Learning+Task+4

=Learning Task 4 Tinfoil Penny Boats=

**b) ****Form your tinfoil into a boat. Form it any way you like, but add no other materials. **
==**c) ****Each group of students should get a pail of water. You may test your ship in the tub of water to see if it floats, but you may not test how many pennies it can hold. **==

**d) ****Draw a sketch of the design of your boat. **
==**e) ****Begin by gently placing one penny at a time into your boat. Be sure to count the number of pennies that your boat can hold before it sinks, and to ‘balance out’ or evenly distribute the pennies so that the boat sinks from weight, rather than because it tipped over from lopsided weight in it. As an alternative, you could also place pennies in two different boats – one in which they are well balanced, and the other in which they are placed all on one side or end. When the one with the unbalanced weight tips over, students could come up with reasons why this happened. **== ==**f) ****Determine as a class which group’s boat has held the most pennies. Have the winning team share their boat’s design with the class. **==

**Follow-up Activities/Assignment: **
==**- Discuss the following question, “Why do canoes have braces?” Braces are used to hold the sides of a hull in place. This keeps the sides of the boat from collapsing due to the pressure the water creates on the sides of a boat. You can demonstrate this point by creating a tinfoil boat with a V-shaped hull. After placing pennies into it the students will see the inferiority of this model. **==



For this activity you will need:

 * ===Sheet of tinfoil ===
 * ===Ruler ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Scissors ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Paper towels ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Tub of water ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Pennies ===

===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">To complete this task, you will need to think like a boat builder. A customer has come to you and asked you to build a boat to transport some cargo. You need to build a boat that can hold the most cargo possible. You are competing with other boat builders in the area (your classmates) for the job. The boat builders that can build the boat that holds the greatest amount of cargo without sinking will get the job. === ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">The boat is to be constructed out of a piece of tinfoil 10 cm x 10 cm. You may alter the square of tinfoil in any way you like, but no other materials may be added (such as tape, glue, etc.). The cargo you will be carrying is pennies. ===

**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Instructions: **

 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Measure out a square of tinfoil 10 cm x 10 cm. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Cut the out the square. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Form it any way you like, but add no other materials. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">You may test your ship in the tub of water to see if it floats, but you may not test how much cargo it will carry. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Sketch a drawing of your boat here. ===


 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Do you think your boat will hold a lot of cargo? Explain why. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">When everyone has completed these instructions, you will test how many pennies each boat will hold before it sinks. When your teacher directs you, take your boat to the tub of water. When it is your turn, you will place your boat in the water. Then, place **one penny at a time** inside your boat. BE CAREFUL! (And good luck!) Make sure you count how many pennies you place in. Stop counting when a penny causes your boat to sink. Take your boat and the pennies out of the water and place them on paper towels to dry. Once you have found the winning boat, answer these questions: ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Whose boat was able to hold the most pennies? ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How many pennies did the winning boat hold? ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">How many pennies did your boat hold? ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Describe how your boat and the winning boat were different. ===
 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">Why do you think the winning boat was able to hold more pennies than yours? ===


 * ===<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">(Optional Question) Why did the boat with pennies all on one side (or at one end) tip before the boat with the pennies even at the front, back or sides? ===



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