Physics PBL: Boat Project, Sink or Swim?
The boats were all lined up before the students got on them to race across the pool. (Kayla Aryanpour/ Lion Tales)
BOAT PROJECT! You probably are wondering what this means or what this is. Ms. Frandsen and Ms. Fuller made their final a boat project. They had their students create boats that they had to make out of recyclables. They had 4 days to finish the actual boat, after the 4 days the students had to go to the pool deck on Wednesday, May 25th to race across the pool. The students had to be on the boat and paddle across the pool as fast as they could. Out of all of the students three groups would end up winning. The winners were given extra credit on their boat projects and received a trophy, the trophies were 3 color painted milk cartons in the colors of gold, silver, and bronze.
The students in their classes started to collect recycles at the beginning of the semester. They collected milk cartons, pieces of cardboard, plastic bottles, and juice boxes. The students went dumpster diving everywhere in efforts to find all of the recyclables they needed to finish their boat. The students had some rules they had to play by in the race. They were not allowed to kick and they were not allowed use clear tape.
The main purpose the physics’ teachers did this for was to have their students understand how the boats float and how much recyclables they needed according to the student’s weight and how many kids were on the boat. The maximum amount of students in each group was three. The teachers were nice enough to let the students chose their own groups. Two of the students would be in the water and the other student would be the timer standing on the pool deck cheering their group members on.
Kelly Perez said, “I thought the actual boat race was going to stressful because I didn’t really want to get in the water, but I ended up having so much fun and I’m glad that I chose to be in the actual race.” Naiyehli Caldera said, “I had a great time I was laughing the whole entire time. Even though I didn’t win the race I was still happy I got a chance to be apart of it.” Eddie Cancino said, “My group and I all went dumpster diving downtown looking for recyclables and all though I was a little grossed out it was worth it because I got a chance to bond with my group.”
Ms. Fuller said, “The main purpose in terms of the class curriculum it was being able to calculate the minimum volume that you would need in order to build your boat in order to support your weight so that goes under fluid dynamics. The main purpose in the terms of skills was the whole collaboration with the students practicing teamwork and it’s also a class tradition. I think this is the 4th or 5th year. I enjoyed watching them it was definitely a highlight, as I look through all of the old pictures that were taken I just see so many people smiling and it makes me happy.”
Kayla Aryanpour was born and raised in San Jose, California. She is a junior at Lincoln high school. She loves animals and enjoys listening to music. This...
Yamile Alvardo is a junior at Lincoln high school. She was born in San Jose, California but spent most of her childhood living in Los Angeles. Through...
