Dave Marshall looks at a package that can see a classroom turn into a diving expedition to recover the treasures of the Mary Rose

'Your good ship, the flower I trow of all ships that ever sailed.'

Sir Edward Howard reporting to Henry VIII - 1513 - about the Mary Rose.

Four years ago I came across one of the best projects I ever saw based around a piece of software. A class of children had 'discovered' the Mary Rose in the middle of the Solent and had then 'dived' to explore the wreck - all in the relative comfort of their classroom. The software was the original Mary Rose (original software that is - not the ship!). This began its life with the Cambridgeshire Software House, although it was marketed by Ginn at the time. Now there is an updated version from CHS and the potential for project work is even better.

Like all true educational simulations, the computer creates an environment on the screen that is away from, but mirrors, the real world. The children can 'become' divers and explorers. They must have some of the skills they would need if they were really scouring the deep for the remains of a Tudor warship. If you know the original Mary Rose program you may be disappointed to find that the 'survey' program has gone. This is presumably to reflect reality - everyone knows where the remains are now, they just need to be examined and brought to the surface. So the children take it in turns to dive to the wreck. It's as if the Mary Rose had never been lifted. The children can explore the wreck for artefacts, at all sorts of levels. To do this, they must clear the mud and gradually reveal the shape of the old ship. Once one level is cleared, the children can explore the next.

On booting the disc you are presented with the main diving screen. At the top there is a plan of the site. At the top and the bottom of this, there are markers that enable you to fix your position on the cross-section which is shown at the bottom left of the screen. The Diver Information Panel tells you the diver's position as a co-ordinate and his or her depth in metres. There are two dials which indicate barometric pressure and elapsed time. There is also a bar graph that shows the amount of air used. The diver is automatically lifted to the surface when the level reaches the danger point.

If during the dive you should be fortunate enough to discover an artefact, then you are given the message in a box at the bottom of the screen: 'You have found artefact number ??'. Then by pressing R - to Raise - the find is brought to the surface and on to the ship. You are provided with a 'Book of Finds' which accompanies the software, so it is easy to identify what you have raised.

On the way back from a week on the Isle of Wight a class of local fourth-years called in to see the Mary Rose in Portsmouth. They were impressed by the size and shape of what was left of the old ship. They were also very cold as the ship's home is kept at a temperature of 5 degrees C and 95 per cent humidity! Prior to their visit they had done a great deal of research about life in Henry VIII's time - especially his role in improving the navy. Using the software was a perfect way to follow up the visit. It was amazing how many of the finds the children could remember when they brought them to the surface.

The opportunity for the children to engage in all sorts of writing activities can easily be grasped, and never ignore the chance to do the writing on the computer.

The following is a good example of the way children can adopt the roles of the people of the time. Written by Samantha Bresnahan, it is her account of the diary of a sailor on July 19, 1545.

'This was my tenth time aboard the Mary Rose and I was looking forward to it because I was determined to give battle against the French fleet. I kissed my wife, Polly, goodbye and went aboard. Southsea Castle was soon left behind and King Henry VIII himself was watching. I felt very proud to be representing England in front of the King. The French had already started firing at the flower and we were in our positions. Suddenly the boat started getting a bit shaky and it was tipping from side to side. I knew we had 400 extra men on board but this was ridiculous. Suddenly water started gushing through the gunports. There were screams and shouts as we felt the boat tipping on one side. All the cannons were rolling over and squashing and trapping the men. This happened to one of my mates and I decided to jump over the side and get away if I could.'

Samantha also wrote the diary of this particular sailor's wife - Polly, July 21, 1545. 'It was early morning and I was hoping for the return of my husband from the battle against the French. A letter was pushed under the door during the night. I had never had a letter before and I opened it with trembling fingers. It said: "Dear Polly, Two days ago the Mary Rose sank and your husband is missing. We think he is all right because he was seen swimming away from the ship as it went down. We don't know where he is. Yours, Jack, his mate."

My friends came round to comfort me when they knew but there were so many other men missing and drowned. I couldn't get over it. It was a great shock. I was crying all the time and kept hugging his belongings. It was a very sad time.

As well as these fictional exercises, the children can get involved in writing factual reports of their diving activities. It shows how well they get into character and learn their roles before they write up their first attempts at diving. The following piece by Claire Black, illustrates my point:

'When we drove into Portsmouth I got more and more excited about my first ever dive. In no time we were on the boat and heading towards the dive site. We were going down to search the remains of the Mary Rose on the seabed in the Solent. Soon I was in the water paddling away. It was dark and very cold - it felt great though. I was diving with a friend called Mary who was a well experienced diver, unlike me. We split up and went in different directions. I wasn't as confident without her but I soon got used to it. At the bottom I was removing lots of mud with the airline, but underneath there seemed to be just more and more mud and rocks. I had six minutes left on my air gauge but I still hadn't found anything. I went to find Mary and see if she had found anything. I caught her removing some mud and underneath there was a leather shoe. Very carefully, we raised the shoe and took it to the surface. I still wanted to find something and as I had done well in the morning they let me dive again.

I removed lots more mud but still no luck. I was getting a bit cold and fed up about not finding anything, when I came across something. It looked like a waist jacket. I was so happy as I took it to the surface.'

Not all the children could come to terms with the fact that everyone would actually enjoy diving into the freezing sea looking for pieces of an old boat! They were quite happy to have a go in the classroom - but in real water? Some of them decided to simulate a real dive in the school swimming pool. As this is only six feet deep it was quite difficult. It also included wearing close fitting clothes, goggles with the glass-covered over (it is dark down there!) and being partially or totally immersed for over half an hour. I also had to turn off the pool's heating system for a day to get the water temperature down! They all hated it! It gave rise to the following piece of writing - on Wordwise - the next time they had to imagine they were diving.

'I'm not sure why I do it. Every moment I spend underwater I am terrified. I hate the gloom. I hate the cold. And most of all I am frightened of being trapped under the water. Yet I cannot resist it. I get up in the morning feeling very jittery and by the time I am dressed to dive I find myself actually trembling. But down I go, convinced that one day I shall make the most wonderful discovery, the one that will explain why I do it. I'm sure it's there, just under the mud. Perhaps today...'

You can build all sorts of other class activities around the Tudor project. As well as the usual cloze tests and creative writing, the children tried to imagine the launching ceremony of the Mary Rose. Using the amazing Compose, they tried very successfully to 'write' some music that sounded Tudor. Compose consists of groups of musical phrases represented by pictures - nine on each screen. It is then possible to combine these pictures to make simple tunes. The children soon recognise the sounds that each picture represents an can make tunes at great speed.

If you have a mouse and the AMX Art package, or something similar, you can encourage pupils to draw the submerged boat, or a cannon on deck. There really is no end to what children can do as the result of a good simulation pack like Mary Rose. I just hope you all enjoy diving as much as we did!