Create a Sailing Boat

Primary | Materials | Views: 815

You will Need:

Foam packaging (or do some testing to find other things that float, such as corks or plastic bottles)
Pencil
Cereal box
Decorations!
Serrated knife
Ruler
Felt tip pen
Chopping board
Scissors
Hole Punch
Cocktail sticks/Glue/Tape
A container full of water

Health and Safety: When using sharp objects, such as a knife or scissors, please ensure you have adult supervision and help if needed.

What to Do:

Make the hull of the boat, check out the video for examples of the shape. Use the ruler and felt tip to draw the shape of the boat you would like to make on the foam.
Use the serrated knife and chopping board to saw the foam – ask for help here!
Cut the sharp tips off the cocktail sticks for safety, then use these to stick the different foam parts of your boat together.
Make the mast support by cutting a 3cm piece of foam and attach with cocktail sticks to the front of the hull part of your boat.
Prepare the sail using the ruler and felt tip to draw a sail shape, slightly shorter than your pencil, on the cereal box.
Use the hole punch to make a hole at the top and bottom middle part of your sail, and make them a little bigger to allow the pencil to pass through both holes.
Stick the pencil through the mast support.
Add decorations!
Try out your boat by placing it on the water to check if it floats. Blow into the sail to make the boat move – how fast does it go? Does it move in a straight line?
Make some improvements to your boat, e.g. to help it go faster. Check the video for some ideas!
Collect some more materials, such as the examples shown in the video. Feel the weight and separate the items into items you think will float or sink. What materials are the made of? Make your prediction, then test them in the water to see if you were correct! Can you make links to which materials float or sink?

The Science Behind the Project

Watch the video to learn about buoyancy, up thrust and gravitational force, and see a fun demonstration!

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