Boats that Float

My first STEAM activity of the 2018-2019 school year!  I wasn't sure what to expect, but as usual, the 4th grade class I worked with totally amazed me!  The 4th grade teacher I worked with a lot last year and I are continuing to do weekly STEAM time.  Before I arrived, she spoke to them about what STEM and STEAM are and how we often use these skills in our daily lives.

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The materials they needed for this activity were pretty simple:

• Pencil and paper
• 1 plastic tub
• 1 piece of aluminum foil (approximately 24 inches)
• Mini erasers

We started off by explaining the activity (they were going to be building a boat out of foil that would float...BUT, it would also have to hold as many "people" - mini erasers- as possible.  We started by getting them into their groups and doing some planning and sketching of what their boats might look like.  We made sure to emphasize that they only get ONE sheet of foil and nothing else to build their boats.  They would have to figure how to build their boat with limited materials.

After they planned out their boat designs, we headed outside (yay for nice weather!) and began constructing their boats.  After they had built their boats and were ready to test, we gave them a handful of mini-erasers to start loading up their boats.  Each group had unique designs and ideas and a Plan A, Plan B, Plan C, Plan D, Plan E...but they never gave up!  We had several cup-shaped boats, big boats, small boats, a pouch boat, and many other iterations!

And our boat (pictured above in the pink tub - actually storage bins from the Target Dollar Spot) held a whopping  135  mini-erasers!  Let me tell you, that group was very proud of their work!  After we were done with the activity, we did a debrief with the kiddos asking them about what they liked about the activity, what was difficult, what they would select if they could choose 1 additional material to use in construction, as well as bringing things full circle with how they used the elements of STEAM in this activity.  This was a great activity for students who haven't had exposure to STEAM activities - everyone had success in different ways. 
One of the things that really hit me at the end were how many students were talking about how they could do this home and they were going to show their siblings or parents what they did at school because it was an activity that could easily be replicated at home.  That is a sign of an activity that tells the story beyond the school walls!