Cardboard Boats - Science 8 & CTF Construction Integrated Task

Purpose of Assignment:

Students were tasked with designing and constructing a boat, made entirely of cardboard, that would be tested in a swimming pool. The boat would be tested for speed in a distance trial, as well as for buoyancy in a weight challenge. Students used concepts from science - buoyancy, average density - and construction to create orthographic drawings, scaled prototypes and calculate the forces being exerted on the boats before having a timed build day.

Task Process:

I've seen cardboard boat contests done before but it wasn't until I got to work with our CTF Construction teacher that I really saw the potential in this integrated task. I incorporated concepts from Science 8 (Buoyancy and Average Density) as well as skills and attitudes related to scientific inquiry and experimental design to support the work that my colleague was doing around orthographic drawings and basic construction.

My first step was to get students experimenting with boat designs that could withstand weight without sinking. I gave them some aluminum foil and challenged students to try different designs and test their weight-bearing ability with pennies in trays of water. This gave students a general idea of where support would be needed in the boat and how to spread out the weight over the surface area.

Once students had made a decision regarding a basic design, we showed them the type of cardboard they would be using and gave them a scaled down version of it from which they had to build a prototype. They had to create orthographic drawings in construction and use these to translate into the model. They also had to create a full plan for how to construct their actual boat, including what to do first, where to apply tape, etc.

In between construction, students received mini-lessons on buoyant force, density and Archimedes Principle. Once they had a background understanding of these concepts, students had to use the volume of their boat to calculate the volume of water that would be displaced and, from there, calculate the mass and corresponding weight of the water to determine the buoyant force acting on the boat. They then calculated the gravitational force that would be applied by their own mass during the strength test to ensure that, in theory at least, their boat could support their weight.

Because we knew we would be sending on some "winners" to the Skills Canada Alberta competition, we wanted to make our build day as true to this as possible. So we booked our gym, set up materials in stations, just as it would be at the big competition, and gave them a timed 2-hour build. It was FANTASTIC. I was so impressed with how focussed the students were and by how fast the time went! We set the timer on our big scoreboard so the kids could see constantly how much time was left for them to finish. Lots of amazing teamwork and collaboration happened in that 120 minutes.

The big finale for this assignment was, of course, POOL DAY! We brought all of our students, and their boats, to a local swimming pool to do our testing. The first was a timed distance race. One group member had to get on the boat and "paddle" on their knees to the end of the pool. Some boats fared much better than others but that didn't make the races any less enjoyable! We had SO much fun watching boats sink to the bottom, slowly take on water, or make it the length of the pool! The students were completely engaged and enthralled the entire time, cheering each other on, even helping when some boats started to fail. After the distance swim, came the strength test. While one member steadied the boat, the other 3 members got on the boat and time began. One boat stayed afloat over 2 minutes! We ended up sending 2 teams to Skills Canada Alberta and they placed 3rd and 4th out of over 60 teams! I loved this experience.

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