Staff reports

FORTVILLE – How many schools offer their students to defy gravity and walk on water? At Mt. Vernon Middle School, 8th grade teachers challenge their students’ critical thinking skills by asking them to build a piloted device that runs the length of the pool.

In teams of three or four, have students use whatever equipment they can get to have a team member navigate the float through the pool. Teams do not have the opportunity to test their floats prior to competition, and if it sinks, the team is out of competition.

The project is designed to test students’ knowledge of problem solving, scientific method, long-term project planning, teamwork, and writing a formal lab report. Students are encouraged to think outside the box and consider the scientific concepts of propulsion, density, energy, energy transfer, Newton’s laws, and stability. The project also requires the student to work through the engineering design process. This year, the students even made prototypes of their float design.

Many teams get into the spirit and dress up with a theme that represents their group. This year, the teams were dressed as baseball players, video game characters and Hawaiian shirts.

The Walk-on-Water Project is a curriculum-based event and one of Mt. Vernon College.