Boyd-Buchanan School’s 29th Annual Physics Boat Day

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) – Students at Boyd-Buchanan School took learning beyond the classroom during the school’s 29th Annual Physics Boat Day, an event that challenges students to design and race cardboard boats.

Jason Owens, a physics and engineering teacher, said the event has become a long-standing tradition at the school.

“All right, today’s the 20th annual physics cardboard boat races, and we’ve been doing this, like I say, for 29 years,” Owens explained. “It’s a rite of passage. It’s really a school-wide event, as you can see from all the people here.”

Owens said students are given strict guidelines when building their boats.

“I have my students build cardboard boats. They can use duct tape and just some house paint, and that’s all they can use,” he said. “Other than a little bit of decor, as you can see as well.”

Students also embraced creativity in their designs. Senior Stella Lovit said her team drew inspiration from a popular movie.

“Since we are traveling across a pond, we thought it would be cute to have a real boat inspiration,” Lovit said. “So, we’re doing a Moana theme. Basically, Moana is trying to get the heart of Te Fiti back to its place, and we named our boat the Maui Wowie.”

As the races began, Owens could be heard directing students to place their boats in the water, signaling the start of the competition.

Senior Zach Gilbert said the process of building the boat was both challenging and rewarding.

“I learned a lot about patience, dealing with this day in and day out over the weekend trying to build a boat,” Gilbert said. “Finding different things like scissors and pencils and losing stuff, and just keeping up with everything and staying on track, has been a great experience.”

Ireland O’Connor, whose team took home the overall win, explained the strategy that helped them stay afloat.

“We actually did a bunch of folds instead of cutting it, so we had no holes,” O’Connor explained. “We basically did it like origami, so there was no way for the water to get in. We made it super narrow so it was really aerodynamic, and we also put something on the bottom so when I was paddling and turning, it felt smooth.”

After crossing the finish line, one team from the AP Physics class celebrated loudly, shouting, “We are number one!”

Owens said events like this are about more than just competition.

“The overall goal is to get these guys ready for college and see how we do. I had the benefit of going to Boyd-Buchanan and graduating from Boyd-Buchanan, and I had a teacher who did that for me then, and it is nothing but a privilege to get to do this with these kids now.”