Summer Learning Journey With Nanogirl!

Challenge 2 - Build Something That Floats!!


This week's challenge is to build something that floats!

How do things float? It’s all to do with something called buoyancy - which is the science word to describe how floaty or buoyant something is. Things that float well usually have a lot of air as part of their structure.

Can you think of materials that float well?

Wood floats really well because it is filled with tiny air pockets on the inside. That’s why many rafts or bilibili are made out of lots of wood logs tied together with rope or bamboo.

Rocks don’t usually float well at all because they usually don’t have much air in them, we call materials like these that are heavy for their size DENSE. 

But what about ships? Ships are made of metal, which is heavy and dense, so how do they float? Ships are designed to have their middle full of air, so just like the wood there is lots of air inside the structure.  

Make something that floats by looking around to see what you can re-use or re-purpose to make your floating invention.  It could be a milk bottle top or a lunchbox lid.

I’ve linked some videos below so you can get some ideas but you don’t have to make them exactly the same as mine, just use whatever you can find lying around the house.

Once you have engineered your new invention it’s time to test it! Can you measure how far it sails using a ruler, or what about how much load it can carry before it sinks? 

What would you change if you wanted it to go faster or carry more weight? This is what an inventor does, tries something, then thinks about how they can make it better!

Once you are happy with what you have made use your webcam and screencastify to video what you have done and share your inventions and what you enjoyed about it on your blog!

I can’t wait to see your inventions and discoveries.

Videos And Instructions To Give You Ideas


Sailboat invention

Learn how to make a sailboat!

Go To Sailboat Invention Video

Why Boats Float

Learn why boats float!

Go To Why Things Float Video