Rockwood Students Put Engineering, Design Process into Action at Cardboard Boat Regatta

On April 30 and May 1, eighth-grade Academic Stretch students and teachers from all six Rockwood School District middle schools convened at the Lafayette High pool for the third annual Eighth-Grade Boat Regatta.

Using only cardboard - and a limited amount of time and duct tape - students worked in groups to create boats that could float on water and oars to propel themselves across the pool surface. The groups worked for weeks to research and create the best design possible, making scale models of their designs prior to building their final boats.

Students resourced cardboard from families, school deliveries and stores in the area. The goals for the project were for students to know the steps of the design process; know Archimedes’ Principle and the properties of buoyancy; understand that creative problem-solving and collaboration are skills that grow throughout their lifetime; and work as part of a team to create a life-size boat using cardboard and duct tape.

On the regatta days, the students took turns racing their boats. Some vessels made it all the way from one end of the pool to the other. Some ... did not. But all of the students involved had fun while learning and engaging with the engineering design process!

Lafayette students also volunteered their time with the Gifted Resource Office to lead the middle school students during the regatta, helping set up and keep time for the races.

Congratulations to all of these creative, outstanding Rockwood students!

Day 1 - Rockwood South, Rockwood Valley, Selvidge and Wildwood

Top 3

1. Rockwood South 6 - Chase and JC
2. Rockwood Valley 4 - Reid, Holden and Luke
3. Rockwood Valley 1 - Carson, Tong, Jonathan and Ryan

Heat Winners

1. Rockwood Valley 1
2. Rockwood Valley 2 - Avani, Kathryn and Amrutha
3. Rockwood South 3 - Connor
4. Rockwood Valley 4
5. Rockwood South 6
6. Rockwood Valley 8 - Will, Abhay and Otto

Day 2 - Crestview and LaSalle Springs

Top 3

1. Crestview 1 - Lilly and Siena
2. LaSalle Springs 14 - Dhyana, Melissa and Lena
3. LaSalle Springs 12 - Charlotte, Elena and Mabel

Heat Winners

1. Crestview 1
2. Crestview 4 - Nick, Ethan, Advay and Aiden
3. Crestview 7 - Denis, Luke, AJ and Mohamed
4. Crestview 11 - Madi, Momina, Macie and Ella
5. LaSalle Springs 12
6. LaSalle Springs 14