Whatever Floats Your Boat

After learning about the pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving celebration earlier in the week, our students were very eager to try building their own Mayflower! We started with an assorted group of plastic containers sent in by students' families and salvaged from the recycle bin.

Students were paired up according to Mrs. Viall's "popsicle stick method" (ask your child about it, or maybe I'll blog about it sometime ...) and then instructed to choose one large container and several smaller containers. They were also allowed to rummage through a box of craft sticks of various sizes. They worked together to plan their boat's design, and I manned a glue gun for easy, quick "construction."

Some groups needed more "negotiation" than others, LOL! 

Presenting ... 

The S.S. AbbieandCam.

The S.S. JaxtonandNoah.

The S.S. AemalieandTanmayee. Don't you love the propeller on the back?

The S.S. BenandLucy. 

The S.S. BrodyandSophia. 

The S.S. EmmaandZachary. There's even a railing up top so the pilgrims don't fall in the ocean!

After constructing the boats, we had FUN testing each watercraft to see if it would float. Each pair of students gave a brief presentation about their boat--why they'd chosen their particular design, what the various parts of the boat were used for, etc. 

   

Then one by one, we placed each boat into a bucket of water and watched to see what would happen! All of the boats floated, though the taller ones capsized almost immediately. 

For the boats that managed to stay afloat, we added an extra challenge -- holding passengers! We pretended our counting bears were pilgrim bears, and we loaded up each Mayflower to see how it would fare. 

This boat was the winner, holding 40 pilgrims!!

Checking to make sure the boat was still floating. Those pilgrims got heavy!

Congratulations to all of our budding engineers! I love activities that make them use the students use their brains and their imaginations!