When I was interning in a 4th grade classroom I wanted to create a science project that the students had never done before and hopefully one that would excited them all. I pulled it out of my old files to share with you because it ended up being a huge success!
I created Marshall's Boat Company who is in need of a new boat design. The students work in teams to design and create a boat to enter into a contest. At the end of the project, the students see how many marbles their boat can hold without sinking in a tub of water.
Materials included:
- Challenge instructions
- Mock challenge letter from boat company
- Plan of action worksheet
- Boat design worksheet
- Letter to parents
- Team score card
- Letter to the winning team
- Project reflection
This project must be used after the students have been presented with a unit on the states of matter including topics such as mass, density, buoyancy and water displacement. I have also simplified this project by limiting the students to using only a piece of foil to build their boat. The materials you use on this project to build the boat is up to you so you can always make it more challenging!
I love it! I do a boat challenge with my 3rd graders and we use coins.
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Penny @ www.superlativescience.com