Cardboard and water are normally a bad combination, but on Monday the two mixed in the pool at Lake Forest High School.
The annual Physics Boat Regatta requires students to build a boat out of cardboard or paper products, said Matt Lowry, a physics teacher.
“The whole point is to give them a real world engineering problem to solve,” Lowry said. “To answer a task that has more real world meat to it than answering questions on a piece of paper.”
Each boat is big enough – barely – for one student, who paddles it around the perimeter of the pool. The boats are evaluated on their ability to float for two minutes and their time in circling the pool, said Megan Stoll, a physics teacher.
The students can use any kind of paddle as long as they make it themselves, Lowry said. On Monday, there were paddles made of two dustpans attached to a stick, two ping-pong racquets and two empty gallon milk containers.
Students are required to waterproof their boats, Lowry said, though some students are more thorough than others.
More Top Picks Best Wifi Routers For Large Homes
“We used about three bottles of caulk to make sure it wouldn’t leak,” said Erisa Farimani, who, along with three other students, constructed the “S.S. Caulk.” They also decorated the boat by drawing stick figures of themselves in the back and a dinosaur head in the front.
“Our teacher’s son likes dinosaurs,” Farimani said.
A boat partially built by Peter Rowell had no leaks but was difficult to maneuver.
“It was stable, but the sides of the boat came up way too high,” Rowell said.
Maddy Lonergan and Nicole Diez designed a more aerodynamic boat with a triangle-shaped bow and stern.
“We wanted something more narrow and canoe-shaped,” Lonergan said.
Jon Day made it only a third of the way around the pool before his boat started to leak.
“Is it filling up?” classmate called from the pool deck.
“Yes,” Day said.
“Hurry!” said the classmate.
Day chose a different strategy, holding still until the boat had floated for the required two minutes. Then he began paddling. He made it past the finish line to cheers from students and teachers in the balcony, but at the end it was him pulling the boat rather than the boat carrying him.
“Every year we have boats sink, although every year we have more boats survive and finish the race,” Lowry said.
@reporterdude