I'm Subbing For This Class!

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Results of Races:

Heat D - Jack Kagan (3rd)

Heat F - Danielle Goad (1st)

Heat H - Alex Scott (1st)


Overall results -


Preliminary Round Results -
1 - Sherlock Ohms
1 - Little Einsteins
3 - Flaming Q-Tips
3 - I'm subbing for this class (That's us!)
3 - Cuban Raft Riders
6 - Team Nemo
6 - The Abusement Park
8 - Dave is Bae
9 - Golf is Awesome
9 - Usain Boat
9 - Team Winning Team
12 - Bernoulli's Angels
13 - Afterbirth
13 - I Heilee Doubt It
13 - The Leftovers
16 - H2No
17 - Team Tim
18 - Biracial Beauty

1st Semifinal Heat - Alex Scott (3rd/4th too close to call)

Summary of all competitors/shoes -

          During the walk on water contest, the trends among the fast teams and the slower teams were clear. The teams that succeeded generally had a wide base for their shoes. This allowed them to be able to balance on the shoes and equally distribute their weight. Successful teams also deployed flaps on the bottoms of their shoes to propel them forward. Fast teams had very well constructed flaps that easily bent back and forth. Teams with strings tended to fair better than teams without. The teams on the other half of the spectrum generally had skinnier shoes that offered little support. Additionally their flaps were not well constructed or not very stable. Our team used side flaps to compensate for any speed loss from weight. Teams who made side flaps were generally faster. It's important to point out that the fastest team didn't have the most amount of flaps. It was not the surface area of the flaps against water which dictated the speed of the shoes, but rather the flexibility of the flaps. That's not to say that surface area didn't play a factor in the speed of the shoes, but flexibility was far more important. One interesting design was that of the Cuban Raft Riders, who fiber-glassed their shoes, and used surf wax to connect foot to shoes. Their design ensured their shoes were fully waterproofed, and it probably saved them a lot of time. Their strategy was unique and notable. Those who succeeded in the race seemed far more confident getting on and off of their shoes, evidence they had spendt a great deal of time practicing. 

Group reflection -

Walk on Water Final Reflection: I’m Subbing for this Class


Overall, the Walk on Water project was a great success. Our team placed very well in the preliminary rounds, winning us a spot in the semi finals. Our design was strong, stable and allowed us to be a competitive opponent in the pool. We also had a similar design to those who were the fastest and got a spot in the final rounds, which was an encouraging sign from the beginning. Although there were a few rough patches building the shoes, it was overall a very positive experience.

When we sat down at our first meeting, we knew we had a daunting task ahead of us. It was difficult to determine what to start with, and how often we could meet with all of our busy schedules. Deciding to just jump right in, we worked very hard at our first meeting. We created our Pugh chart, as well as drew up the blueprints and materials list. We met every weekend between the date it was assigned and the date it was due, as well as met every weekday chance we could. This allowed us to perfect our shoes and get the shoes done fast in order to leave time for us to practice. This practice gave us a boost because we got to adjust and get a feel for walking on these shoes in water.

Our team had decided that the main priority of the shoes would be stability and speed. The shoes were comprised of 5 layers of styrofoam with a sheet of ¾” plywood between the second and third  layer of styrofoam. A shoe hole was dug out of the first layer of styrofoam, and we put our normal shoe in that, sealing it off with a combination of duct tape and expanding foam. There were then two nails placed in each shoe, securing it through the styrofoam to the plywood. We ended up using about 8 rolls of duct tape, 3 sheets of plexiglass to make flaps, 10 sheets of styrofoam, 1 sheet of plywood, a surf fin, a can of expanding foam, caulk, and a pair of lace up shoes, totaling to be about $180.  

In all, our project was a big success. We finished the preliminary races with a total of 110 points tying for third place! We all put a lot of time, money, and effort into this project. The shoes allowed us to apply physics to a real life application. During this process we had to consider the buoyancy factors of the shoes, as well as making the speed of the shoes increase with add-ons.  We are all proud of our shoes and that we got to the semifinals.