Plankton Race

I found the plankton race extremely challenging. The most difficult part about the entire thing was trying to slow down the descent of my "plankton". I tried many different versions of my plankton. At first, I just threw the rubber band in the water to have a time in case nothing worked better. However, because the rubber band sank in about 3 seconds, I tried to create a different version to sink slower.

  Rubber band in water

After several attempts, I became frustrated, not knowing how to slow the descent to a more desirable time. I tried weighing the bubble wrap down with the plastic stone, but it wasn't heavy enough yet, so I decided to pop some of the bubbles. Unfortunately, this didn't work either, so I placed the bubble wrap aside and tried working with the foam, toothpick, and plastic star.

Foam, toothpick, and star in water

This attempt was also unsuccessful. Discouraged, I stabbed the paper onto the toothpick after removing the foam.

Paper, toothpick, and star in water

Thankfully, the paper slowed my "plankton's" descent to 9.80 seconds. The time wasn't great, but I accepted it nonetheless. I had ran out of time so I just took the time.

- Victoria Mehlhaff -