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In 1769, James Watt patented the idea of using steam power to propel boats.
In 1787 began the era of the steamboat in America, thanks to John Fitch that made the
fisrt successful trial of a 45 foot steamboat. Robert Fulton turned the steamboat into a
commercial success. And he is known as the "father of steam navigation".
Steamboats contributed greatly to the economy by transporting agricultural and industrial
supplies.
we're going to need an empty drinks can, some Blu-Tack, 2 straws and an empty juice carton.
First we're going to make the boiler, and we'll start by taking the Coke can
cutting off the top and bottom with a pair of scissors, and turning it into a flat sheet.
Then we'll cut a straight line down one edge, and from that mark out a rectangle 6cm wide
by 18cm long. Once we've cut that out we need to gently
fold it in half Next we need to mark out a 1cm line around
one half of the boiler and cut it out with our scissors
Next we're going to take out Bu-Tack, warm it up in our hands and roll it out into a
long worm about 0.5cm fat.
Then we're going to open up our boiler pattern and stick the Blu-Tack onto the 2 outside
edges of the smaller half.
Next we're going to fold it in half and stick the two halves together.
Then we're going to take a bit more Blu-Tack and put it on the edges.
Next we're going to fold over the tabs on both sides, and gently crimp it all the way
up with some pliers to form a seal.
Then we need to take our scissors and cut off the excess tab to leave one long tab along
the bottom.
Next we're going to take our Blu-Tack and push it into a flat strip about 1cm wide.
Then we're going to wrap it around the end of one of the straws, followed by the second.
Add a bit more until the straws are well sealed in a good plug of Blu-Tack.
Next we're going to open up the end of the boiler and push in the straws and Blu-Tack
plug.
Then we're going to take our scissors and cut the bottom tab along each side of the
straws.
Next fold the tabs over and give them a squeeze with some pliers
Next we need to test it's air tight by dipping it into a bowl of water and gently blowing
through the straws.
To make the boat we're going to take our empty juice carton, mark out and draw a line down
the middle of it, and cut it in half.
To make the cabin for the inside of the boat, cut the bottom off the half with the plastic
lid.
or if you have another empty juice carton, you can cut the bottom off that to make a
slightly bigger cabin.
Next we need to cut a small hole in the bottom of the boat for the 2 straws to go through.
This should be roughly half way up the carton an in the middle.
Then we need to put a thin ring of Blu-Tack around the hole on both sides.
Next we're going to take our boiler and poke the 2 straws through the hole.
Then we're going to fix the straws firmly in place to the bottom of the boat with a
strip of tape,
Making sure the straws run to the back of the boat and are central.
Then cut the straws off flush with the back of the boat.
Next using a stapler we're going to fix the cabin in place.
And finally we need to make sure the Blu-Tack rings around the straws are pushed together
to form a good seal. Now we're going to take one of our straw off
cuts and snip the end.
Then we're going to poke it into one of the straws at the back of the boat
and with a mouth full of clean water, blow water through the system until it comes out
of the other straw.
All we need to do now is drop a candle under the middle of the boiler, put it into the
bath, and wait for it to warm up.
Finally we are going to need a little motor to obtain the wanted movement of the steamboat