Sh W

a
at
ch

at rk
Grrrrrrrr
ou
t!

ta
ck

L e t’
s mov
e it!

Go, go, go!

What’s the science?

So, what’s floating Weight
your boat? The answer is buoyancy.
Any object placed in water has two
forces acting on it: its weight pulling it
down and upthrust from the water
pushing it up. If the object’s weight is
too much for the water to support, the Buoyancy
Keep your cool
object will sink. If it’s lighter, the object will
What floats and what doesn’t? It’s
float. The two bottles on your boat are full of air, a matter of life and death if there
which is very light. Try filling them with sand are vicious sharks in the water.
10 or rice and see whether or not they still float. Quick, get this boat out of here!

US_010-011_Crafty_Boats.indd 10 07/06/2018 11:40

 Crafty
To make a basic boat
All you need is a plastic food tray, two plastic bottles,
scissors, and string. When you have finished, add special
features, such as a control deck or a go-faster spoiler.

boats
Think, or you’ll sink! All you need Carefully
to remember is, if it floats it’ll make a make a hole
in each Scissors
boat. You’ll need it to float if there are corner, using and
sharks around! scissors. string

You will need:

Plastic Plastic Plastic
bottle food tray bottle

Tie a piece of
string through
each hole and
around each
bottle tightly.

Use at Ask an adult

anythi d th
f lo a ng you can fin ls.
to help when you
ts for e ri a are near water.
boat-building mat

11

US_010-011_Crafty_Boats.indd 11 14/05/2018 11:20