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Hello, I am in my first year of running the Engineering Design class at my school, and I have been basing it mainly on Project Based Learning. For our last project of the year, I had my students vote on a project that they wanted to do, and the winning project was a solar powered boat. I have decided to give them the option of using either styrofoam or balsa wood as the body of the boat to give them a little more differentiation between designs. The other parts are what I am unsure on- motor, solar cell, wiring, switch and propeller.  I am looking for a little guidance on what to order for my students. Does anyone know what motors, solar cells, switches, and wiring that I should order for the projects? They will need to be waterproof and be able to function together. For the propellor, I was thinking of having them craft and shape their own using old gift cards that they can then attach to the motor.  Links to any of these would be especially helpful! Any other guidance regarding this project would be much appreciated as well. Thank you for helping both myself and my students with this project! Thanks, Kyle Yost

Hi Kyle,
What a great idea! I can't help you with a solar powered boat but I had the kids design an solar powered car. I used the Solar car chassis from Pitsco. The kids used long balloons and paper mache to design the body of the car. We attached the solar panels and tested the designs. The lesson is on Betterlesson.com and called Designing a Solar Car. I hope it will help you.
Sydney