This week in science to study potential and kinetic energy we created a moving boat using 2 rubber bands, 5 popsicle sticks, cardboard, 24 inches of tape, and 4 paper clips. To create the boat we went through the engineering design process, which is shown below.
My original boat: <insert picture here>
My original design is….
We have a slingshot and the boat is a few sticks and tape and clips at the top and bottom.
I believe my original design will allow the boat to stay afloat and move through the water because…
It will be shot by the slingshot and we will hope it floats and goes far.
When I put my boat in the water tub this is what happened:
It moved and it floated but not very well and it didn’t go very far because the paper clips made it heavier and made it not float.
The changes I am going to make to improve my boat design are…
we are going to take the paperclips and have the rubber band reinforced and the bottom reinforced.
My re-built boat: <insert picture here>
I believe my new design will allow the boat to stay afloat and move through the water better because…
because we removed the clips and added more reinforcement on the rubber band and on the bottom of the slingshot.
When I put my newly designed boat in the water tub this is what happened….
It floated much better and it went farther because we took off the clips and reinforced it.
Some more improvements I could make to my boat are….
reinforce the boat and slingshot even more but it wouldn’t be necessary.
This challenge was comfortable because…
the boat was simple and easy to make and it worked very well.
This challenge was difficult because…
the slingshot wouldn’t work or it would fall apart because there wasn’t a lot of tape provided.
This taught me about potential and kinetic energy because…
when the boat and slingshot were in action I saw how it moved and how it was before we shot it.