Pirate Science

Science and math involved pirates as well today. The focus was on calculating density, where students had to use graduated cylinders to find the volume of glass "booty" and then use the formula to find density. Learning that water has a density of 1 g/ml cubed, any density over 1.0 would mean it will sink it water. Applying this concept, students built aluminum boats (density of 2.7) and used the science of making a large surface area to spread out the weight of the foil/booty. Understanding displacement and buoyancy, students created aluminum boats (using exactly 36 sq. inches of foil- 6in. X 6in.)that would hold the most booty. We had two groups break my class record, which stood for over 3 years. Sixty-eight glass beads were held in an aluminum boat made up of only 36 sq. inches!