Experiment: How many marbles can your tin foil boat hold before it sinks in the water?
Materials:
tin/aluminum foil
water
bucket/sink
marbles or small items (i.e. LEGO pieces, coins)
Students were instructed to create a boat out of a tin foil sheet (no steps were provided to make a boat). Boats of different shapes and sizes were created. After creating the boats, the students put marbles in their boats one at a time until it sank.
Results: Some boats held little to no marbles while others held over 40 (one was even 100 and more!). At the end of the experiment, we discussed why some boats didn’t hold many marbles while others did. We reflected on our results and discussed how we could make it hold even more marbles next time.
Challenge: Try this experiment at home!