Raft Made From Reused Bottles

Step 1: Collecting Bottles

Our first step in our project was to collect used bottles from around the school. We took Arizona iced tea bottles and Snapple tea bottles. We chose these because they are made out of a sturdier materials than normal water and gatorade bottles. We needed to make sure all bottles had lids on them. IF they didn't, water could get in and make the raft sink. 

Step 2: Wash Out Bottles

In This step we cleaned out all the bottles and removed the labels from them. This made sure that all the bottles are clean and made sure nothing in the bottles could weigh the raft down at all. Also, this made sure that the caps on the bottles all stay closed so no water gets in to sink the raft.

Step 3: Deciding Shapes

Next we had to decide which shape we wanted to make for the raft. We also put together bottles to see which ways we wanted to put the bottles next to each other. We had to make a design where the bottles would create a rectangle when put together, which was the shape we decided on creating. We thought a rectangle, with two layers, would be the most supportive shape to hold up weight and stay afloat. 

Step 4:

The next thing we had to do was make a sample of how the bottles would fit together and stay put together. We used hot glue to put the bottles together and super glue to add extra support. Then we also put duct tape around the four bottles glued together to give it even more support. We had to make sure we didn't use too much that it weighed down the raft and made it not sink when put in water. 

Step 5: Making the Raft

Next we put together the different layers for the raft. We used to the same shape as we used for the sample. One layer will be of 8 Snapple bottles, and the other of 8 Arizona bottles. We made them each individually then attached them together like it could be two separate rafts.