At my high school (San Mateo High School), AP Physics 1's last project required students to design a boat out of cardboard and use it to race the other students' designs in the high school's pool. Project groups were made up of 2 to 3 individuals, and 2 boats went up against each other at a time. The boat with the fastest time out of all of the boats won the competition. Afterwards, each group was responsible for doing research on a certain physics principle that played a role in the boat's design.
My group consisted of myself and two of my friends; we decided to build a boat out of several layers of cardboard that formed a triangular tip with a rectangular space in the back. We believed that this boat design would be successful and survive the two laps without completely submerging in the process; nevertheless, we tested this product and only made it to one full lap before sinking. Therefore, as shown in the photographs of this project, we finally agreed on the simple, yet effective, rectangular design. Cutting out the edges of the cardboards and layering the floor and sides proved to work as we managed to survive two laps in the real competition and come in 3rd place out of 12 teams. Afterwards, we decided to do our research on Archimedes Principle, which taught us about the buoyant force acting on our cardboard boat.
Throughout the construction of the boat, I learned several lessons. First, concerning the need to scrap the first boat idea and come up with the second design, I learned that not every thoroughly designed product will ultimately behave as expected. It is always crucial to test the product and make sure that it either works or fails despite one's confidence in the design. This was an area of growth for me because I was really confident in the boat we constructed without proof that it was viable, and this thinking worked out opposite to what had been expected. This taught me resilience during the project, as well, because the first idea not working made me eager to reflect on the errors in that design and build on them in the second construction of the boat. And, in the end, this second effort, and not giving up, proved to be successful. Additionally, I learned aspects of managing a team as, at times, we were stuck on the features to include in the design and I had been able to instruct my partners on ways we could incorporate supportive features in our boat. This was after I did research on cardboard boats online. We learned about our strengths through this process as we were able to communicate effectively by staying on the same page and listening to each other's ideas respectfully rather than arguing.
In terms of our research, we came up with an effective format of explaining our findings together. We decided to give background information about Archimedes, explain the concept of his principle, give examples of its practical applications, and solve a hypothetical mathematics problem related to Archimedes Principle. In the development of this slideshow, we found our strengths in, again, our ability to communicate well and deliver an effective format of displaying our research due to our organized collaboration. Nevertheless, a major area of growth for myself was in the presentation of this research. I could have delivered the ideas and examples in our slideshows more effectively by preparing for the presentation further in advance along with studying the research to a larger extent. Working on effectively delivering presentations is something I pride myself on working to become better at constantly.
Ultimately, my group and I learned lessons about our strengths and areas for growth while designing a cardboard boat that was viable when the design counted and while conveying our research about a physical principle that related to our boat's function. This project really helped me focus on aspiring to pursue a career in STEM as I realized the extent to which science and mathematics allowed me to be fascinated by the world that exists around me.