Michael Richards, a Social Studies Teacher for Grade 6 at West Rocks Middle School, is Carver’s longtime Lead Program Coordinator for our after-school and summer programs there. Here, Mr. Richards shares images of his rising 6th graders attending our Summer Transition Program enjoying a STEM activity in which his students plan and then build a boat using only aluminum foil. They worked as collaborative teams. Then their boats were tested to see which ones held the most dice. It was a fun and friendly competition.

With images of container ships being so much in the news these past several years of supply chain issues, kids may wonder how these large shipping boats made of solid steel stay afloat carrying cargo in steel containers stacked to the sky. For objects to float, the upward, buoyant force must be greater than the weight of the object pulling it to the bottom. The buoyant force comes from the amount of water displaced by the object.

Of course, everyone won this “competition because everyone learned by enjoying this project-based hands-on exercise that is the hallmark of most of our after-school and summer programming.

And there is PLAY, which kids in all of Carver’s 12 programs this summer do with enthusiasm and excellence!