UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MALAYSIA

TEACHING AND LEARNING IN PRIMARY AND

SECONDARY MATHEMATICS

REPORT ON STEM PROJECT (WATERCRAFT)

USHA DEVI A/P LINGAPPAN (MPP171035)

PAVALAKODI A/P SUBRAMANIAM (MPP171032)

NURUL ANIS SYUHADA BT ADNAN (MPP171013)

CHUA YE LING (MPP171057)

SYNOPSIS

WATERCRAFT

STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on lessons for the student. Making
math and science both fun and interesting helps the student to do much more than just learn.
STEM education in school is important to spark an interest in pursuing a STEM career in
students. However, teachers do not carry the whole burden of STEM education. Parents also
must encourage their children to pursue STEM activities and increase awareness and interest
at home and in extracurricular activities of the merits of STEM education. In order to support
the International STEM Activity to be held in SMK Tasek Utara, an idea of building water
craft had aroused. Students will understand the concepts of buoyancy and water displacement
to design a water boat that will support a given amount of weight. They will design a
watercraft that will support a given amount of weight and incorporate the scientific principles
of force and motion with engineering design and mathematics. Materials needed to construct
this watercraft are 500 plastic bottles, 5 large packets of chopsticks, 5 large packets of rubber
band, 600 plastic spoons, 2 metre of red thick string and a packet of small colourful pebbles.
Also, 2 hot glue guns, 50 glue refills and an extension cable are needed. In spite of that, this
activity has to be carried out near water source (outdoor). Other than that, water boat racing
among group members will be conducted to find the relationship between speed and weight.
Finally, evaluation forms will be distributed to test participants understanding towards the
STEM learning. Hopefully, participants will be benefited from this watercraft building.
BACKGROUND

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. STEM is

important because it pervades every part of our lives. Science is everywhere in the world
around us. Technology is continuously expanding into every aspect of our lives. Engineering
is the basic designs of roads and bridges, but also tackles the challenges of changing global
weather and environmentally-friendly changes to our home. Mathematics is in every
occupation, every activity we do in our lives. By exposing students to STEM and giving them
opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and
hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field. A curriculum that is STEM-based has real-life
situations to help the student learn. Programs like Engineering For Kids integrates multiple
classes to provide opportunities to see how concepts relate to life in order to hopefully spark a
passion for a future career in a STEM field. STEM activities provide hands-on and minds-on
lessons for the student. Making math and science both fun and interesting helps the student to
do much more than just learn.

Why STEM?

“In the 21st century, scientific and technological innovations have become increasingly
important as we face the benefits and challenges of both globalization and a knowledge-based
economy. To succeed in this new information-based and highly technological society,
students need to develop their capabilities in STEM to levels much beyond what was
considered acceptable in the past.” (National Science Foundation)

Who benefits from STEM?

STEM education helps to bridge the ethnic and gender gaps sometimes found in math and
science fields. Initiatives have been established to increase the roles of women and minorities
in STEM-related fields. STEM education breaks the traditional gender roles. In order to
compete in a global economy, STEM education and careers must be a national priority. Each
and every decision made uses an aspect of STEM to understand the implications.

In conclusion, STEM education is critical to help the United States remain a world leader. If
STEM education is not improved, the United States will continue to fall in world ranking
with math and science scores and will not be able to maintain its global position. STEM
education in school is important to spark an interest in pursuing a STEM career in students.
However, teachers do not carry the whole burden of STEM education. Parents also must
encourage their children to pursue STEM activities and increase awareness and interest at
home and in extracurricular activities of the merits of STEM education.

Programs outside of school can help children to see that STEM is more than a class to finish.
Having activities that show real-life implication of STEM can pull together the ideas
presented in school and help to show how they benefit our society and even our world as a
whole. Children can see that what they are learning now is pertinent to their future and the
future of the whole world, creating an interest often lacking when learning new concepts that
do not seem to carry real-world application. Engineering For Kids, for example, offers a suite
of STEM enrichment programs for children ages 4 to 14.
In order to support the International STEM Activity to be held in SMK Tasek Utara, an idea
of building water boat had aroused. Students will understand the concepts of buoyancy and
water displacement to design a water boat that will support a given amount of weight.

OBJECTIVES

At the end of the STEM activity, the students will:

 Understand the concepts of buoyancy and water displacement

 Design a watercraft that will support a given amount of weight
 Incorporate the scientific principles of force and motion with engineering design and
mathematics

Keywords

Boat, buoyancy, float, science, experiment, force, motion, math, engineering, STEM

DESIGN OF ACTIVITIY

i. Things Needed:

Plastic bottle (500ml) Pair of chopstick / DIY sticks

 Rubber bands Plastic spoons

ii. Steps To Build Water Boat:

Attach two sticks at two sides of the bottle by using hot glue or
tape.
 Tie few rubber bands joining the two sticks tightly. Then, fix the spoon in between
the band in the middle and twist it as many as possible.

