Toy Products Incorporated

Project Details & Guidelines

Will It Float?

Driving Question:
How can we use the scientific method to design a toy boat that satisfies the Toy Products Incorporated Companys requirements?

Project Overview:
Teams will design a toy boat for Toy Products Incorporateds 50 th anniversary inspired by ancient Pop Pop boats! Boats must be no smaller than a softball and no larger than a basketball. Using the scientific method, teams will design their boat and make a soda can steam motor, which must propel the toy at least 2 feet in water without assistance (no pushing). Mass will be added to the boat to determine how much mass it can hold before sinking. Teams will create a poster outlining the scientific method steps used to design and test their toy boat, and will share their findings with Toy Products Incorporated in the format of a formal presentation.

Project Duration
The project will last ~ 6 weeks.

Group Assignments & Due Dates These dates are subject to change.
well informed if something changes.

I will keep you

1) Boat Design Proposal & Soda Can (empty, no bends) (Wed, Sept 4) 2) Boat Materials Brought Into Class (Tues, Sept 10) 3) Completed Soda Can Motor (Mon, Sept 16) 5) Completed Boat (with motor attached) (Thur, Sept 19) 6) Final Scientific Method Poster (Thur, Sept 26) 6) Final Presentation to Toy Products Incoroporated (Oct 1, 2, 3, 4) 1) Quizzes, tests, classwork. Chapter 1 and 2 Test will be Tues Oct 8

Individual Assignments: Assessment:

Final assessment will be with a rubric based on your individual answers to questions relating to Focus Concepts on the final presentation day. You will also have a final written chapter 1 and 2 test.

Final Presentation Day Details:

You must wear professional dress (think about what you might wear if you went to a summer job interview collared shirts, tops without logos, well fitted clothing, etc) Prepare a 4-5 minute presentation of your professional poster with your team. Each person in your group must speak for an equal amount of time. Individual content questions will be asked of each person after the presentation (based on focus concepts).

CA State Standards: Investigation and Experimentation

Density and Buoyancy
8. All objects experience a buoyant force when immersed in a fluid. As a basis for understanding this concept: a. b. c. d. Students know density is mass per unit volume. Students know how to calculate the density of substances (regular and irregular solids and liquids) from measurements of mass and volume. Students know the buoyant force on an object in a fluid is an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid the object has displaced. Students know how to predict whether an object will float or sink.

Investigation and Experimentation 9. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept and addressing the content in the other three strands, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will: a. b. c. d. e. f. g. Plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis. Evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data. Distinguish between variable and controlled parameters in a test. Recognize the slope of the linear graph as the constant in the relationship y=kx and apply this principle in interpreting graphs constructed from data. Construct appropriate graphs from data and develop quantitative statements about the relationships between variables. Apply simple mathematic relationships to determine a missing quantity in a mathematic expression, given the two remaining terms (including speed = distance/time, density = mass/volume, force = pressure area, volume = area height). Distinguish between linear and nonlinear relationships on a graph of data.

8th Grade

Will It Float? Focus Concepts

Directions: Review the concepts below to help prepare for the final presentation. You will be asked questions relating to these concepts as a way to evaluate your content knowledge in a verbal-test format. This is an individual score.

1. Driving Question: How can we use the scientific method to design a toy boat that satisfies the Toy Products Incorporated Companys requirements? 2. Describe how asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations can lead to scientific progress. 3. Explain the importance of data analysis in the scientific method. 4. Having a control in an experiment is crucial. Explain why. 5. Tell the audience what process your team went through to come up with a testable hypothesis. 6. Provide an explanation of your teams graph and explain how graphs are useful for interpreting data (include information about quantitative vs. qualitative data, as well as linear vs. nonlinear graphs) 7. Be able to manipulate the density equation (density = mass/volume). Understand the relationship between these three variables. 8. Understand how to calculate density of substances (what measurements are needed and what tools could you use to get these measurements) 9. Archimedes Principle states that the upward force (called the buoyant force) on an object is equal to the weight of the fluid the object has displaced. Explain what this means and how you could find the buoyant force on an object.

10. Predict whether an object will float or sink based on density.