What can’t you do with duct tape? Add some cardboard for structure and apparently you can build a boat. How long that boat stays above water depends on how well it’s engineered.
Students in Centaurus high school's senior engineering design class took on the boat-building
The high school students were assisted by two University of Colorado engineering students. The construction of the boat allowed for no more than two rolls of duct tape and required that they mark the estimated water line when the boat was occupied.
The students competed to see who could paddle about 100ft and back in the least amount of time. About half of the boats sank before finishing the course, but the project’s true goal was not related to winning.
Brian Thomas, who teaches the class, said he uses the boat building project to teach students the basics of the design process before they start a major research project. "This way, they have experience in setting up a project -- and they get to have a little fun with it," he said.
That experience is appreciated by the students. Robert Ballard, a student is the class, sank with his boat during the event. He could still recognize the importance of it. "This is the class where you can actually engineer something," he said.
That experience can be essential to capturing the imagination of students entering college. The lackluster retention of college engineering students is often about the absence of these sorts of applied problems. Many college programs are adding this type of hands-on activity in first-year courses to emphasize the relevance of underlying mathematical and physical principles. High school experiences offer an advantageous perspective when transitioning to college.
Applied engineering projects provide opportunity to enjoy success and learn from failure. Both can be important. Seeing the limitations and opportunities in engineering design choices is a large part of getting it right. Sometimes you just need more duct tape.
The video about the competition is below.