DiscoverE
Curious George Sailboat
A whole-group discussion kicks off a hands-on activity that challenges young engineers to build a sailboat using reusable materials. Participants gather recycled items to assemble their one-of-a-kind sailboat and test its ability to...
Bonneville
TinkerCAD: Introduction to 3D Printing
Steer young minds to build better boats. Future engineers first spend a few days exploring the TinkerCAD software and completing some embedded lessons. They then design sea crafts with buoyancy in mind and print them using a 3-D printer.
Arcademics
Bumper Boat Bash
Speed through a bumper boat course to practice making nouns plural. Scholars read 26 plural nouns and choose the correct form out of three to advance their boat closer to the finish line.
DiscoverE
Everyday Engineering: Foil Boats
Keep one's dream of becoming an engineer afloat. Learners apply the engineering design process to build a boat out of aluminum foil. They start with a square boat, then consider whether boats of different shapes would be able to hold...
Museum of Science
Paddle Boat
Harness the power of rubber bands of all things. A hands-on activity has scholars design and build paddle boats. They learn how the elastic potential energy of rubber bands can be converted to the kinetic energy associated with motion.
Teach Engineering
Keep Your Boat Afloat
Use whatever material floats your boat. Working in groups, scholars decide on a type of metal and a type of coating to use for building a boat. They test their creations by leaving their boats in a pool of water for several days before...
Purdue University
Slow Boat Design
Don't be a drag. Learners work in groups to design boats that move slowly. The provided reason for the activity is that a fish caught on a fishing reel is pulling the boat, causing it to move too fast. The STEM activity teaches the class...
Teach Engineering
Buoyant Boats
Eureka! Using the clay boats made in the previous lesson, learners investigate the idea of buoyancy and water displacement to finish the last installment of five in a Floaters and Sinkers unit. Their observations during the activity...
Teach Engineering
Clay Boats
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...
PBS
Paddle Power
Potentially get all the way across the water. The fourth of five design challenges asks pupils to develop a plan for a paddle-powered boat that will store its energy. Given a limited number of supplies, the class members design, build,...
PBS
Watercraft
Whatever floats your boat—with some additional weight. The first activity in a five-part series challenges pupils to design a boat to hold pennies. Using the design process, learners design, build, and test their boats, making sure they...
Cornell University
Airboats
Don't let the resource blow you away. Scholars build airboats from basic materials and collect data on how far the boats move. They refine their designs taking Newton's laws into consideration.
CK-12 Foundation
Vector Multiplied by a Scalar: Boat Race
Find the right number of vectors to get to the finish line. Using a boat race scenario, pupils add multiples of the same vector together. The scholars use scalar multiplication to speed up the boats in an exciting race to the finish.
NOAA
Boat Building Challenge
Scholars build a boat using an assortment of materials such as foam plates, aluminum foil, and skewers, then test its buoyancy with pennies. Challenge boat builders to construct the strongest or fastest boat in a healthy competition with...
National Sailing Hall of Fame
Introduction to Sailboats
The left part of the boat is called what? An informative instructional activity and accompanying slideshow presentation introduce middle schoolers to the terminology and parts associated with a sailboat.
PreKinders
Transportation Word Cards
Beep beep! Zoom! Honk honk! Explore the world of transportation with a set of transportation picture word cards. Fifteen cards show trucks, planes, trains, boats, and many more types of transportation, complete with pictures and names.
Curated OER
Taking the Boat to Manaus
Fifth graders apply the concepts they know regarding mass, volume and density in the previous activities to design a boat. Student teams must make a boat which can travel the waters of the Amazon Rainforest. Each group makes a...
Curated OER
Great Streamboat Race
Learners analyze currents. In this Science lesson, students race small boats in a creek or stream. Learners time the currents and collect organisms from the creek or stream.
Curated OER
What Floats Your Boat?
This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load line...
Curated OER
Boat Safety and Water Sports - Lesson 14 - Hand Signals
When water skiing or wake boarding, hand signals are the most effective way of communicating. Use this lesson plan on boat safety to ensure that your youngsters are using the proper precautions before engaging in water sports.
Curated OER
Buoyant Boats
Fourth graders explore the concept of mass and buoyancy. After building boats out of several materials, they predict whether each boat floats if certain objects are added. Students test their predictions and draw conclusions from their...
Curated OER
Transportation Then and Now
Compare and contrast how transportation has changed throughout the years. This image-driven slide show depicts a variety of advances in transportation. Covered wagons, coaches, trolley cars, boats, and bikes are shown as they were in the...
Curated OER
Boat Safety and Water Sports - Lesson 18 - Wake Board Terms
Boat safety lesson 18 is all about the wake board. The class learns the terminology about wake boards and discusses the different types of ropes used. Much of the information regarding boating basics, personal floatation devices, and...
Curated OER
Boat Safety and Water Sports - Lesson 21 - Wake Boarding Review
In boat safety instructional activity 21, the class reviews the basic techniques of wakeboarding. They review the skills and perform them in the pool with a partner. There are many resource links associated with this instructional activity.