REFLECTION

Was your final design more effective than your original prototype? Our final design was more effective then our original prototype. We know because the average for the prototype was grams. The final design average was grams.

What did you learn from the experiment that helped you to construct your final design? We learned that the boat can hold more mass, if it weighs more. This is because the boat must be able to hold its own weight. So the prototype used a plastic cup. It did best out of the Styrofoam cup and no cup. This is because it weighed more. The final design used a plastic cup. The plastic cup was not cut and therefore held more mass, because it made the boat weigh more.

What variables did you try to keep constant when attempting to accomplish the challenge? We tried to keep many variables the same. The time for the boat to dry was kept at 15 minutes. We used a timer so we were 100% accurate. the type of coin we used was the penny. A penny is 3.11 grams, and so we used this number to transfer the amount of coins held to the amount of mass held. The size of the masking tape was kept constant. We measured the pieces to make sure that they were the length they needed to be. Keeping all these the same allowed for more accurate data. But there was one thing that could not be controlled, the balloon pieces. We did blow the balloon up the same(measured the circumference), and pop it the same place. The pieces were not the same size as the prototype pieces. If the pieces were too big we just cut them to make them the same, but if they were too small there was nothing that could be done. We hoped this would not ruin the data but considering it is a small flaw we decided to not let it get to us.

After researching scientific phenomena related to this challenge would you make any changes to your final design if you had the opportunity? If given the opportunity, we would make some changes to the final design. We would change the base of the boat. Instead of using the plastic bowl the plastic cup would be used. The aluminum foil would still be wrapped around it and the balloon would still be on the inside. The Styrofoam cup would be placed inside the plastic up. The coins would be placed inside the Styrofoam cup. We feel that this change would allow for a greater mass to be held.

What did you learn from participating in this design process? We learned from the design process that in order for a boat to function properly there must be balance and buoyancy. The boat needs to float, and needs to be balanced so it does not tip or flip.

What did you like most about the design process? After experiencing this design process, we liked best determining which materials would work best on the boat. We liked figuring out that the plastic cup did the best and that it worked best to not cut the cup.

What was the most challenging part of the design process? The most challenging part of the design process was thinking of what to change from the prototype. There were so many different options that could have been tested. Such as the base of the boat, the balloons, the aluminum foil.