High school physics assignment: combine duct tape, cardboard ‘immerse in water. Report on buoyancy and distance traveled across 100 meter pool with two student crew rowing.
Well, that’s the plan, anyway, that Brandon High School physics teacher Lesley Hildebrand gave to her students who launched 18 cardboard boats into the high school swimming pool last week.
‘If you float, you pass the assignment,? said Hildebrand. ‘The idea is to learn about the center of gravity and buoyancy. Students learn to apply science and calculate how to make the cardboard boat float. Of course, some just fold like a taco. About 70 percent of the boats make it down and back in the pool.?
Students could use the duct tape to cover the seams only, and must have two students in the boat, she said.
‘In this assignment students demonstrate just how much they can apply practical physics, more than just making the calculations on paper.?