Aluminum Foil Boat Lab
Try this FUN and Simple STEM Aluminum Foil Boat Lab! The absolute best STEM projects are the ones that are easy, cost effective, and allow you to teach a greater topic. It is the STEM activity that is the vehicle for which the harder to understand content follows. Funny, huh? Wouldn’t it be nice if there was a STEM activity for all things difficult to understand?!? Happy learning!
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Aluminum Foil Boat Lab Materials List
The materials list for the Simple STEM Aluminum Boat Lab is short and super inexpensive! All you need is some aluminum foil sheets and marbles. I purchased both of these from the Dollar Tree. You will more than likely need 2 to 3 bags of marbles and just 1 box of aluminum foil sheets. So, for less than $5 dollars, your student can experience an interactive lab and have a container of marbles leftover for play later.
Make your Aluminum Boat
From the picture, you can see our creations. All of the kids made their own aluminum foil boat. They were allowed to use up to 2 pieces of aluminum foil sheets, but they didn’t have too.
Some kids were more concerned with the design of their boat, while others were struggling to create a boat that they were pleased with. I gave these children a boat cheat… if you take a plastic bowl, turn it over, and then lay the aluminum foil sheet on top, you can mold the foil in the shape of the bowl. Next, turn it over and you have an instant boat!
Make Predictions
Prediction time! Now, take a look at the created boats and predict which boat you think will hold the most marbles while floating in water. The prediction sheet allows for the data collection of 6 boats. For us, each of the kids and I made a boat. If I had less children, even an only child, I would encourage my child to make 3 boats while I made 3 boats too.
After labeling each boat, 1-6, the kids and I observe the boats and one by one each child makes their predictions. I put a small star in the boat box to represent their prediction. Three of my kids predicted that the long boat below would win by holding the most marbles. SPOILER ALERT: It didn’t hold the most.
Test Predictions
We tested our boats in the bathtub, but a large sink or pool will do too. It is important to talk to your kids about how to put the marbles into their boats. For instance, dropping or thrusting your marble at the boat may sink it like a bomb would a pirate ship. Encourage them to carefully and easily place the marbles into their aluminum foil boats as they count out loud. FYI: One boat was lost to marble bombing… 3 year old pirate.
If you have multiple children, I would suggest making this a rule: the person who made the boat is the only person allowed to add marbles to that boat. The person adding the marbles is responsible for counting out loud. Once the boat begins to sink, all marbles hence to be added to the ship. There is a lot of commotion when the boat starts to sink. Everyone gets pretty riled up… it’s fun… even for mom!
Record Data
Tally marks are configured to represent the number of marbles the boat held and then the sum is written in number form and circled to show the total. The data collection process allows for counting over 100, skip counting by 5’s, and how to write tally marks.
Analyze Data & Make Conclusions
By the end of the Aluminum Foil Boat Lab, we had plenty of observations to share. We discussed what kind of design held more marbles and why some boats sank quicker than others. They each explained how they would have built their boat different, or not. The simple STEM Aluminum Foil Boat lab was a fun and educational science exploration for the whole group.
Extend the learning...
Sure, we could have called it a day and stopped with only the STEM lab, but this was the perfect opportunity to extend the learning! Take a look at What causes a boat to float? and learn how Density, Buoyancy, and Displacement all play a role in the floating of a boat!
Food for thought...
Looking for a more permanent science curriculum? Even though we pursue various science units that encompass labs and such, we also use a science textbook each year. Some might say that our science units supplement our textbook, while others would say the opposite to be true. The labs, experiments, graphic organizers, videos, and other activities bring the textbook information to life.
We use Abeka Science textbooks. I love that they incorporate God and His sovereignty into their curriculum. When I taught in the public school system, I noticed that many of my students were lacking in vocabulary. This made it difficult for them to understand the why behind many of our investigations. Unfortunately, they were deficient in their background knowledge. Our science time would be lacking too if it weren’t for the rich vocabulary and science language that we find in our science textbook and readers. If you are interested in shopping for a full-time science curriculum or even just a textbook to guide you, click on the following link! Happy homeschooling!
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