At Trafford Elementary School, students in grades K-2 are enjoying a new before-school STEAM Club led by Student Learning Assistant Miss Marissa Auel.
Auel organized the club to give young students more exposure to STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and math) concepts. Placed in groups of three, students were challenged to design a boat made of tinfoil and tape by folding, shaping, or crumbling the foil. The goal was to see how many cubes their boat could hold without sinking in a tub of water.
“This activity allowed the students to explore the concepts of weight distribution and engineering while having the creative freedom to design their boat,” commented Auel. “Some of the boats held as many as 100 cubes. After the challenge, the students discussed their boat’s performance and what features helped the boats stay afloat.”
Lydia Mellon, Keswick Dorosh, and Pierce Libell-Stein fold a tinfoil boat
Ben Gable, Landon Kromka, Bennett Begany, and Jax Hood discuss the features of their boat
Daphne Johnston, Zena Maydak, and Logan Thomas test the buoyancy of their boat
Felicity Marshall, Francesca Miele, and Dylan Dukic add cubes to their boat
