Middle School students found that cardboard boat races put STEM skills to good use.
The University of Texas of the Permian Basin STEM Academy tested their boat building skills during the second annual UTPB STEM Academy middle school boat race. 196 sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students comprised 45 teams who built cardboard boats that sailed across the UTPB pool.
The boats were built out of cardboard and duct tape. “Their cardboard (could) only be two thicknesses for their boats,” said eighth grade science teacher KareyGrametbaur.“They had to design a boat first on paper and then they made a little prototype in our classrooms.”
The boats were tested to see if they would float, and students could make necessary adjustments. They could revise their design and build a new prototype. The next day, they started on the boat construction. They had an hour to test the boats to see if they would not take on water. They had an opportunity to go back and fix leaks.
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