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Size: 222 KB
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Title: Boats
Book Description: This playbook explores Archimedes' bouyancy principle and optimization problems in a game/story in which players build a boat by cutting and assembling planks from a board and putting them together. They may view their product in three dimensions and get statistics on weight and volume that helps them decide how to proceed. The problem is to build a boat that will carry two passengers (Tommy and Sue) across the Stoney River. Students learn about bouyancy and make calculations that will optimize the volume of the boat. While no calculus is necessary, this is a nice way to motivate the study of the derivative. The playbook uses animation (sparingly) in the carpentry shop to enliven the tasks.
Author: James White
Suggested Use: Motivate the use of the derivative in a practical optimization problem.
Topics: optimization, extrema, archimedes' principle, bouyancy
Number of Pages: 4
Animation: Yes
Grade
Level: 