Let go the boat in the water and check its buoyancy, water displacement and also the
effect of weight towards the speed.

iii. How Water Boat Activity Related To STEM?

Science  Watercraft floating

Technology  Process of building the watercraft

Engineering  Skills to work on a variety of water vehicles

Mathematics  Count speed and distance

MEANS TO MEASURE SUCCESS

Evaluation Form

STEM PROJECT ‘WATERCRAFT’

SMK TAMAN TASEK UTARA
16 APRIL – 17 APRIL 2019
NAME: _________________ FORM: _________

Answer all the answer:

1. What type of energy involve in the rubber band boat?

o (a) Solar energy
o (b) Chemical energy
o (c) Elastic potential energy
o (d) Light energy

2. What type of force can be found in this project?

o (a) Gravitational force
o (b) Buoyancy force
o (c) Electromagnetic force
o (d) Frictional force

3. How to make the water boat moves fast?

o (a) Push the boat
o (b) Apply more weight on the boat
o (c) Blow the boat to let it moves
o (d) Apply more turns on the rubber band that fixed on the boat

4. What type of knowledge can apply in this activity?

o (a) Physics and Chemistry
o (b) Physics and Biology
o (c) Physics and Mathematics
o (d) Mathematics and Chemistry

5. What do you feel about this project or activity?

Boring Interesting

o 1 o 2 o 3 o 4 o 5
CONCLUSION

STEM scares many students because it is perceived as being too difficult and –
tragically – boring. Clear up the misconceptions and check out these benefits of a STEM
education. The truth is that STEM encompasses the most engaging, hands-on subjects in our
schools. Strong STEM skills lead to more beautiful art, more engrossing performances, and
more polished productions.

STEM activities develop those soft skills that so many careers need, and so many
students lack – skills like communication, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity, and
data analysis. In fact, non-STEM fields heavily recruit graduates with STEM degrees because
they possess these skills that students from other majors have not developed.

Here are some benefits of a STEM activity (Water Boat) that we discovered during the two
days Camporee STEM in Tasek Utara:

1. It helps students stay current.

In a technology-based society, technology is forever changing. It’s also used in almost every
aspect of our lives. As work places change with updated software, and office equipment and
machinery become more advanced, STEM knowledge is vital. Keeping up with technology,
not the Kardashians, is incredibly important.

2. It allows students to be innovative.

Someone created an app that allows you to take a picture of a piece of clothing and finds
similar looks throughout the web.
Just think of the latest device you have in your hand or at the top of your wish list. STEM
helps to transform new ideas into the best inventions.

3. It helps students make a difference.

Building that shelter, finding that cure, inventing the best way for people to communicate, or
helping people overcome financial obstacles makes a huge difference – and with a STEM
education, you can make that happen.
4. It fosters – and benefits from – creativity.
Creativity is one of the many benefits of a STEM education.
Ironically, creativity is also the result of a STEM education! According to the NY Times,
James Michael Leake, director of engineering graphics at the University of Illinois, said that
learning to make even rudimentary drawings is critical to development as an engineer. Design
can help students understand how to effectively use the space within the structure.

5. It can get the students a job in the beauty industry.

Without new innovative products hitting the shelves constantly, brands such as Covergirl and
L’Oreal will not stay current and may lose business. This creates a lot of new opportunities
for scientists to break into this industry. Just think – a product you design or create could help
people feel more confident and comfortable in their own skin.

SUGGESTIONS

There are few suggestions that we would like to share from the experience gain in
Camporee STEM in Tasek Utara. Firstly, the organiser should assign at least 4 or 6
facilitators in a booth. This is because the number participants were almost 500 students. The
scouts who were in charged for station water boat were extremely exhausted by the end of the
day facilitating the participants. Secondly, the organiser should involve the primary school
children as well because it was a good exposure about STEM as well as fun learning too. We
are sure the primary kids would have participated sincerely if given a chance.

Lastly, we would like to thank Professor Zaleha and the Camporee STEM team for giving
us such a great opportunity to contribute and gain knowledge and experience.
PICTURES
REFERENCES

 Berlin, D., & Lee, H. (2005). Integrating science and mathematics education: Historical analysis.
School Science and Mathematics, 105(1), 15–24.

 Harris, J., & Felix, A. (2010). A project-based, STEM-integrated team challenge for elementary
and middle school teachers in alternative energy. Retrieved from
saintfrancisuniversity.edu, October 9th, 2010.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcrJvlreS84