3rd -5th grade
Build-A-Boat
Challenge
A Boat Full
of Hope
You are with Jesse, Walt, and Mike in the Inventionland
forest when you come across a rare kind of metal. Walt wants to take all of it
home to use for an invention. As you are walking home, much to Walt’s dismay, you get lost! You
find a river in the middle of the forest when Mike, the geography wiz,
remembers that the river current
floats in the direction of the town. Build a
boat for the boys so that they can make it home!
Make sure the boat can carry as much of Walt’s
metal as possible!
Introduction
Boats have been built out of lots of different materials Some are as simple as being dug out logs. Many others have been made of reeds, planks of wood, or steel. Your
challenge is to build a boat out of a piece of aluminum foil, then see how much your boat can carry.
Materials/ Preparations
* Make sure to get a parent or guardian’s permission before
you start!
1. Gather about 1 to 1.5 cups of small heavy objects. Look
for things like coins, nuts, bolts, washers, small stones, marbles, or broken
cement pieces. (Look for anything dense that won’t be hurt by water.)
2. Get a bucket or large bowl that is at least 10 inches
wide.
* You may also use a sink with the drain plugged.
3. Tear off a few (3 to 5) sheets of aluminum foil. Cut
each sheet into an 8 inch by 8-inch square. (You can use other materials if you do not have Aluminum foil.)
4. Add water to the bucket, bowl, or sink. Fill until the
water is 3 to 4 inches deep.
The
Challenge
STEP ONE: Inventing
1. Sketch out ideas on how to make a boat that can float and
hold your heavy objects. Come up with as many ideas as you can and try the
simplest idea first.
* Do research on boat design and aluminum foil projects to
see if you can learn things that will help!
STEP TWO: Making
A.) Start folding! Using
ONLY ONE SHEET of aluminum foil, make your boat.
*You may fold the foil into any shape you want.
*Your goal is to make a boat that floats with as many
objects in it as possible without sinking.
B.) Once you have a boat, test it!
*Place your boat into the water.
*Add small objects carefully. (Only add one at a time!)
*Keep adding objects until it sinks!
C.) Pull your boat out and try again.
*See if you can get more in your boat by changing how you
add the objects.
*Think of ways you can improve your design then make a new
boat.
*Go back and test it as you did in STEP TWO.
STEP THREE: Storytelling
Send your pictures and/or videos to Me (in Padlet) along with
the answers to the following questions:
1. What things did you try during this challenge that
worked?
2. What things did you try that did not work?
3. How would you improve your design if you could build the
boat out of anything you wanted, and why?
Credit for activitY: Inventionland Institute https://inventionlandinstitute.com/
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