Day 5: Rockin' the Boats!

Today campers took part in an engineering/build project: The Putt-Putt Boat. Campers watched a working model of a home-made steamboat. They were then tasked with trying to reason out how the engine operated.
Once their ideas were worked out, campers set to building one of their own. The goal of the project was to understand the value of reverse-engineering; could they infer principles on which the boat runs by building one from scratch?




The first and most critical phase was the construction of the boiler for the steamboat. They are made from empty soft-drink cans, a couple of straws, epoxy, and lots of meticulous work with toothpicks (also patience).




After lunch the engines were seal-tested by immersing them in water, and watching for bubbles as campers blew into the straws.




If the engines passed the seal test, then campers moved on to constructing the boat hulls. These were constructed out of empty cardboard juice or milk cartons, plus some duct-tape and more epoxy.



The final phase was to mount the steam engines into the boat hulls. They had to be carefully aligned, and then sealed in place so that the hull/engine assembly would be leak-proof.



Finally the critical test: adding the energy source (votive candle) and then lighting the engine. If all went well, campers left the school with their working model steamboats.

We wrapped up the project by discussing the principles on which the steamboat operates; a little thermodynamics and some conservation of momentum.