Is it a car or a boat? Darryl Goble and the Swimming Car
There's a special little car driving around Stratford and sometimes it takes to the water. Darryl Goble owns an amphibious car and it's good for shopping and fishing. He can head off along the highway at 100 kph or cross a lake at 16 kph.
This little beauty isn't new though. It's been around since the 1960s when nearly 4,000 rolled off the production line. Many are rusted wrecks or were turned into scrap metal years ago but Darryl's Amphicar is like new. It's been restored.
Rewind
Darryl Goble's car is from the 1960s- 1964 to be exact. The 60s was a very famous decade. Did these events really happen way back then? Answer true or false and check your answers at the end of this week's TreasureLink.
- A band called The Beatles is amazingly popular.
- A car called the mini hits the roads.
- Edmund Hillary climbs Mt Everest for the very first time.
- Boys wear caps and girls wear hats to intermediate and high school.
- Opera singer Kiri Te Kanawa begins her famous career.
Word watch
All the words and phrases below are in this week's story. Choose the best meaning and then check your choices as you read the story. The answers can be found at the end of this week's TreasureLink
- indication (a) explanation or (b) reason
- marine beacon (a) ship's radio aerial or (b) signal at sea
- starboard (a) right hand side of a ship while looking forward or (b) the front of a ship
- civilian (a) imported or (b) not belonging to the armed forces
- amphibious (a) water based or (b) operating on land and in water
- potential (a) possibilities or (b) usefulness
- dunking (a) swirling in liquid or (b) immersing in liquid
- restored (a) rebuilt so it was like new again or (b) placed in a safe place
- nerve wracking (a) a scary time or (b) a worrying time
- wake (a) the track left behind a boat as it travels through the water or (b) the foam behind a boat as it travels through the water
Fine features!
Read the first part of this week's story down to A car that swims and check out the features that tell you this is no ordinary car.
To find out more about the Amphicar look here (The picture section is really good).
Look here
and finish this feature chart which could be part of the advertising brochure for the Amphicar.
Great Ampihicar journeys
A car that swims tells you about some amazing sea crossings that adventurers made when the Amphicars first came on the market. Read all about them and then track them on a map found here.
What if you owned an amphicar? List three trips around New Zealand that would be a lot quicker and a lot more interesting in an Amphicar. A map here will help you work out three trips.
No more rust?
Rust was one reason why the amphicars of the 1960s failed but the new technology of today may mean new amphicars won't have this problem.
What if you were an Amphicar designer now? What new technology would you use in the design of this car to prevent rust?
Look here and here and here for a few clues.
Think, pair and share your ideas with a classmate.
Read A dream come true down to the part that tells about the first time Darryl took the car into the water.
Darryl put in some extra seals to keep the water out. Think about a normal car and where these extra seals would need to be. Draw a simple picture of the Amphicar and label all the parts that would need these special seals.
An engine at the back?
Most cars have the engine under the bonnet at the front of the car but the Amphicar has the motor in the back. It's in the boot! Get together with a classmate and work out two good reasons for this design feature.
First time in the water
Finish the story now and read all about the first time Darryl took his newly restored Amphicar into the water. Find out too why it is just as easy to drive on the water as it is on the roads.
Create an ad!
Display advertisements are the ones with pictures that you see in newspapers and magazines. They have a big bold headline to catch the eye and a picture that takes up quite a big part of the ad's space.
Display ads also list the benefits or good things about the product and they tell customers the price and where to buy it.
Become a graphic artist and design an eye catching ad for the Amphicar. Make sure it has the five things above because they are important parts of a display ad.
You could use a photo from the story or a cartoon from this TreasureLink or you could draw your own. You could even take a digital photo of a car in the school car park, make some modifications and call this the Amphicar.
Look here again if you need some more ideas for your benefits.
More marvellous cars
Darryl Goble has more cars than the Amphicar. He has a great collection of tiny cars with fantastic names like Goggomobil, Daffodil and Imp. To read all about them, look here.
Amphibious cars are still being made today. You can find out about the very latest ones here and here.
Fast forward
The Ministry of Transport wants motorists and trucking firms to pay more towards building and maintaining New Zealand's roads and a trial in Auckland will soon see motorists charged fees for the use of some existing roads.
Auckland has a bit of a traffic problem so perhaps that's why the Ministry of Transport is starting there.
What if Aucklanders owned Amphicars instead of normal cars? Would they help solve Auckland's traffic problems?
Imagine if you were the town planner with the job of convincing the Council that Amphicars really were the answer to Auckland's traffic problems.
Use this planning guide
to help you work out some key points for your presentation to the council. Try this with a classmate and you should come up with some great ideas.
Rewind answers
All true this week except for number three. Edmund Hillary climbed Mt Everest with Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953.
Word watch answers
1.a, 2.b, 3.a, 4.b, 5.b, 6.a, 7b, 8.a, 9a, 10a (Often it is the foam but it can be a wave so (a) is the best answer)