Terminator eliminates competition at cardboard boat race.
W. Erskine Johnson’s cardboard boat team has a message for their competitors at the upcoming provincial competition.
You have been targeted for termination.
The S.S. Terminator sank its competition during the city’s Cardboard Boat Races, held at the Walter Baker Complex in Barrhaven on Tuesday, Jan. 31.
The win earned the team of four grades 7 and 8 W. Erskine Johnson Public School students an invitation to the first annual provincial championship for elementary schools, to be held in Kitchener-Waterloo on Feb. 22.
“Everyone at the school is just so thrilled and proud because this is the first year we entered,” said Jennifer Beaudin, the teacher supervisor of the W. Erskine Johnson team.
The team members who built the S.S. Terminator are: Abhi Kurusetty, 12, Trever Hanna, 13, Hasan Baig, 13, and Ceyla Eebinghaus, 13.
Another team of students from W. Erskine Johnson won the event’s weight competition, constructing a boat that carried a 550-pound load.
Every year, the Cardboard Boat Races allow Ontario students to test their math and engineering skills in a “fun and competitive environment.”
Each team of four students is provided the supplies to construct their boat within a two-hour period.
A few hours later, the teams tested their designs in a swimming pool, competing in both a race and weight challenge – testing how much weight the boats can carry.
Every team was provided latex gloves, cardboard and rubber cement to construct their designs.
The S.S. Terminator was constructed as a double-hulled boat, said Abhi, with a smaller boat placed inside a larger one.
“We put cement and duct tape all around to keep it together,” she said.
W. Erskine Johnson’s team credits their win to the application of innovative thinking.
Hanna came up with the idea of cementing the gloves to pieces of cardboard, allowing his team mates to paddle more effectively.
“It made it easier to hold and paddle with,” said Ceyla. “It was natural to hold the paddles with and move.”
The students were thinking outside of the box, said Beaudin.
“It was really creative that (Trever) thought, ‘Why don’t we use them and in essence make flippers,’” Beaudin said.
The S.S. Terminator won its racing heat, finishing with a time of 25 seconds across a 50-metre long swimming pool.
In the weight competition, the boat was able to hold 380 pounds.
The team of students said they enjoyed themselves at the competition and learned a lot about engineering concepts such as buoyancy and displacement.
“It’s pretty cool and exciting,” said Ceyla. “It was pretty fun to do overall.”
The city-champs are already thinking about design improvements for the S.S. Terminator II.
“I think we might do a little more detail to our boat,” said Trever.