Boat Float

Related classroom topics

Buoyancy

Hints/Tips: The boats shaped similar to a barge will hold the most weight. Purchase aluminum foil specifically for wrapping sandwiches, it is precut into 1 square foot pieces. Ask teacher for possible water containers within school supplies. Boats may carry any where from 40-100 pennies.

Supplies needed per team:

• One 12” x 12” sheet of aluminum foil
• Weights – marbles, pennies or washers
• Water container to test the boats

How long it takes

About 50-55 minutes total:

• 5-10 minutes for introduction and explanation of the activity
• 25-30 minutes to build the boats
• 10 minutes to test the boats
• 5-10 minutes to discuss the results

Challenge

Design a boat that will hold the most weight using only the sheet of aluminum foil. The boat will be tested to see how much weight it can support without sinking.

What to do

1. Lead a short discussion by asking the children to describe boats they have seen. What do the boats look like?

2. Explain that they are going to design a boat using only 1 sheet of aluminum foil. They can fold it into any shape they want.

3. Explain that the boat must hold as much weight as possible. The boat will be tested to see how many marbles (or pennies or washers) it will hold before it sinks.

4. Have the teacher divide the children into no more than 6 teams with 4 to 6 kids per team. Have one child from each team collect the needed materials or pass them out yourself.

5. Monitor the teams as they build their boats. Offer suggestions as needed.

6. Once all the teams have completed their boats or the time is up, start testing the boats. Have one (or more) of the team members place the weights in the boat one at a time until it either sinks or you run out of weights. This is a good opportunity for the kids to practice counting together as the weights are added. Count the number of weights each boat held to determine the winning team.

Follow-up Questions

(Feel free to add your own)

• Ask what shapes held the most weight? What held the least?
• Are there similarities in the design of each team’s strongest boat?
• If you could change one thing to make your boat better, what would it be?