Fun with Speedboats

Materials

• Water
• Canal (long waterproof container such as a planter, or gutter section with end pieces attached). Gutters are usually sold in 4in or 125mm x 7ft/2.2m length sections — with end caps this works well and allows for a water depth of about 3in or 90mm. The size trough you select will change the size requirements of the boats.
• Stopwatch

Process

Set up the waterway and add water. Only one is needed for all testing. Mark the starting line and finish line with tape. Each team can test their boat three times…and note the best speed. The teachers should time each test for fair reporting. Students record the results of each test, noting speed from start to finish, distance spanned and stability.

Testing could be conducted outside to reduce water issues in a classroom.

Design Challenge

You are a team of engineers who have been given the challenge of developing a boat that can travel down a small water canal faster than boats designed by other student “engineering” teams.  You must follow the criteria below:

Criteria

• Boat must touch the water at all times during its journey.
• Boat cannot be longer than 10 inches/25 cm and cannot be wider than 3 inches/90 cm (Or, based on the width of the canal your teacher has set up).
• Must make your boat from scratch (no premade plastic boats allowed)
• The method you develop for propelling your boat has to be part of the boat, so you cannot, for example, toss a ball at it to make it go.

Constraints

• Use only the materials provided.
• Teams may trade unlimited materials.

1. Break class into teams of 2-3.
2. Hand out the Fun with Speedboats worksheet, as well as some sheets of paper for sketching designs.
3. Discuss the topics in the Background Concepts Section. Consider asking students about the different types of boats there are. What makes them look different from each other. Does the design change how fast they can move?
4. Review the Engineering Design Process, Design Challenge, Criteria, Constraints and Materials.
5. Provide each team with their materials. Ask each team to put a name their speed boat for easy identification.
6. Explain that students must develop a boat that can fit into the testing trough and prove to be the fastest in the class. (Note: be sure to measure the trough you are using and guide students to design their boats so that they are narrower than the width of the trough. Boats also cannot be longer than 10 inches or 25 cm).

The boat must remain in the water at all times during testing and also has to be built from scratch. Younger students may use plastic boat toys though if building is too difficult.

7. Announce the amount of time they have to design and build (1 hour recommended).
8. Use a timer or an on-line stopwatch (count down feature) to ensure you keep on time. (www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch). Give students regular “time checks” so they stay on task. If they are struggling, ask questions that will lead them to a solution quicker.
9. Students meet and develop a plan for their boat. They agree on materials they will need, write/draw their plan, and present their plan to the class. Teams may trade unlimited materials with other teams to develop their ideal parts list.
10. Teams build their designs.
11. Teams complete the Competitive Analysis Phase chart in the Student Worksheet. Ask them to take a good look at all the speedboats created by other teams in the classroom. They should notice the differences, and as a team, make a prediction of the best speed they think their boat will achieve. They should then make predictions of the best speed their competition will achieve.
12. Each team can test their boat on the waterway three times…and note the best speed. The teachers should time each test for fair reporting. Students record the results of each test, noting speed from start to finish, distance spanned and stability.
13. Teams complete the Speed Race Testing chart in the Student Worksheet to record their team’s testing results, including observations. They should also record testing results of other teams.
14. As a class, discuss the student reflection questions.
15. For more content on the topic, see the “Digging Deeper” section.

Extension Idea

Require boats to carry a load (candy, stones, etc.). Add this variable halfway through the challenge so students will have to adapt their designs.

Student Reflection (engineering notebook)

1. How did your speed boat perform compared to other teams in your classroom?
2. What do you think was the pivotal aspect of the design of the boat that helped it go the fastest?
3. If you had to do it all over again, how would your planned design change? Why?
4. Do you think that engineers often adapt their original plans during the manufacturing process? Why might they?
5. Did you find that there were many designs in your classroom that were very different and yet also very fast? What does this tell you about engineering plans?
6. Explain how working as a team impacted (positively or negatively) your team performance on this project.
7. If you could have added a material to your boat that was unavailable, what would that have been?  Why?

The lesson can be done in as little as 1 class period for older students. However, to help students from feeling rushed and to ensure student success (especially for younger students), split the lesson into two periods giving students more time to brainstorm, test ideas and finalize their design. Conduct the testing and debrief in the next class period.

• Buoyant: Able to float or keep something else floating.
• Constraints: Limitations with material, time, size of team, etc.
• Criteria: Conditions that the design must satisfy like its overall size, etc.
• Engineers: Inventors and problem-solvers of the world. Twenty-five major specialties are recognized in engineering (see infographic).
• Engineering Design Process: Process engineers use to solve problems. 
• Engineering Habits of Mind (EHM): Six unique ways that engineers think.
• High Speed Craft: Hovercraft, multihull ships, hydrofoil craft.
• Inboard Engine: Engine built into a boat or ship. 
• Iteration: Test & redesign is one iteration. Repeat (multiple iterations).
• Marine engineers: Involved in the design, construction, and maintenance of ships, boats and related equipment. 
• Merchant Ships: Oil/gas tankers, cargo ships, bulk carrier, container ships
• Naval architects: Involved in the design, construction, and maintenance of ships, boats, and related equipment. 
• Outboard Motor: Motor installed on the back of a boat that contains an internal combustion engine, a gearbox and the propeller in one unit. 
• Passenger Ships: Vehicle ferries, cruise ships
• Propel: To push or cause to move usually forward or onward.
• Prototype: A working model of the solution to be tested.
• Recreational Craft: Yachts, power boats, pontoons, houseboats
• Underwater Ships: Submarines, icebreakers, offshore drilling platforms, semisubmersibles
• Warships: Frigates, destroyers, aircraft carriers, amphibious ships.
• Workboats: Fishing boat, platform supply vessel, tug boat, pilot vessels, rescue craft.

