Boat Building Challenge

Warning: Choking Hazard!

Materials

• Cardboard
• Straws
• Alumnium Foil
• Popsicle Sticks (8)

Additional Materials Needed (Not Included)
• Scissors
• Tape
• Weights (pennies, washers etc.

Procedure

  1. The students will have a bag of materials which will be used to design and build a boat using only what was given to them.
  2. Students will construct a boat out of recycled materials to see which boat will be able to stay afloat with added weight.
  3. The students will make predictions about how many pennies, washers; etc. will fit inside their boat before it sinks.
  4. After building their boat, the students will place their boats inside of a tub of water. (Test the boat first without weights). If the boat floats add weight, if it sinks make adjustments and try again.
  5. After completion, ask the students what happened to their boat. If it did not stay afloat, what changes were made to the design of their boats?

The Science You Should Know

This STEM challenge is all about buoyancy. Buoyancy is an object’s ability to sink or float. An object floats when the upward force of buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity.