DICKINSON — On Tuesday morning at West River Community Center, Dickinson Middle School seventh graders gathered to test the cardboard boats they had been building. In teams of two, each group set off on their boat from the edge of the pool, attempting to paddle a full lap of 50 yards without sinking.

The students were members of a science class taught by Danielle Riesgraf, who has been hosting this cardboard boat engineering challenge for the past three years. She says the activity helps students “learn scale model factoring, measurements, and how to apply the engineering process.”

In the classroom, the activity always begins with students building a small model of their boats, which, according to Riesgraf, “always fails.” The process of failure and adapting to the task ends up being a m

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