Aluminum Foil Boats
Items to use
Building The Boats
To make the boats we first had to plan and guess how many pennies our boats would hold then we started our first draft. For our first draft we had to fold the aluminum foil and make twists in it and not make rips in it. For the first draft almost everybody got 90 or more pennies to stay in their boat and float. For the second test we knew the size and form of the boats that were more successful. Lots of the boats had high walls and big bodys. Almost all our second drafts held more pennies than our first drafts of our Aluminum Foil boats.
Testing The Aluminum Foil Boats
We made aluminum foil boats and used pennies to see how much weight they could hold. We made two drafts of our boats and the most successful were the ones with tall walls and no holes. When we were done testing our boats we took a picture of our first and second draft of our boats. The average amount of pennies each boat held was about 100 pennies. The boat who held the most pennies held about 300 pennies.
Suggestions for making boats
If you want to make a aluminum foil boat the best shape is a rectangle with really tall walls.
- Big sheet of Aluminum foil
- Pennies or paper clips
- A big bucket of water.
Building The Boats
To make the boats we first had to plan and guess how many pennies our boats would hold then we started our first draft. For our first draft we had to fold the aluminum foil and make twists in it and not make rips in it. For the first draft almost everybody got 90 or more pennies to stay in their boat and float. For the second test we knew the size and form of the boats that were more successful. Lots of the boats had high walls and big bodys. Almost all our second drafts held more pennies than our first drafts of our Aluminum Foil boats.
Testing The Aluminum Foil Boats
We made aluminum foil boats and used pennies to see how much weight they could hold. We made two drafts of our boats and the most successful were the ones with tall walls and no holes. When we were done testing our boats we took a picture of our first and second draft of our boats. The average amount of pennies each boat held was about 100 pennies. The boat who held the most pennies held about 300 pennies.
Suggestions for making boats
If you want to make a aluminum foil boat the best shape is a rectangle with really tall walls.
Cardboard Boats
Suggestions while building a Cardboard Boat
While Building a cardboard boat you want to use packaging tape. Because duct tape is a little confusing and hard to handle. Packaging tape also makes a cardboard look better. When you are building your cardboard boat, try to use as MUCH tape as possible. Try to cover your WHOLE boat in tape, so it won’t get as wet and soggy.
Easy and hard
What is easy about building a cardboard boat, is if you have more hands it seems like less work. What is also easy is everything is pretty easy, like taping, and measuring. What is hard is, it is pretty hard to cover up all holes and learn about density and buoyancy. You have to learn a LOT about boats if you want to make one that floats. For instance, you can’t just go out, buy a BUNCH of wood then make a boat and expect it to float. It is more complicated
While Building a cardboard boat you want to use packaging tape. Because duct tape is a little confusing and hard to handle. Packaging tape also makes a cardboard look better. When you are building your cardboard boat, try to use as MUCH tape as possible. Try to cover your WHOLE boat in tape, so it won’t get as wet and soggy.
Easy and hard
What is easy about building a cardboard boat, is if you have more hands it seems like less work. What is also easy is everything is pretty easy, like taping, and measuring. What is hard is, it is pretty hard to cover up all holes and learn about density and buoyancy. You have to learn a LOT about boats if you want to make one that floats. For instance, you can’t just go out, buy a BUNCH of wood then make a boat and expect it to float. It is more complicated
Clay Boats
by Jade
If you mold a piece of clay into a ball it will sink because the molecules are packed together so tightly that it doesn't hold enough air to float. Air molecules are very small bubbles that are floating in the air. Clay boats float if its shaped as a boat because it has air molecules go into it. The air molecules make things float because they are less dense than the water.
Density is how packed the molecules are, for example a cardboard box is less dense than a rock. The rock is more dense because it has no places for the air molecules to rest in, and the cardboard box is less dense because it has all that space inside the box for the air molecules to float around in.
If you mold a piece of clay into a ball it will sink because the molecules are packed together so tightly that it doesn't hold enough air to float. Air molecules are very small bubbles that are floating in the air. Clay boats float if its shaped as a boat because it has air molecules go into it. The air molecules make things float because they are less dense than the water.
Density is how packed the molecules are, for example a cardboard box is less dense than a rock. The rock is more dense because it has no places for the air molecules to rest in, and the cardboard box is less dense because it has all that space inside the box for the air molecules to float around in.
Plastic Bottle Boats
by Nicole and Raymond
Materials
The materials for our boat that we use is a pencil to stick it on top of the water bottle so it can keep more balance, water bottle for the boat and clay to make keels or anything else to make it float.
Time
We took 30 minutes to do these kinds of bottle boats.
Testing + Results
First we tested our bottle boats to see if they float. Then our class tested them and how they floated was that some groups got the clay and made the keel and it floated. It balanced while it floated.
What we learned
What we learned about our bottle boats was that you need to put a keel at the bottom of the boat and what we also learned was that when the boat was tipping over, you need to put a pencil at top of the bottle water boat so it can balance to and so it can also float.
Easy/ Hard
For me and our whole class it was easy and hard at the same time because some will not float and some will sink. It is also hard and easy because some would also tip over and we would be really frustrated that there boat tip over and it is easy to because you can design your bottle boat.
Recommendation
How we are going to teach our audience in exhibition about our boats is by showing them how we made the boats, how we all can improve while were making a boat and how did we design our boat. We designed our boat by putting clay around the boat.
Materials
The materials for our boat that we use is a pencil to stick it on top of the water bottle so it can keep more balance, water bottle for the boat and clay to make keels or anything else to make it float.
Time
We took 30 minutes to do these kinds of bottle boats.
Testing + Results
First we tested our bottle boats to see if they float. Then our class tested them and how they floated was that some groups got the clay and made the keel and it floated. It balanced while it floated.
What we learned
What we learned about our bottle boats was that you need to put a keel at the bottom of the boat and what we also learned was that when the boat was tipping over, you need to put a pencil at top of the bottle water boat so it can balance to and so it can also float.
Easy/ Hard
For me and our whole class it was easy and hard at the same time because some will not float and some will sink. It is also hard and easy because some would also tip over and we would be really frustrated that there boat tip over and it is easy to because you can design your bottle boat.
Recommendation
How we are going to teach our audience in exhibition about our boats is by showing them how we made the boats, how we all can improve while were making a boat and how did we design our boat. We designed our boat by putting clay around the boat.
Wooden Boats
In Engineering Class, students built wooden boats and tested how much weight they could hold without sinking. Based on their observations, they modified and rebuilt their boats to improve the boats' performance in the final test: carrying 3 gallons of water in a kiddie pool.