In 2011, the United Nations declared October 11th to be International Day of the Girl. The mission is to “to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls’ lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential.” STEM Like a Girl aims to promote enthusiasm and opportunities for girls in STEM to reach their full potential every day. In honor of today, we have a special STEM activity for you to try with your whole family! Challenge each other to see who can build the best boat.
Sinking Ships!
Challenge
Design a boat that will hold the most pennies using only a piece of tin foil. Grab your whole family and see who can make the most unsinkable boat!
Materials
- Pieces of tin foil cut into 5 x 5″ squares
- Baking pan or Tupperware container
- Pennies or other coins (all the same type)
- Water
- Towels for spills
Method:
- Before you start building, think about what makes a ship sink or float. What design characteristics would allow it to stay afloat while holding a weight?
- Using only one piece of tin foil cut to 5 x 5″, build your boat.
- Test whether your boat floats in the container of water. If it sinks, what modifications could you make?
- Start adding pennies to your boat to see how many it will hold. Closely observe your boat as it starts to sink to see if you can learn anything.
- After testing your boat, are there any changes you could make to allow it to hold more pennies? Try a new design or modify your existing boat and test again.
- What other household items could you use to make a boat? Collect things like straws, toothpicks, corks, plastic cups, and rubber bands and see what kinds of boats you can build!
We’d love to see pictures of the ships you create and hear how many pennies they held! Email your pictures to info@stemlikeagirl.org to be featured on our website or social media. Or you can tag us on instagram @stemlikeagirl_pdx or use the hashtag #stemlikeagirlchallengeofthemonth
