Sasebo students put math, science skills to the test aboard USS Germantown
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SASEBO NAVAL BASE, Japan – It wasn’t a normal day in the classroom for 66 fifth- and sixth-graders from Sasebo Elementary, and Seaman Aldannuvia Dominguez of the USS Germantown wasn’t their normal teacher.
The Department of Defense Dependents Schools students toured the Whidbey Island class dock landing ship on Thursday to learn how math and science are practically applied in daily Navy life.
Dominguez, who was working in the pilothouse, showed the students how to use a compass and plot a course. Then she took questions, speaking with students whose imaginations raced, covering everything from navigation to global positioning systems.
“It’s really hard to navigate celestially,” she said. “We rely on this room to make sure we don’t crash,” Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael Kilpatrick added.
In addition to the pilothouse, the children also learned about mechanical advantage and got to operate pulley systems on board the ship. The tour also included fire science, where children got to use the fire hoses in the well-deck of the ship, as well as a tour of the ship’s medical facilities. They also had lunch with skipper Cmdr. Carol McKenzie.
