3rd Grade Cargo Ships: Engineering Design

Engineering a cargo ship out of a limited set of materials can be a challenge. Our task was to build a ship that could hold as many passengers as possible and also sail as quickly as possible from England (left side of water tub) to the United States (right side of water tub). Several of our boats could hold 100+ and made the Atlantic crossing in 1.1 seconds!  We discussed actions we would do differently if we had time to improve our ships.  Some of the responses included:  make a bigger sail, use popsicle sticks as a frame to keep water from coming in, create more surface area for boat, etc.