(June 9, 2016) Snow Hill Middle School students, except for Gage Reynolds, found the cardboard boats they built to hold at least two people lasted about 10 minutes in the Pocomoke River.
Reynolds’ vessel, the Big Money Hobo, outlasted them all, including his teacher Denis Jenkins’ Mach Cinco. In the end, the unsinkable Big Money Hobo carried seven students and an impromptu pizza party before a concerted effort resulted in its destruction.
“This is the culmination of their STEM training with me,” Jenkins said. “They produced an orthographic drawing, calculated the Archimedes’ principle to determine their weight and the weight of the boat to determine the buoyancy of the vessel. Then they built it to see if it works.”
Archimedes’ principle is a law of physics fundamental to fluid mechanics.
The construction materials were limited, but with certain exceptions. The students had only cardboard, duct tape and sealer at their disposal. However, certain projects were exceptions: one boat was lined with a tarp, and another tried electrical tape as well as duct tape.
The rules of the regatta were simple — survival of the fittest.
About a dozen vessels and more than twice that number of students participated in the Tuesday afternoon event.
Reynolds’ secret was in the tape, Jenkins said.
“There was a lot of tape on the bottom — Gage found it was a better sealer than what we were using as a sealer,” he said.
Reynolds’ boat was also huge by comparison. Jenkins said it was eight feet long, six and one-half feet wide and two feet tall.
“We were joking with him that he could fit a king-sized mattress into it,” Jenkins said.
The regatta is part of Project Lead the Way, which is a nonprofit organization that develops STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula for K-12 students. This is the first field test, and Jenkins hopes to do more in the future, perhaps even inviting other local schools to compete.
“This is both a web-enabled and hands-on application. The students did computer drafting but also used a pen and paper, too. Essentially, we’re looking at science but there’s a hands-on aspect too,” Jon Kehl, assistant principal of Snow Hill Middle School, said.
The Pocomoke River Canoe Company gave the class permission to use its dock, donated the use of life vests and provided personnel to help supervise the boaters.
“Any activity on the water is good for all of Snow Hill. People don’t even realize the river is here — anyone in the river is a plus,” owner Barry Laws said.
Nearly all of the cardboard vessels were recovered after the regatta.
“Mine got wedged on the bridge. I’m heading back out there to get it,” Jenkins said.
Reynolds’ vessel, the Big Money Hobo, outlasted them all, including his teacher Denis Jenkins’ Mach Cinco. In the end, the unsinkable Big Money Hobo carried seven students and an impromptu pizza party before a concerted effort resulted in its destruction.
“This is the culmination of their STEM training with me,” Jenkins said. “They produced an orthographic drawing, calculated the Archimedes’ principle to determine their weight and the weight of the boat to determine the buoyancy of the vessel. Then they built it to see if it works.”
Archimedes’ principle is a law of physics fundamental to fluid mechanics.
The construction materials were limited, but with certain exceptions. The students had only cardboard, duct tape and sealer at their disposal. However, certain projects were exceptions: one boat was lined with a tarp, and another tried electrical tape as well as duct tape.
The rules of the regatta were simple — survival of the fittest.
About a dozen vessels and more than twice that number of students participated in the Tuesday afternoon event.
Reynolds’ secret was in the tape, Jenkins said.
“There was a lot of tape on the bottom — Gage found it was a better sealer than what we were using as a sealer,” he said.
Reynolds’ boat was also huge by comparison. Jenkins said it was eight feet long, six and one-half feet wide and two feet tall.
“We were joking with him that he could fit a king-sized mattress into it,” Jenkins said.
The regatta is part of Project Lead the Way, which is a nonprofit organization that develops STEM, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics curricula for K-12 students. This is the first field test, and Jenkins hopes to do more in the future, perhaps even inviting other local schools to compete.
“This is both a web-enabled and hands-on application. The students did computer drafting but also used a pen and paper, too. Essentially, we’re looking at science but there’s a hands-on aspect too,” Jon Kehl, assistant principal of Snow Hill Middle School, said.
The Pocomoke River Canoe Company gave the class permission to use its dock, donated the use of life vests and provided personnel to help supervise the boaters.
“Any activity on the water is good for all of Snow Hill. People don’t even realize the river is here — anyone in the river is a plus,” owner Barry Laws said.
Nearly all of the cardboard vessels were recovered after the regatta.
“Mine got wedged on the bridge. I’m heading back out there to get it,” Jenkins said.