British Science Week: How Do Boats Float?

As part of British Science Week, Year 6 dived into a hands‑on investigation exploring the question: How do boats float? Using only paper, foil and a selection of marbles, pupils designed and built their own miniature rafts—testing how shape, structure and material choices affected buoyancy.

Working like real engineers, the children planned, adapted and refined their designs before carefully placing them in water to see how many marbles each raft could hold. There was plenty of problem‑solving, creative thinking and scientific discussion as they compared results and explored why some models stayed afloat longer than others.

The classroom was full of curiosity, teamwork and excitement—exactly what Science Week is all about!