Boat Shapes

Boats

Things You Will Need
• Miscellaneous pieces of balsa wood
• 3 to 4-foot piece of string
• Small rock
• Water
• 3-foot piece of plastic gutter or long thin pan or PVC pipe cut lengthwise
• Small tack or nail
• Table
• Marking pen
• Clock with second hand or stopwatch
• Pencil and paper

Do This

1. Get an adult to assist you with cutting flat pieces of balsa wood into 6 to 10 different shapes. Keep in mind that these are to be types of experimental boat shapes.
2. Attach a small tack or nail toward the edge of one side on each of your test shapes.
3. Tie a small rock to the end of the string and make a small loop in the other end of the string.
4. Place the gutter or thin pan or cut PVC pipe on a table. You may need to place some objects on either side to keep it from rolling over. This will be your boat race-track.
5. Fill the boat racetrack with water.
6. Attach the string loop onto the tack or nail of one of the balsa wood shapes.
7. Place the balsa
8. Make a starting line and finish line on the edge of the race-track with the marking pen.
9. Measure and record the time each boat shape takes to travel the same distance in the boat race-track. Which shape is fastest?

What Should Have Happened

The boat shapes with a narrow bow or front end should have been more streamlined and allowed the balsa boat to move through the water faster. The speed of a boat and its ability to move around in the water has a lot to do with its basic shape.