What makes a good boat float? Grab your rubber duck and join Claire as she explores the science of shipbuilding, with the help of an experiment supposedly carried out more than two thousand years ago…all from the comfort of her bath tub.

Learn how the forces of gravity and buoyancy fight against each other in a tug of war, each trying to sink or float our boats. Does the weight of a boat matter? What about its shape? Watch Claire carry out different experiments to see how a boat’s design affects its ability to float.

Then rifle through your recycling and find supplies to create your very own boat. Think like an engineer and plan, create, test and improve your design so you can battle it out with Ross and Claire to make a boat that can hold the most weight possible.

This video was made with support from MathWorks.

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