felt Board with Felt lights and boats, but the felt pieces kept falling off the board.  With a felt board to move a light or boat, the piece needs to be taken all the way off and stuck on in a different place.  An advantage of the magnetic class aids is that they can be slid around on the magnetic white board which makes changing the class aids positions much easier.

Thanks for your interest in and support of boating safety.

– c / m –