Boat Races

This exercise is proposed by NOD Makerspace as an exercise included in the Makers for Inclusion Erasmus Plus project.

The exercise draws inspiration from here:

https://www.instructables.com/id/3-Simple-STEM-Boa...

but it has been tweaked to suit the project's target audience and equipment available in Romania. The exercise consists of building a simple wooden boat and making it move.

This exercise gives children a chance to see physics principles in action and experiment with basic hand tools.

Please make sure you are working in a space suitable for minors, with all safety precautions in place.

Will be detailed in the steps below, for each of the boats

Have yourself a little boat race.

These 3 boats are made to illustrate 3 ways in which you can propel a mini-boat.

Materials you need

• balsa wood- a light wood that floats and is easy to cut with a cutter (instead of balsa wood you can use any material that floats, like polystyrene)
• a balloon
• rubber bands
• copper pipe
• tea light candle
• a surface of water

Tools you need

• Coiling Mechanism
• Ruler
• Scissors
• Utility Knife
• Pencil
• Small Screwdriver
• Wood Carving Tools
• Cutter
• Tape
• Fine Grit Sandpaper
• 2-3 Tablespoons sugar, salt, or sand
• Fire Starter

If you give the boats the same shape, you can race them and see what method is better for propulsion.

Because the boats are light, wind and current can influence the movement of the boat, so we recommend using a surface of water that is either inside or very still.

Boat nr 1 is propelled by rubber band.

Winding up the rubber band will propel the boat. This is the simplest of the boats and you can do this exercise with smaller kids. See how far this boat can go and have yourself a little boat race.

Materials you need

• balsa wood block - 9/15cm to start with
• rubber band

Equipment you need

• Ruler
• Pencil
• Small flat head screwdriver
• Cutter

Steps to follow

1. Trace your design on the boat material

   Use your ruler to draw the outline of your boat and then use it as a guide as you cut the material. Depending on the thickness, cut it in more than one pass

2. Draw the shape in the back of the boat

   The back of the boat is where you'll add the propeller. draw a slit just a little bit bigger than your propeller. Make sure to leave 1cm (at least) edges, so that they won't break

3. The security pegs

   The security pegs are two small pieces of wood you wrap your rubber band around. Cut two small pieces of balsa, about 3cm heigh. Make one hole on each side of the rudder slit using the flat head screwdriver. Insert the two pieces of wood in the holes,untill about 5mm stick out on the underneath of the boat

4. The rudder

   Cut two pieces of balsa wood. The length of the pieces should be a little under twice the distance between the pegs and the slit in the boat. the rudder can be made out of a single piece of wood, or two. Join the two pieces as seen in the image above

5. Assembling the boat

   Add a rubber band in between the two pegs and then insert the rudder between the two sides of the rubber band. Winde the rudder and place it on the surface of the water

This boat is propelled by blowing air in a balloon and letting it deflate through a straw in the water.

It's both fun and easy to make.

Materials you need

• Balsa Wood
• Balloon
• Small Rubber Band
• Drinking Straw

Tools you need

• Utility Knife
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Drill Bit or Screw Driver

Stept to take

1. Cut the balsa wood

   Use the same shape and dimensions you used for the other boats. Start by tracing the shape with a ruler. Hold the ruler up along the line and cut the shape with the cutter

2. Puncture a hole through the back of the boat

   Use the drill or the screwdriver to puncture a hole through the boat big enough to fit the straw through

3. Propoltion

   Cut the straw about 2 cm above the bendy part of the straw and stic that part through the boat. Then cover it with the baloon and fix it in place with the robber band. Bend the straw underneeth the boat so that it faces outward from the back of the boat

Boat nr 3 is propelled by heating water in a cooper twisted tube using a candle.

This is the most complex of the boats and we recommend you do this with older children. Matrials you need

• Coiling Mechanism
• Balsa wood block
• Copper tube (3mm to 5mm in diameter)
• Tape
• Tea Light Candle
• Fine Grit Sandpaper
• 2-3 Tablespoons sugar, salt, or sand

Tools you need

• Ruler
• Scissors
• Utility Knife
• Pencil
• Small Screwdriver
• Wood Carving Tools
• Drill bit
• One sheet white printer paper - or scrap piece of paper
• Saw to cut the copper tube with
• Fire Starter (a lighter or a match)

We suggest that for the build steps part you follow the instructable linked at the beginning.

They did a really good job at explaining, we could not do it any better.