Marine propulsion

Marine propulsion is the way boats and ships move through water. Just like how your toy car moves when you push it, boats and ships need a way to move forward in the water. They use different methods to do that depending on how big they are and what they are used for.

Do you know how a fan blows air to make you feel cool? It's like that, but it's the other way around. Instead of a fan blowing air, a boat or ship has something called an engine that pushes water out the back to make it move forward.

Some boats and ships have big propellers that look like fans, while others have jets that shoot water out the back to propel them forward. Some boats even use sails like a kite to catch the wind and move through the water.

All you need to remember is that just like how you need a bike or a skateboard to move on land, boats and ships need some kind of propulsion to move through water.