Students’ Cardboard Boats Put To Test On Pocomoke River

Students’ Cardboard Boats Put To Test On Pocomoke River
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SNOW HILL – Local students put the Archimedes principle into action with a trip to the Pocomoke River.

On Friday, eighth-graders in Denis Jenkins’ Gateway to Technology class at Snow Hill Middle School tested their craftsmanship as they pushed off the dock aboard the cardboard boats they spent the past month building.

“I never knew cardboard could float,” eighth-grader Cincere Dennis said. “It was fun.”

The cardboard boat project was developed as part of Snow Hill Middle’s technology education program. Jenkins said he taught students the Archimedes principle — the law that something immersed in fluid is buoyed up by a force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced — and  gave them the chance to apply it by building boats out of cardboard and tape.

“They had to calculate the dimensions of the boat against the water buoyancy,” Jenkins said.

They also used the technology design process by researching the problem, designing solutions, evaluating prototypes and troubleshooting.

“The benefit of this is they see the design process from beginning to end and it gives them the opportunity to do the application and see why it’s important to follow those steps,”  said Diane Stulz, coordinator of technology education for Worcester County Public Schools.

Students-Cardboard-A-150x150.jpgAs students carried their boats — large cardboard configurations covered in clear packing tape — to the river Friday, they excitedly discussed who would be piloting the vessels and whether they’d sink first or last. Eighth-grader Katie Howard said the most difficult part of the construction process was shaping the dismantled cardboard boxes so they resembled a boat.

As they hit the water Friday, some vessels looked like traditional rowboats while others were mere rafts. Some particularly creative students modeled their boat to resemble a semi-truck, while others helped build a floating car — complete with flashy paint job and silver hood ornament.

Howard said the boats, each of which was built by a team of three or more students, came together rather quickly.

“It was fun to work under pressure,” she said. “It was good teamwork.”

Dennis agreed and said the project was one future students would enjoy.

“It was something new,” she said.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.