by Tal, age 11, Southern California, USA.
The Simple Boat
"My mom made a boat that was very complex and full of flat pieces. It took a long time to make, and it floated, but had a leak. I looked at her boat and went to work on mine. I put mine together in a few minutes. As you can see, mine's very simple. I used bigger pieces because they hold bubbles of air, which will keep it floating. And I raised the deck higher up so no water would get in. I told my mom, "You worry to much about making things look nice," and popped it into the water."
"My mom made a boat that was very complex and full of flat pieces. It took a long time to make, and it floated, but had a leak. I looked at her boat and went to work on mine. I put mine together in a few minutes. As you can see, mine's very simple. I used bigger pieces because they hold bubbles of air, which will keep it floating. And I raised the deck higher up so no water would get in. I told my mom, "You worry to much about making things look nice," and popped it into the water."
There seems to be a wise, underlying message here. This is a very smart design. The raised deck is a great example of a thought out plan, knowing that the lower the deck, the easier the water can get onto it. I love that you said air bubbles get trapped inside the larger bricks, helping the structure float! Great observation.
by Hayden, age 7, Cary, North Carolina, USA.
"I made my boat a glass bottom boat. There are two scientists in the boat too. I had to create three earlier designs before coming up with this one."
"My ship is attacking my sister's ship. My ship floats even when part of the deck is full of water."
"I call the big craft THE STINGRAY and the small craft ESCAPE CAPSULE . The escape capsule has been on a special mission and is coming back. The antennae on the escape capsule is waterproof."
Impressive team you've made here. I love the design of the larger vessel, it's a great home base for the smaller, explorer to come back to. They both look perfectly afloat.
"I pushed this boat down and it floated right back up, so I think this is an unsinkable boat. It has a motor (bottom right), some rafts (top) and a gang plank. The white part near the plank is an arch to walk under."
Very impressive that once the boat was pushed down it came back up! I love the two rafts and how you attached them onto the larger boat. By just removing one small LEGO piece, the rafts are independent.
by Addison, age 4.5, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
Piano Boat "This is a person. The head is a person with an extra long neck and an alligator bottom. If you see one of these floating in your bathtub you should take it out and keep it."
If I found one of these in my bathtub I would indeed keep it! And I would wonder how on earth it got there. What an interesting person/creature. I love the long area between the person and the alligator.
"Josh's first boat for Woody sank, but with some help from his brother, he managed to keep him afloat!"
This is a great raft-like design. Perfectly created for Woody to sit in. He looks very happy in there! I think it was the wide surface area that allowed this vessel to float. Nicely done.
"Tyler said he needed to make something small and simple to make the deadline. Here is his fish."
You know, some of the time small and simple is the best way to go. This little fish looks like it's floating perfectly.
"I made a ship called the "Hot Blade 8000." It's nose dips into the water just a bit to plow through waves at high speed."
Impressive vessel! It looks almost military in its design. I love how the front of it dips down into the water for extra aerodynamics!
"This is the Radar Sub 1000. I built it with a balance tank -- the line of holes around the bottom edge. This causes it to sink just enough to explore under the water."
Very sophisticated construction! The balance tank is an amazing addition, allowing just the right amount of water to be taken on the hull of the vessel for this semi submerged effect.
"Loch Ness Monster Raft. For swimming and diving off of."
Wonderfully whimsical design! I could see this type of creation in a large pool or lake full of kids jumping off of it. I love that you combined everyones fascination with the Loch Ness Monster to a water raft, great connection.
by Violet, age 9, Ontario, Canada.
"A "Party Boat" that has lots of lights, places for friends to sit, and an extra wetsuit for swimming in colder water."
I would love to be on this boat! Fantastic construction, playful, cosy, safe (totally afloat), and full of very interesting features. The headless LEGO person as wet suit is brilliant!
by Evrin, age 5, Ontario, Canada.
"Two speed boats that can also go underwater."
Nice clean engineering on these two fine boats. They look very fast, light and super buoyant! I love how they are both slightly submerged at the front tips.
by Jonathan age 6, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
"It took a lot of experimenting to make a boat that floated without any water getting in it. (those are fish in the water)."
Nice to hear you did some exploring with your design. I wonder what you found out you had to change in order to make it more buoyant? This looks unsinkable and holds two people perfectly. I like the inclusion of fish in the water!
by Nathan age 10, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA.
"I made my boat a glass bottom boat. There are two scientists in the boat too. I had to create three earlier designs before coming up with this one."
Wonderful to hear that you too did some fiddling around before you came up with something that worked the way you wanted it to. I love the glass bottom, what a cool concept to help the scientists on their expedition.
"My ship is attacking my sister's ship. My ship floats even when part of the deck is full of water."
Interesting observation that your vessel can take on water but still stay afloat. Your design shows the heavier end sinking and the lighter end floating. I can see your weapon aimed right at the red ship!
"I made my ship look like a walkie-talkie."
A floating walkie-talkie made out of DUPLO, how cool! It seems to be floating very well, I bet it's the large open design of each brick that makes it stay on the water instead of under it.
by Wes, age 6, South Carolina, USA.
"It's a floating crabby patty!"
This is so funny! It looks so much like the krabby patties SpongeBob SquarePants makes! This would be the perfect theme park boat at SpongeBob Land! I love the lettuce, mustard and ketchup peeking out of the edges, great use of these interesting pieces and super buoyant boat.
by Jacob, age 7, Houston, Texas, USA.
"Jacob created this 'house boat' that could float. We had so much fun learning about buoyancy!"
So glad to hear you were messing around with the concept of buoyancy! Wonderful vessel you've created here. DUPLO seems to be very good at staying afloat. This is one houseboat I would like to be on.
by Grace, age 11, Southeast, USA
"Grace made a canoe that did float for a few minutes in the bath tub then started taking on water but never really sank."
How interesting that this construction was buoyant for a bit, them began to sink. I wonder what could have been changed to keep it floating? I love the canoe shape with all the little details inside.
Everyone playing along with LEGO Quest these past 21 weeks have been so amazingly creative and talented. Please feel free to leave your comments in the comment section of this blog. You can tell everyone more about your design, or leave a review for one of your favourite designs. All your input makes this an even more rich, fun, supportive place to be!
