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| #_____Name_____________________ |
Date___________ |
- What happens to a square of aluminum foil when placed in water? Record your observations.______________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
What happens when you crush a square of foil and place it in the water? Record your observations:______________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________
Form a square of foil so it will float on the water. Place the “boat” on the surface of the water and put paper clips on it one at a time until it sinks. Record the results in the table. Redesign your boat and repeat the procedure.
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WILL IT FLOAT? HOW MUCH WILL IT HOLD? |
| Draw your three best boat designs |
Length, Width, Height |
Mass of Cargo |
a.
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b.
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c.
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- Make inferences about why your boat floats.
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- Did your boat support the same number of paper clips the first two times? What might have caused it to support more, less, or the same number of paper clips? Explain: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
- What happened when the boat was redesigned? Did it support more weight? Explain why:______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
- Tell why your best boat design is so special. What makes your boat hold more than others? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
- What happened to the waterline on the outside of the boat as the paper clips were added? ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
- If you doubled the size (area) of the foil (from 4”x4” to 4”x8”) predict how much more weight (how many more paper clips) you think that your boat will support. Explain: ______________________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________
Bonus: Could other materials be used to make boats? Find out what kinds of materials modern boats and ships are made of today.
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