Pirates, a platypus and the all-girls team Sons of Liberty hit the waters of the Wilkes-Barre Area High School on Friday.
The 10th grade STEM advanced geometry class of Carol Yedinak spent the past few weeks solving problems, bending cardboard and using a great amount of duct tape to create boats that would float a team member the length of the swimming pool.
Along with building boats, the teams had to write a paper and figure out the math of the displacement their boats would have.
Samuel Elias had been in charge of the class until this year when he passed the torch (or paddle) to Yedinak.
“This is a really great hands-on project with a practical application,” Yedinak said.
This was the first year a team created a motor to cross the pool, and another team built the first modular system consisting of three boats that represented the Boston Tea Party. Team members tossed boxes of "tea" as they paddled across the pool.
None of the boats sunk, but the title for most weight held in the boat remains with a team in the graduating senior class which held 2,000 pounds.