Internet Connections

• Guinness World Records

Recommended Reading

• Extreme Machines (ISBN: 978- 0789454171)
• Cutwater: Speedboats and Launches from the Golden Days of Boating (ISBN: 978- 1879301047)
• Boatbuilding: A Complete Handbook of Wooden Boat Construction (ISBN: 978-0393035544)

Writing Activity

Write a paragraph or essay describing how engineering has impacted the attainable speed of another transportation vehicle such as a train, car, or spaceship.

Alignment to Curriculum Frameworks

Note: Lesson plans in this series are aligned to one or more of the following sets of standards:  

• U.S. Science Education Standards (http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=4962)
• U.S. Next Generation Science Standards (http://www.nextgenscience.org/) 
• International Technology Education Association’s Standards for Technological Literacy (http://www.iteea.org/TAA/PDFs/xstnd.pdf)
• U.S. National Council of Teachers of Mathematics’ Principles and Standards for School Mathematics (http://www.nctm.org/standards/content.aspx?id=16909)
• U.S. Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (http://www.corestandards.org/Math)
• Computer Science Teachers Association K-12 Computer Science Standards (http://csta.acm.org/Curriculum/sub/K12Standards.html)

National Science Education Standards Grades 5-8 (ages 10 – 14)

CONTENT STANDARD A: Science as Inquiry

As a result of activities, all students should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry 
• Understandings about scientific inquiry 

CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science

As a result of their activities, all students should develop an understanding of

• Motions and forces 
• Transfer of energy 

CONTENT STANDARD E: Science and Technology
As a result of activities in grades 5-8, all students should develop

• Abilities of technological design 
• Understandings about science and technology 

CONTENT STANDARD F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of

• Science and technology in society 

CONTENT STANDARD G: History and Nature of Science

As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of

• Science as a human endeavor 

National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)

CONTENT STANDARD A: Science as Inquiry

As a result of activities, all students should develop

• Abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry 
• Understandings about scientific inquiry 

CONTENT STANDARD B: Physical Science 

As a result of their activities, all students should develop understanding of

• Motions and forces 
• Interactions of energy and matter 

CONTENT STANDARD E: Science and Technology

As a result of activities, all students should develop

• Abilities of technological design 
• Understandings about science and technology 

CONTENT STANDARD F: Science in Personal and Social Perspectives

As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of

• Science and technology in local, national, and global challenges 

National Science Education Standards Grades 9-12 (ages 14-18)

CONTENT STANDARD G: History and Nature of Science

As a result of activities, all students should develop understanding of

• Science as a human endeavor 

Next Generation Science Standards Grades 3-5 (Ages 8-11)

Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• 3-PS2-1. Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence of the effects of balanced and unbalanced forces on the motion of an object. 

Energy

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• 4-PS3-1. Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object.

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• 4-PS3-4.   Apply scientific ideas to design, test, and refine a device that converts energy from one form to another.

Engineering Design 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• 3-5-ETS1-1.Define a simple design problem reflecting a need or a want that includes specified criteria for success and constraints on materials, time, or cost.
• 3-5-ETS1-2.Generate and compare multiple possible solutions to a problem based on how well each is likely to meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.
• 3-5-ETS1-3.Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

Next Generation Science Standards Grades 6-8 (Ages 11-14)

Engineering Design 

Students who demonstrate understanding can:

• MS-ETS1-1 Define the criteria and constraints of a design problem with sufficient precision to ensure a successful solution, taking into account relevant scientific principles and potential impacts on people and the natural environment that may limit possible solutions.
• MS-ETS1-2 Evaluate competing design solutions using a systematic process to determine how well they meet the criteria and constraints of the problem.

Standards for Technological Literacy – All Ages

The Nature of Technology

• Standard 1: Students will develop an understanding of the characteristics and scope of technology.
• Standard 2: Students will develop an understanding of the core concepts of technology.
• Standard 3: Students will develop an understanding of the relationships among technologies and the connections between technology and other fields of study.

Technology and Society

• Standard 4: Students will develop an understanding of the cultural, social, economic, and political effects of technology.
• Standard 7: Students will develop an understanding of the influence of technology on history.

Design

• Standard 8: Students will develop an understanding of the attributes of design.
• Standard 9: Students will develop an understanding of engineering design.
• Standard 10: Students will develop an understanding of the role of troubleshooting, research and development, invention and innovation, and experimentation in problem solving.

Abilities for a Technological World

• Standard 11: Students will develop abilities to apply the design process.

The Designed World

• Standard 18: Students will develop an understanding of and be able to select and use transportation technologies.

• Swahili