Aluminum Boat Building
Introduction
For this activity, you will be working on making boats out of aluminum
foil and seeing how much weight they can hold before sinking. We will be
exploring:
 What shape holds the most weight?
 Why do some things sink and some things float?
 What makes a group work well together?
Materials
Your group will get 1 square of aluminum foil approximately 15 cm by 15
cm. If something happens to it, each group is allowed 1 additional square
of paper. After that, you are on your own!
We will be using pennies to see how much weight your boat can float.
We will be floating the boats in a clear plastic container of water.
Rules
Groups will have approximately 15 minutes to build their boat. After this,
When testing your boat, add pennies 1 at a time. After adding each
penny, your boat is considered sunk if:
 Water starts pooling up inside your boat
 Your boat sinks to the bottom of the container
The last penny you add to your boat does not count towards your group’s
total
Tips and thoughts
1. Objects sink when they are more dense than the substance they are
floating in. Your boat will sink when it is more dense than the water.
How can you lower your boat’s density?
2. Crumpling (scrunching up) your aluminum foil will introduce tiny holes
in the boat. Making a few folds in your boat will reduce the risk of it
taking on water early
3. Water can make a mess. While you are around water, move slowly and
mindfully.
Grading
Your grade for this activity will be based on how you work in your group,
how your boat performs, and by your completion of a reflection sheet.
Your grade will be determined by:
 Boat completion and testing results (40% of grade). Extra credit
for the boat which holds the most weight
 Participation in group (10% of grade). Students who are noted not
to be contributing to their group’s building activities will have 10%
of the total points for the activity deducted from their grade.
 Answers to process questions (25% of grade). What worked well in
your group? Why did you make the decisions you did? Answer these
kind of questions in detail to get the best score.
 Answers to science questions (25% of grade). Why do you think
some boats did better than others? Why do things float? Answer
these questions thoughtfully for a good score, and correctly for the
best score.