Prompts and questions to ask the students
- Have you ever been on a boat? Have you ever floated on water?
- How can a boat float when it is so heavy, but a golf ball, which is lighter than the boat, sinks?
- How do things float and sink?
- When you are in the pool, when do you float and when do you sink to the bottom?
- Have you heard of the Archimedes principle?
- Have you ever made a paper boat and made it float?
- What are some techniques you used to make it stay afloat?
Challenge description video:
Video instructions for design challenge
Things to think about while building the boat:
- What part of your design will prevent water from pouring over the edge, even when the boat is weighed down?
- How can you make your boat stable? You don’t want your boat to tip over if too much weight is placed on one side.
- What can you do to make your boat sturdy enough so that it doesn’t deform or collapse in on itself when the weight is placed inside?
Performance criteria: Your boat will be judged on how much weight that it can carry. The best boat will be able to hold lots of weight without taking on water
- Use the Design Challenge Handout to guide your design process.
Video instructions for design challenge
Things to think about while building the boat:
- What part of your design will prevent water from pouring over the edge, even when the boat is weighed down?
- How can you make your boat stable? You don’t want your boat to tip over if too much weight is placed on one side.
- What can you do to make your boat sturdy enough so that it doesn’t deform or collapse in on itself when the weight is placed inside?
- Use the Design Challenge Handout to guide your design process.
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