Discover Foil Boats

This activity can be done indoors.  But it’s more fun, and less mess, if you do it outside.

Materials needed:

·         Aluminum foil

·         A container of water (a bowl, bucket, sink, tub, bin, etc.)

·         “Cargo” to test your boat with (pennies, marbles, etc.)

·         Towel

Directions

1. Make a boat out of a piece of aluminum foil.
2. Place the boat in a container of water.
3. Add your cargo to your boat one item at a time
4. See how many items your boat can carry before it sinks.

·         Can you distribute the weight differently to hold more?

5. Can you build another boat that could hold more cargo? 

·         What if you use a bigger piece of foil?

·         What if you use a smaller piece of foil?

·         What else could you try?

Be sure to dry the cargo items before you begin adding them into your boat because water has weight.