Second grade students are studying Properties of Materials in science. We have observed various materials this week and have practiced describing them by their properties. Today, we did an experiment to see if we could make a boat using only a piece of notebook paper and a foot of masking tape. Students got into groups to discuss and decide on a design. Then, they worked together to make their boats. Would they float? The majority of the class predicted NO since the paper was thin. To their surprise, their boats did float! Until...one by one, students added pennies to their boats to see how many they could hold before sinking. Results ranged from 11 to 38! We learned that the tape helped to make the paper stronger and also sealed holes. We also discussed different ways we could make paper boats that would hold more pennies. Some ideas were: to use more tape, use thicker paper, and make the bottom of the boats more flat.
