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Summer of STEM: Boat Design Challenge!

STEM is a broad category that allows for serious learning and fun to go hand in hand.  Recently, we had the school age group do an engineering activity (The ‘E’ in STEM).  The 1st task was to take a sheet of aluminum foil and make a boat that floats.

A review of solids and liquids from our last activity lead to some questions:

  • Why do some things float and others do not?
  • Does metal float?
  • How do metal ships float?

The idea with these questions is to let the kids make their own theories and discuss.  We take time to go through each one, and eventually we answer them with broad answers that tread lightly into the science behind the concept.

Follow up questions:

  • What shape does a boat have?
  • Can a boat have numerous shapes?
  • What is the most important job of a boat?

The kids are turned loose with a sheet of foil and work in pairs designing their boat.  They were told the boat had 2 jobs; to float, and to carry weight.  The designs they created were all over the spectrum.  Some were large, some were compact.  Some were simple, and some were creative and flashy. 

Task 1: Does the boat float?

We took turns letting each team test their boats in a tub full of water.  A handful of them took on water.  We talked about how this is a group learning activity, and the first part is where we get to make mistakes and change our boats as we learn.  Once all the boats were sea worthy, we moved on to the actual challenge.

Task 2: How much weight can the boat carry?

At this point the teams are no longer able to change their designs.  Again we take turns by team, adding Lincoln Logs as weight to the boats.  Most of the boats held 20 pieces of wood before sinking.  A handful of them sunk after 10-12 pieces.  We talked about why that happened.  The kids figured out that most of those boats had breaks in the hull lower on the design that the boats that held more weight.  Water got in quickly with the holes being close to the surface.

There was one clear winner in the group.  A boat that spread the weight across a wide surface area, increasing its buoyancy (we did not get into that term this lesson) and ability to carry heavier loads. 

Very cool!

Next lesson: The Science of Sounds