Whatever Floats Your S.T.E.A.M. Boat!

Hello, readers. This week our 2nd and 3rd graders are excited to share with you their science projects. On Tuesdays we introduce new concepts in S.T.E.A.M., and this week we had them think like engineers!

Our project was simple to introduce, but quickly became complex- in groups, the young students were given materials to construct a boat out of. Using plastic straws, plastic wrap, tape, and/or rubber bands- each of our groups mission was to construct a boat that not only could float on it's own, but maintain buoyancy when weighed down by a series of weights. We used small mirrors as our weights.

See some highlights from our ST.E.A.M. boat construction below!

Finally, our students projects came to fruition and we were ready to test them out! Some decided to go with a flat "raft" design, others made tubes, and there was even a submarine!

You can see some examples of our testing process below:

Most of the projects floated on their own, although some did not withstand the weight of the mirrors. We discussed at length the planning that went into the designs, what they believed worked, and why some floated better than others.

We are looking forward to more lessons in S.T.E.A.M. that will get our kids thinking like future engineers.

Float on,

Alyce