Students Use Smarts to Float Their Boats

Students at East School worked on a multi-subject project that tested the floatation capacity of boats, which they built out of recycled items and household materials.

The lesson encompassed literacy, mathematics and science while fostering collaboration. The objective was for students to understand the concept of buoyancy by designing watercrafts to support a given amount of weight. Douglas Mac Connell’s fourth-graders and Lauren Moriarty’s multi-age inclusion class teamed up for the assignment, which ended with a competition to see how many pennies each vessel could hold before sinking.

The two classes worked together over the course of a week to plan and create their boats. They were given mathematics lessons to prepare for the measurement component of the project, which involved application of area and perimeter formulas to determine which objects would produce successful watercrafts.

In addition, students wrote about the topic, conducted research and deepened their understanding of concepts by asking one another questions and discussing the work at hand. They sharpened their science skills by writing like scientists, making use of the scientific method. The activity also fostered teamwork and collaboration skills. After the boats were completed, it was time to find out whether they would be able to float. Each vessel was submerged in a bucket of water and filled with pennies that students counted one by one. Many proved to be quite durable, holding hundreds of pennies.

Submitted by Long Beach Schools

More on Patch:

• Cops: Lynbrook Teen Busted Under Social Host Law
• Massapequa Man Convicted in Fatal 2010 Shooting
• Cops: Man Deposited Fake Checks Worth $26G at Merrick Bank
• Three Minutes Across the Counter with Tommy Grimes
• Thunderbirds Soar This Weekend at Jones Beach
• Man Stabbed With Steak Knife Inside Long Island Bar
• New Ferry Service Linking Manhattan to the Hamptons Kicks Off on Friday
• F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Former Long Island Estate for Sale
• Woman Arraigned on Vehicular Homicide Charge in Smithtown Crash