STEAM Boat Races
Thursday, January 23rd
“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” — Fitzhugh Dodson.
Introduction
In January, one of our STEAM teachers, Mrs. Myles, introduced us to the upcoming Boat Race Project. We were required to find a group of 4, and Taha, Jinseo, Arthur, and I (Jovan) created a team. We then spent the rest of the time planning our boat design in the library, which led to the creation of a rough depiction of our boat.
I Week
During I Week, we faced problems designing the boat because no one could decide which worked best. But the boat race was on Thursday, so I spent about three hours hastily trying to find the given cardboard’s exact dimensions and creating our final design the night before the race.
Race Day
I arrived at Hyde Creek Recreational Centre at around 8:43 AM, dressed in my swimsuit beneath my clothes and ready to take a splash. Soon, I met up with my teammates upstairs at the gathering. There I saw my STEAM teachers, I remembered seeing Mr. Csuka, Mrs. Lauder, Mrs. Amin, and other staff members.
‘Mr. Csuka and Mrs. Lauder giving us instructions’ short video
Additionally, there were some experts in boat-making and seacraft to help us when needed. They mostly explained the Day Schedule, rules, and expectations, and sent us to building our boats!
Day Schedule:
- 9 – 11:15 – BUILDING of boats
- 11:15 – 11:30 – CLEANUP & Line boats up beside pool
- 11:30 – 12pm – BREAK with Pizza Lunch
- 12 pm – 12:30 – RACE!
- 12:30 – 12:50 – Final FLOAT
- 1:00 – Dismissal
BUILDING of Boats
My team and I couldn’t take many pictures during the building phase, so all the credit goes to the staff who helped us take pictures.
Our process of Boat-Building
The process of boat-building was simple, though there were times of discussions and disagreements. We took the design and shape from the draft I created, and we started building right away. At first, we carved out the shapes needed to create the base and sides of the boat from cardboard.
Then we placed the pieces in place and duct-taped them together to reinforce the structure, and wrapped them with clear packing tape to make the bottom and the sides waterproof.
CLEANUP & Line boats up beside pool
During this period, I was frantically scrambling around the work area trying to recover my tape measurer. I had lent my tape measurer to another group, and they mistook it for the tape measurer that belonged to the staff. I eventually did find it though with the help of Jinseo.
BREAK with Pizza Lunch
Our break was 30 minutes long, but it felt like 10 minutes with palpable tension in the air. I had my pizza lunch with Taha and conversed with the other competitors. There was a blend of confidence and uncertainty in this moment of interlude.
RACE!
For the race, our boat was designed to equally distribute the weight of four people for the “Longest Boat Afloat Competition”. But we decided to only place two people in the boat first for the “Fastest Boat Competition”, and Taha and I volunteered to be the first passengers of our craft.
For the “Fastest Boat Competition”, we raced in the second race and got second. This was unprecedented as our boat was best designed for the other competition, and we had two people in our craft which was unstable.
Our padding skills also weren’t that great, as our coordination skills were put to the test. Taha sat at my right side, and yet, he paddled on my side by sticking his hand over(left). So, our craft moved in a s l o w and wonky fashion.
Race Video
After that, we were pulled back ashore for the next competition, where Taha and I stayed in our boat for what felt like 20 minutes from what I could recall. The boat was holding up very well, though we had to remove the center barrier to allow us to lean down to distribute some weight to the backside.
There was a small pool of water from the splashing of water from the race earlier, but the boat held up with its excellently water-proof taped sides. Our only issue was when we tried to fit another person inside, which was rushed and ended in the sinkage of our craft when Arthur stepped into the boat with one foot.
Post-Race Reflection Questions
What factors contributed to the success (or failure) of your race?
Some factors that contributed to the results of our race were the boat’s design, shape, structure, weight and skills of the paddlers.
The design was best suited for the second competition, and the shape allowed the boarding of four passengers and distributing their weight almost evenly.
As for the structure, we mostly relied on tape to hold the boat together, but we also considered having the center barrier to bind the boat’s lengths together. This would also create two separate chambers so if water leaked in the ship, it would only leak in one half.
What could you improve about your boat design?
A way to improve my boat’s design was to plan for the event more carefully, setting realistic goals of carrying 3 people instead of 4 and accounting for how people would get in the boat.
If we were to do this activity again, I would create a smaller and thinner boat design with a strengthened and thicken bottom side.
(Refer to the video of the sinkage for visual)
How did the mass of the paddler affect your race? Consider density & buoyancy.
The mass of our paddlers affected the race by increasing the mass of the volume-confined boat, which increased its density and decreased its buoyancy (the upward force exerted by a fluid that opposes the weight of an immersed object).
This would cause the boat to sink if the object’s density is higher than the density of the pool water. This was shown when our third paddler entered the boat, which caused the ship to exceed its buoyancy threshold.
Additionally, the larger shape and more submerged surface area of the boat caused more friction and drag in the water which slowed the ship.