Partner Name
Partner Name
Period #
Each partner choose a dark font color (not black or red) and use it for all of your work (including your names above).
Boat Project
At the end of the project, insert your three favorite pictures of your project/experiment in the table below.
Testable Question
What boat design will create the greatest buoyant force?
What boat design will be the most efficient?
Brainstorming
What things will increase your boat's buoyancy? / How will you achieve this? use complete sentences to describe what you will do.Increase volume
Decrease mass
Fill in this row with another idea.
Boat Hull Design
The hull is the bottom of the boat. What shape is best for floating lots of weight? Get the picture for each of the following hull shapes:
Flat bottom (either hard or soft chines) / Catamaran / Vee BottomTri-hull or cathedral hull / Tunnel bottom / Pontoon
Boats from Last Year
Visit this Google Album
Find 4 examples of good boats from last year. Insert the picture into the table below and give a description of how they built their boat: shape, structure, materials, design, etc.
Boat 1
Boat 2
Boat 3
Top View / Side View
Use the drawing tool (Insert>Drawing) to create a top view sketch of your boat. Label the parts. / Use the drawing tool (Insert>Drawing) to create a side view sketch of your boat. Label the parts.
Hypothesis
Your hypothesis should include:
your best guess at the answer to the testable question - describe what you think will be the best boat design for
the reason behind your hypothesis.
Experiment Variables
Independent Variable
What are you testing?
Dependent Variable
What will you measure in order to find the answer?
Controlled Variables
How will you make this a fair test? Make a numbered list of at least 7 things.
Materials
Make a bulleted list of all of the materials used in this experiment - you can also include pictures. Be detailed and specific - someone else should be able to use these materials to create the exact same boat as yours.
- Include diagrams from the drawing tool.
- Use measurements and quantities to be exact (ex. two 12in. balloons)
Procedure - How to Build the Boat
Make a numbered list of the steps to build your group's boat. Be detailed and specific - someone else should be able to follow these steps to create the exact same boat as yours.
- Include diagrams from the drawing tool.
- Use measurements and quantities to be exact (ex. two 12in. balloons)
Results/Graph: Class Data
In the table below, include pictures and labels for:
Top three buoyancy winners
Top three efficiency winners
Lowest three buoyancy winners
Lowest three efficiency winners
For your calculations:
Boat Efficiency = Mass of Pennies Held ÷ Boat Mass
Total Buoyant Force = Boat Mass + Mass of Pennies Held
Average / Class Average
Data Analysis
Use a Google Spreadsheet to make 2 column graphs from your data. Insert the graphs here. The purpose of the graphs is to support an answer to the testable question above.
Make 2 graphs:
Column Graph: Boat Name vs. Buoyant Force
Column Graph: Boat Name vs. Boat Efficiency
Give titles and label the x- and y-axes appropriately.
Complete the table by inserting pictures of the best- and worst-performing boats. You can find the pictures on the Unit 3 page of the class website.
Best Efficiency Winner(s) / insert picture(s) here / Describe the boat's design.
Worst Buoyancy Winner(s) / insert picture(s) here / Describe the boat's design.
Worst Efficiency Winner(s) / insert picture(s) here / Describe the boat's design.
Seat A or C Name (write your name here) / Seat B or D Name (write your name here)
How did your boat perform compared to the class high, low and average? Provide quantitative evidence to support your answer. / How did your boat perform compared to the class high, low and average? Provide quantitative evidence to support your answer.
Look at the boats that performed best - what things do you notice about their boat designs? / Look at the boats that performed worst - what things do you notice about their boat designs?
If you could do this project again, what things would you do differently? What things would you do the same? / What was the most important lesson gained from the background research? Explain.
Make at least 3 recommendations to next year's class as they make their boats. What things should or shouldn't they do? Why / Make at least 3 recommendations to next year's class as they make their boats. What things should or shouldn't they do? Why
Force Arrow Diagrams
Draw force arrow diagrams for 3 boats: yours, the class best and the class worst (based on total buoyant force). Each diagram should include:
- A picture of the boat
- Mass and buoyant force labeled with name and amount
- Net force calculated
Your Boat
Best Class Boat (based on buoyant force)
Worst Class Boat (based on buoyant force)
Challenges/Technical Difficulties
Every experiment experiences technical challenges. What challenges did you have while conducting your experiments? Was it difficult to obtain accurate measurements? Were you able to get the same result during each trial? Did you have to change or modify different parts of your experiment? What other problems did you solve?
Remember to delete all teacher instructions in red when you are finished.