PreCalculus Unit 5 Project

Mediterranean Immigrant Rescue Mission

Trigonometry and Vectors
Background
In 2014 alone, 3,279 immigrants died in the Mediterranean Sea trying to flee
North Africa and the Middle East for a better life in Europe. So far this year,
over 1,700 have perished making this journey. Read more about the
immigrant crisis in the Mediterranean by following the links below.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/03/25/393557932/a-couple-spendstheir-millions-to-save-migrants-in-the-mediterranean
http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/21/europe/mediterranean-boat-migrants-lister/
http://www.cfr.org/migration/europes-migration-crisis/p32874
Your Mission
You are based on the island of Malta. Your ship, The ________________, has a
mission to rescue as many migrants at sea as possible and return to Malta in
the next 24 hours. Right now, there are four boats overloaded with migrants,
in danger of capsizing. If Malta is at the origin, (0, 0), then the four boats
have the following positions and contain the following number of people in
danger: Boat 1 at (7, 5) with 34 people; Boat 2 at (-4, 3) with 27 people;
Boat 3 at (-5, -10) with 109 people; and Boat 4 at (3, -8) with 96 people.
Each unit in your coordinate system represents 10 nautical miles. Your ship
travels an average of 15 knots (nautical miles per hour), not considering
wind. Once your ship arrives at each boat, the rescue takes about 1
minute/person. After each rescue, you must return to Malta to drop off the
people you rescued. It takes 30 minutes to unload your passengers. It is a
calm day at sea, so the currents are negligible. The winds are blowing due
north at 10 knots. It is 6:00 am. Your ship must arrive back to Malta with
your last load of passengers no later than 6:00 am tomorrow.
Calculations Component
You must chart your course, explaining to which Boats you travel in which
order. For each section of your 24-hour voyage, you must do the following
calculations:

Determine the distance you must travel to arrive at each ship.

Determine what your heading (bearing) needs to be to travel from
each location to the next (ex. N 47 E).
Determine your adjusted heading taking wind into consideration.

From your adjusted bearing, calculate the amount of time it takes to

travel to the destination and make the rescue, and travel back to
Malta.
State the time you will return to Malta with your last load of passengers
and how many total people you rescued.

Written Component

Name your ship. How did you choose this name?

Explain your approach. How did you decide which Boat to rescue first?
Second, etc? What factors did you consider? What was your priority?
What aspects of this mission are not entirely realistic? What other
factors might you have to take into consideration navigating your ship
in a real rescue situation?
There will be a self- and peer-evaluation component for the project.

Bonus Points

Make an aesthetically pleasing visual representation of your rescue

mission. You can use graph paper, a model, or whatever else might
best illustrate your work.