Guidelines on Large Barge Science Olympics

Students will enjoy this contest. In our place, we use 1 peso coins to load the barge made of aluminum foil. The greater the number of coins loaded, shall be declared as winners.

Large Barge

Object: To construct a barge that can support the greatest load without sinking.

Team: Maximum of two (2) members

Rules:

1. Each team will be given a piece of aluminum foil not more than 30 cm in length.
2. Each team will construct within 15 minutes a barge out of the given material without using tape, glue, staples or any other material.
3. The barge must be loaded while floating on a basin of water.
4. Only dry loads shoud be used. If any water leaks into the barge during the loading process, the barge will be considered sinking. Thus damp or wet cargo must be unloaded, the barge dried and reloaded. Only two re-loadings will be allowed.
5. Each team will be allowed one repair of its construction after thourough drying.
6. The barge that supports the heaviest dry load will be considred the winner and other judged accordingly.
7. Loads will consist of standard weights. The dry load just before the barge sinks will be the one recorded. If the load gets wet, the test must be repeated. Only 2 repetitons will be allowed. Consistently wet cargo will be a cause for disqualification.