In the Paddle Boats unit, designed for grades 4-5, students are introduced to a real-worldproblem: a toy inventor’s paddle boat barely moves, because its paddle only spins for a short time. It’s up to the class to figure out why and design a boat that can travel across the water for ten seconds or more.

Through a series of five hands-on, standards-aligned investigations, students explore how energy is stored and released to power motion. They tinker with paddle shapes, test different rubber band thicknesses, and compare boat bodies made from wood and foam to see how materials affect movement in water. Just like scientists, they ask questions, run fair tests, collect and analyze data, and construct explanations from their results. Along the way, students see how twisting a rubber band stores energy, how releasing it makes the paddles spin, and how the paddles pushing against the water transfers energy to move the boat forward.

In the final five lessons, following the Engineering Design Process, students work independently to design and build their own rubber band–powered paddle boats. Just like engineers, they brainstorm solutions, sketch ideas, build prototypes, and then test, refine, and present their creations. The final boats–crafted from foam, wood, rubber bands, and everyday materials–travel across and back again in a water bin, showcasing how scientific understanding and creativity combine in imaginative, functional designs.