Clay itself sinks, but clay boats float. Why? Young engineers build clay boats to learn about buoyancy. They test the weight the boats can hold using washers and then tweak their designs to make improvements, following the engineering design process. 

Concepts

boats, buoyancy, density, technology resources

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Additional Tags

boats

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Instructional Ideas

• Have a contest to see which group can make the boat that holds the most weight

Classroom Considerations

• Some clay and some washers are necessary for the activity
• Learners should have knowledge of density concepts
• Fourth in the series of lessons

Pros

• Provides some investigating questions to use in discussion
• Lists a pacing guide for smooth operation of the activity
  

Cons

• None