A little soap and a little water is all this boat needs to run!
In just a matter of minutes, you can build a boat and take it for a drive across the water. Watch the video to see how to build it and how this soap powered boat operates.
What You Need
- baking pan
- large bowl
- dish soap
- part of a milk carton cut out or foam from an egg carton
- Scissors
- Chopstick or skewer
What To Do
- Fill the baking pan with a thin layer of water making sure all the sides are covered.
- Cut a little rectangle out of the foam (or milk carton). Then cut two corners and a little notch in the back so it looks like the figure in the video (at about the 1 minute, 49-second mark).
- Put your boat on one end of the tray and make sure it’s facing down the tray’s lake for maximum distance.
- Take your chopstick, dip it right into the dish soap and just touch the notch in your boat lightly. Your boat should shoot across the water when you do this.
Note: Once your boat makes it across the water, you’ll want to refill the tray with fresh water before you do the experiment again. This is because the soap has dispersed throughout the water.
To switch it up, try the plate and pepper activity with your boat, which can be found at 3:12 in the video.
Take a picture or video to show us what your boat looks like and how fast it can go by tagging #CapRegSummer or emailing summeradventure@neric.org