Get set to get wet! Armed with cardboard, duct tape and a few other odds and ends, junior and senior high school students from across the province use their skill and ingenuity to transform these materials into a vessel for the water. Not only does their "boat" need to be quick, but it must be capable of carrying passengers as well.

Students are up to the challenge and those who participate have a great time! The experience helps develop new skills, in addition to strengthening their leadership, teamwork and problem solving ability. The Cardboard Boat Race is held twice annually in November; once in Edmonton for the Northern Race and in Calgary for the Southern. The next Cardboard Boat Races will be hosted in the fall of 2008:

Northern Cardboard Boat Race - November 3, 2008 NAIT, Edmonton

Southern Cardboard Boat Race - November 25, 2008 SAIT Polytechnic, Calgary

Southwest Cardboard Boat Race - November 26, 2008 University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge (hosted in partnership with Chinook Regional Career Transitions for Youth)

Download the 2007 Boat Race information.

Objectives

• Design and construct a boat with only the supplied materials in 1½ hours or less.
• The boat should float, carry lots of weight and go fast.

Teachers

This challenge is open ended, problem solving in nature, paralleling the thrust of broad-based curriculum. It involves:

• design, research & presentation
• principles of structure, strength, rigidity
• water permeability
• propulsion
• friction and direction control
• buoyancy and displacement
• adhesives and bonding
• teamwork and FUN

Typical Materials List

• one roll of packing tape
• two 4 x 8 feet sheets of ¼ inch cardboard
• 25 feet of string (8 meters)
• one paper clip
• one small roll of duct tape (8 meters)
• two exacto knives
• one laminated sheet with specified team number
• two pencils
• Surprise item on competition day