Boats and ships have been around for thousands of years and are made from a variety of materials. Some of the largest ships today are container cargo ships. The world's largest container cargo ship is more than 1,300 feet long (400 meters), or the distance around an Olympic running track! 

A container cargo ship is like a huge warehouse, holding its cargo in pre-packed units called containers. Cargo ships often carry more than their own weight, so their design does just that. They have a flat, shallow design that keeps them buoyant (the power to float), even with very large loads. We challenge you to become a naval architect and use your engineering skills to construct your own cargo ship that can carry a heavy load without tipping over or sinking.

Tools 

• A sheet of aluminum foil 

• Upcycled materials: cereal or tissue boxes, plastic bottles, aluminum cans, wine corks, paper, cardboard, Popsicle sticks, egg cartons, etc.

• Scissors 

• Glue or tape 

• A sink or bathtub (deeper than your ship)  

• Water 

• Cargo: pennies, other change, or bolts

• Writing utensil and paper 

Steps  

Step 1: Test your knowledge of buoyancy. Can you successfully complete this engineering design challenge: Create an object out of aluminum foil that floats? Use a sheet of aluminum foil, design and then test your boat until it can float.  

Step 2: After you completed the challenge, take a moment to reflect on what happened. Write on a piece of paper or tell a family member or friend about your experience while designing and testing the boat. Did you try different designs? Which one seemed to work best? Why do you think it worked best? How did your boat design change throughout this activity? 

Step 3: Now, test your aluminum boat to see if it can hold any cargo. Record and reflect on how much your vessel could hold before it sunk.  

Step 4: Put your skills to the test and can you solve this second engineer design challenge: Create a cargo ship out of “upcycled” materials that can hold cargo? Again, design the ship and test until it can float. Then add cargo and see how much it can hold. Did it hold more cargo than your tin boat from Step 1? Why or why not?

Step 5: With photographs from books, magazines, and online resources compare your two boat designs to actual trade and recreation ships. In your observations think about the trade-offs between speed (how fast the boat can go with a given power source), stability (how likely the boat is to tip over under a given sideways force like the sea), draft (how deeply the boat rides in the water), and cost (how expensive a given design is to build). Be sure to consider the different types of boats and their features. Don’t forget to share your work with us on Facebook and Twitter with the tags #SubaruLovesLearning and #STEMfromHome!

To Do or Learn More: 

• Become a better shipmate by learning the maritime lingo through the game of Port and Starboard!   

• Did you love this activity? Discover more about the university degree of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering (NAME). It gives high earnings and high levels of employment. One of the top universities in the U.S.A. is the University of Michigan. This film gives insight into a NAME career. 

• How do giant container ships work? Learn about how these giant vessels can stay afloat and travel across the oceans to different continents.  

• Learn about ballast water, which is used to provide stability and maneuverability during a voyage for large cargo vessels. Then investigate the economic and ecological impacts of ballast water as cargo ships travel around the globe with this Nauticus Virtual Adventures activity.   

• MIT Sea Grant Sea Perch Program’s Lesson: Ballast Systems in Submarines is a part of a set of introductory lessons leading students to create a remotely operated underwater vehicle!

• Science NetLinks three-part series on ships. The lesson series allows students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing of ships.