ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain

Can you design a sail that harnesses the power of wind to move your cardboard boat?


Box fan (or other wind source)
Cardboard boat with a flat bottom
Cardstock, construction paper, and/or cereal box cardboard
Dowels, straws, or sticks
Tape & scissors

 Can you design a sail that harnesses the power of wind to move your cardboard boat?

 You will be exploring how the shape of a sail changes the way it moves. Try placing your sail at different angles, too!

: Incorporate some materials science and try making sails out of other supplies – what works best? What doesn’t work? What are sailboat sails made of?

the Challenge: Set up a fan, a starting spot, and a target (maybe an X of tape on the floor!). Design a sail that uses the power of the wind to move your cardboard boat to the target.

 Your Design: What shape do you want your sail to be? How will you keep it in position when the fan turns on?

Your  Creation: What happened to your boat when you turned the fan on to test your design?

Your Design: Does your sail need to be adjusted? Is it a good size?

Sail Away

Make a Maze

Mighty Tower: Can you build a tower out of newspaper?

Mighty Tower

Can you build a tool to pick up a ping pong ball using only one hand?

The Scoop

Introduction to the Engineering Design Process 

Can you design a cart that can carry a metal spoon down a zipline?

Down the Zipline

Can you design a container that keeps your crash test object safe?

Survive the Stairs

Can you change the shape of tin foil to make it float?

Float Your Boat

Can you create your own rocket launching station and an awesome aircraft to go with it?

Rocket Launch 

Can you design a fish that doesn’t sink or float to the surface?

Build a Fish

Can you design a contraption that launches a pom pom all the way across the room? 

Launch, Fling, Fly

Can you create a marble run that takes a marble more than 15 seconds to complete?

Slow Marbles

You can try these engineering design challenges with materials you might already have! The goal is to get you thinking like an engineer with problem-solving and having some hands-on, learning fun. Each challenge has a list of suggested materials, background science concepts, and some options to extend the challenge. We also walk you through the steps of the Engineering Design Process (define the problem, plan a solution, create a prototype, test your design, and improve your creation) with guiding questions to help along the way.

Resource Kits

Object Library

Museums

Engineer It! at home

Sail Away