Third-graders at Mars Area Elementary School are learning about the importance of barges in the Pittsburgh region as part of a Barge Design Challenge.

In their STEAM (Science Technology Engineering Art Mathematics) classes, the students are discussing what types of cargo that barges transport and how barges travel up and down rivers through lock & dam systems. The third-graders are also learning how Pittsburgh’s rivers connect to the Ohio River, the Mississippi River, the Gulf of Mexico and eventually, the Atlantic Ocean.

Then, using only two pieces of aluminum foil, six popsicle sticks and an arm’s length of tape, the students are given 10 minutes to design and build a barge. The third-graders then test their barge’s bouyancy by adding cargo (large marbles) to see how much the barge can carry before it sinks.

At the conclusion of the activity, the students discuss what parts of their designs were successful and in what ways the barge could be improved. For more information, call (724) 625-3161.