Floatin' Boats

Eighth grade students had the opportunity to build boats out of tin foil, straws, and tape.  After their boats were completed, they added pennies to see how much weight their boats could hold.  Next time I do this activity, I will give students less tin foil because some boats were very successful and we almost ran out of pennies!  This activity really helped students understand how density, buoyancy, and surface area affect an object's ability to float.  You might notice that one boat has a balloon inside it.  A couple groups wanted to model their boat off canoes.  We discussed how some canoes have hollow areas to help it float.