Foil Boat
Design a boat that will float using aluminum foil! See how many pennies it will support. Re-evaluate the design and try a different model. In order to get off the island you will have to make the best design that holds the greatest weight!
Materials Required
• 4 sheets of aluminum foil per person - approximately 12" x 6" (keep the size uniform)
• tubs of water – dishpans work well
• pennies - up to 100
• paper or cloth towels to mop up spills
• camera
Procedure
1. Fill a tub with 3"- 4" of water.
2. Cut three foils into uniform sizes sheets. (12" x 6")
3. Have a bowl of pennies and a towel handy for clean-up.
4. Form a boat shape from each piece of aluminum foil. They can be any shape or style.
5. Make a table to keep track of your data. Label the boats 1, 2, 3 or draw pictures of each. (or use the data table provided here)
6. Measure the length, width and depth of each boat at the greatest point for each.
7. Test each boat individually by floating it on the water to make sure it floats.
8. Add pennies carefully, one-by-one until the boat sinks.
9. Count the number of pennies the boat held and record the information in your data table.
10. Select the boat that held the most pennies and with a new sheet of foil, redesign the boat hull to see if you can improve on your design and repeat the test.
11. Record the number of pennies held.
12. Take a picture of your best boat to share with your class. (Home-bound students may be able to share on social media)
Questions
1. How does the shape of a boat affect the mass it can carry?
2. How are cargo ships and barges alike and how are they different?
3. Why are there so many different shapes and sizes of boats?
4. What can you say about your best boat hull design?
5. How does the placement of pennies affect the number the boat holds?
6. What is the equivalent "boat" to your design? Canoe, barge, skiff, cargo. What characteristics make your boat similar to that particular boat.
7. Explain why boats are able to float on water.
Discussion
By enclosing air, which is much lighter than water, even steel boats can float. Without buoyancy, river and sea transportation, exploration and commerce would not be possible.
A fluid exerts an upward force on objects less dense than itself. An object floats if water’s density is greater than the object. The principle of buoyancy holds that the lifting force of an object submerged in a fluid is equal to the weight of the fluid it has displaced. The concept is also known as Archimedes's principle, after the Greek mathematician, physicist, and inventor Archimedes (c. 287-212 B.C. ), who discovered it.
Fluid Displacement - Occurs when an object is placed in a fluid, pushing the fluid out of the way and taking its place.
Opportunity to read more: Reread the parts of the book that describe the different boats --the Peggy Sue, the boats in the Thames when they left England, the junks that came to the island, the outrigger canoe. See if you can find a picture of each type of book using an internet search. Read about boats here.