Penny Boat Lab
Name:
Period:
Introduction
This is a simple lab to invoke thought processes. Each student will be given a piece of
aluminum foil and asked to design/build a boat that will hold as many pennies as possible
without sinking.
Pre-lab
Define the following terms:
a. Independent Variable:
b. Dependent Variable:
c. Hypothesis:
Material
Pennies
1 – 30 cm x 30 cm square of aluminum foil
Paper Towels
1 – Ruler
Procedure
1. Obtain a piece of aluminum foil. Use a ruler and measure a 30 cm x 30 cm square of
aluminum foil. Build your boat and place it in the water. Describe your 1st boat design
under the data section. Make a hypothesis as to how many pennies the boat will hold in
the data section. Name your boat.
Name:
Period:
2. Make a guess as to how many pennies your boat will hold. Record it under the data
section.
3. Weigh boat to qualify. It should not weigh more than the teacher’s piece of 30 cm x 30
cm aluminum foil.
4. Place boat in water container. Add one penny to the boat at a time until the boat starts to
sink. Record your number of pennies (minus the one that sank it) in the data section.
5. Clean up any spilled water and your work area. Carefully dump out the water into the
nearest sink. Dry off the pennies and return them to the penny bucket.
6. Answer the questions in the data and conclusions sections.
Data
1. Hypothesis: My boat will hold ___________ pennies.
2. Actual Result: My boat DID hold ___________ pennies.
3. Name of boat: _________________
4. Description of boat design and why you chose that design.
4. Drawing of boat design:
Conclusion
1. The quantity of pennies that your boat will carry before it sunk is _______________
variable because it would vary depending on the design of your boat.
a. independent b. dependent
2. The design of your boat would be your _______________ variable because it is the main
variable being tested.
a. independent b. dependent
3. Develop a better design.