Hey there! We’re getting ready for a big summer vacation. All our friends are going to meet up and swim at the lake. Everyone will be there, including Juniper. It’s going to be so much fun!
Uh-oh! Squeaks went to find his toy boat because Juniper was going to ride on it at the lake. But it seems like the boat is missing. Squeaks thinks he might have lent it to someone who didn’t return it. This is a big problem because Juniper can’t go out on the lake without a boat.
We don’t want Juniper to miss out on the fun, so we decided to think like engineers to solve this problem. Engineers are great at coming up with solutions. We thought about building a simple boat, like a raft, for Juniper.
Before building, engineers gather information. We talked to our friends to get ideas. Dino suggested making Juniper fly across the lake, but we decided to focus on building a raft instead. Bill and Webb helped us realize that the raft needs to be big enough and have a handle for safety.
We found some materials around the fort: a kitchen sponge, craft sticks, cardboard, paper, modeling clay, aluminum foil, corks, and a big flat rock. We tested these materials to see which ones float. The craft sticks, corks, cardboard, and aluminum foil floated well, so we decided to use them for our raft designs.
Each of us came up with a design for the raft. Juniper designed a raft with aluminum foil, Squeaks used craft sticks with a handle, and Sam used cardboard with corks and a sail. We needed to test these designs to see which one worked best.
We built prototypes of our designs and tested them. Juniper’s raft floated but wasn’t stable. Squeaks’ raft floated well but was too small. Sam’s raft floated at first but got soggy over time. None of the rafts were perfect, so we needed to improve them.
We combined the best ideas from each design. We used craft sticks for sturdiness, made the raft wide and flat for space, and added sides for safety. This new design was ready for testing.
Our final raft design floated, was big enough for Juniper, and kept her safe even if there were waves. We worked together like engineers to solve the problem, and now we’re ready for our exciting vacation!
Just as we finished, Dr. Turtleman showed up with Squeaks’ missing boat! He had borrowed it for some experiments. Even though we didn’t need the raft anymore, we had a lot of fun thinking like engineers and solving the problem together.
Thanks for joining us on this adventure! If you want to have more fun with us, you can subscribe to our channel. See you next time at the fort!
Build Your Own Mini Raft: Gather some materials like craft sticks, corks, aluminum foil, and rubber bands. Try to build a small raft that can float in a bathtub or a sink. Experiment with different designs and see which one floats the best. Can you make it carry a small toy without sinking?
Floating and Sinking Experiment: Collect various household items like a spoon, a plastic bottle cap, a small rock, and a piece of sponge. Predict which items will float and which will sink. Test your predictions in a bowl of water. Discuss why some items float while others sink. What materials are they made of?
Design a Safety Feature: Think about how you can make your mini raft safer, just like the engineers did in the story. Can you add a handle or sides to your raft? Draw a picture of your improved design and explain how it helps keep the toy safe on the water.
