Watercraft Challenge
You will be creating a life size cardboard boat for one of your classmates to paddle the width of our pool. Because you will not have access to the pool before your final test, you will do some testing with a simulated pool to gather background information before creating your design.
The Challenge
Build a boat that can hold 25 pennies for at least 15 seconds before sinking.
Build a boat that can hold 25 pennies for at least 15 seconds before sinking.
Materials: foil piece, cup, pennies, masses
CHALLENGE #1: USING ONLY FOIL and PENNIES
Look at your materials and think about the questions below.
Then sketch your ideas on a piece of paper.
CHALLENGE #1: USING ONLY FOIL and PENNIES
Look at your materials and think about the questions below.
Then sketch your ideas on a piece of paper.
- How will you make a boat that floats well enough to support a heavy load without sinking?
- Should your boat be a platform (e.g., a raft or barge) or an open boat (e.g., a rowboat or canoe)?
- How big do you need to make your boat to hold 25 pennies?
Use the materials to build your boat.
Then test it by floating it in a container of water and adding pennies, one at a time. When you test, your design may not work as planned. When engineers solve a problem, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign. When you have a successful design, sketch your design on a piece of paper, and label it "Challenge 1".
Then test it by floating it in a container of water and adding pennies, one at a time. When you test, your design may not work as planned. When engineers solve a problem, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign. When you have a successful design, sketch your design on a piece of paper, and label it "Challenge 1".
CHALLENGE #2: USING A CUPFUL OF MASSES and FOIL
Create a foil boat to hold a cupful of 6 (20g) masses for at least 15 seconds!
Use the materials to build your boat.
Then test it by floating it in a container of water and adding masses, one at a time. When you test, your design may not work as planned. When engineers solve a problem, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign. When you have a successful design, sketch your design on a piece of paper, and label it "Challenge 2".
Create a foil boat to hold a cupful of 6 (20g) masses for at least 15 seconds!
Use the materials to build your boat.
Then test it by floating it in a container of water and adding masses, one at a time. When you test, your design may not work as planned. When engineers solve a problem, they try different ideas, learn from mistakes, and try again. Study the problems and then redesign. When you have a successful design, sketch your design on a piece of paper, and label it "Challenge 2".
AFTER YOU'VE HAD TWO SUCCESSFUL BOATS, upload a photo of both of your designs to Edmodo (Ms. Hadler) or Google Drive (Ms. Raja), and start thinking about the design for your life size boat!