Students at Yaqan Nukiy School didn’t stop learning simply because it was their second-to-last day of school. The Grade 7/8 class from the Lower Kootenay Band school launched cardboard boats into Goat River on June 19 to test their ability to stay afloat and carry passengers.
“Designing it was hard — and making sure it was waterproof,” said Millie Whitford, who designed a boat with Brooke Jessop, Adam Three Feathers and Caleb Wells.
The project was a unique way to teach students the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) portion of the curriculum, as they learned about buoyancy, centre of gravity and displacement while creating boats using only cardboard, duct tape and a plastic sheet.
“STEM is so often a theoretical subject, but by doing it with a hands-on approach, students are more likely to become engaged and have fun,” said Grade 7/8 teacher Devan Coward.
That was the case for Whitford, who said that a lot of math went into the project, but that the final challenge in the river made the hard work worth it.
“It was extremely fun,” said Millie Whitford. “It was exhilarating.”
The boat was their second attempt, after designing an earlier model that wouldn’t have been as sturdy. With the second version, “we were more precise with our measurements,” said Jessop. Their team’s boat held three people and survived two trips through a short portion of the Goat River.
Another boat, designed by Katelynn Anderson, Ella Moore, Julia Huscroft and Riley Loftus, was able to hold four students without sinking. It would likely have been sturdy enough to survive several trips, but the cardboard used in its construction became so waterlogged that it became too heavy to carry back to the starting point.
The project proved a success both in terms of learning and some end-of-the-year fun.
“The main goal was testing to see if it would work,” said Coward. “The river just added some extra excitement.”
READ MORE: Yaqan Nukiy: History, Culture, Traditions
