Materials

• Materials for the boats:
  • Plastic water bottles
  • Cereal boxes
  • Paper
  • Empty chip bags
  • Juice boxes
  • Let them use their imaginations
• Tape (One for each team)
• Scissors (One for each team)
• Clay (in case some of the boats will need ballast to keep from flipping over)
• Two long rain-gutters (get from hardware store)

Instructions

1. Group the students into teams of two or three people each.
2. Lay out the rain-gutters and fill them with water.
3. Explain they are building boats.  Show them the materials and explain that they are building boats to race in the rain-gutters. Don’t give them too many instructions. Let them discover how to do this on their own.
4. Explain they can use wind power to propel the boats, but they may not touch them while racing.
5. Give them some time to work on their boats.
6. Let them practice in the rain-gutters and refine their designs.
7. After a set amount of time (30 to 45 minutes), let them race their boats.