Boat Building STEM Activity
Miss 5th
37.3k Followers
What educators are saying
This is a great STEM activity to use anytime or to integrate with a Social Studies Unit about Thanksgiving and Pilgrims.
Description
This activity will lead your students through the process of building a boat!
1) Brainstorm and sketch a design
2) Calculate the cost of materials needed
3) Build your boat
4) Test your boat
5) Reflect
*It's important to note that this comes in an editable PowerPoint, so you will be able to customize this activity to your needs. For example, if your class is learning about decimals in math, you could change the cost of materials to decimal numbers. Voila...cross-curricular connections! Don't want to use the materials I've used in my activity (masking tape, foil, straws, and popsicle sticks), just type in the materials you'll be using!
Wondering if the fonts are "what you see, what you get"? Yes! They are! :) The fonts that you see in the preview are the fonts you will get in this editable document. No need to download any extra fonts! Although these (free) fonts are free for personal use, keep in mind they will only be available to you in THIS document. If you end up wanting to use these fonts in other documents, you will have to download them.
This activity pairs perfectly with your explorers unit. Students are given the mission to build a boat that will support the weight of three explorers (Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Juan Ponce de Leon). I print and laminate the explorers clipart in this document and tape weights to the back of them. You could tape other items to the back as well. Totally up to you, just make sure that your explorers have weight to them! Don't want to use explorers? Have your students try to support another object(s) instead (i.e., a candy bar).
1) Brainstorm and sketch a design
2) Calculate the cost of materials needed
3) Build your boat
4) Test your boat
5) Reflect
*It's important to note that this comes in an editable PowerPoint, so you will be able to customize this activity to your needs. For example, if your class is learning about decimals in math, you could change the cost of materials to decimal numbers. Voila...cross-curricular connections! Don't want to use the materials I've used in my activity (masking tape, foil, straws, and popsicle sticks), just type in the materials you'll be using!
Wondering if the fonts are "what you see, what you get"? Yes! They are! :) The fonts that you see in the preview are the fonts you will get in this editable document. No need to download any extra fonts! Although these (free) fonts are free for personal use, keep in mind they will only be available to you in THIS document. If you end up wanting to use these fonts in other documents, you will have to download them.
This activity pairs perfectly with your explorers unit. Students are given the mission to build a boat that will support the weight of three explorers (Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, and Juan Ponce de Leon). I print and laminate the explorers clipart in this document and tape weights to the back of them. You could tape other items to the back as well. Totally up to you, just make sure that your explorers have weight to them! Don't want to use explorers? Have your students try to support another object(s) instead (i.e., a candy bar).
Total Pages
10 pages
Answer Key
N/A
Teaching Duration
90 minutes
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37.3k Followers
