S.IP.E.1 Inquiry involves generating questions, conducting investigations, and developing solutions to problems through reasoning and observation.

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1 Jessica Bristow Lesson plan: Sinking and floating Grade: 2nd P.PM Describe objects and substances according to their properties (color, size, shape, texture, hardness, liquid or solid, sinking or floating). P.PM Compare the weight of objects using balances. P.PM Recognize that some objects are composed of a single substance (water, sugar, salt) and others are composed of more than one substance (salt and pepper, mixed dry beans). S.IP.E.1 Inquiry involves generating questions, conducting investigations, and developing solutions to problems through reasoning and observation. S.IP Make purposeful observation of the natural world using the appropriate senses. S.IP Generate questions based on observations. S.IA Share ideas about science through purposeful conversation. S.IA Communicate and present findings of observations. S.IA Develop strategies and skills for information gathering and problem solving (books, internet, ask an expert, observation, investigation, technology tools). Scientific Background Sinking and floating has to do with density. Density determines weather and object sinks or floats. Also mass and volume are predictors of sinking and floating but each alone cannot predict if something will sink or float. Density if found by diving the objects mass but the object volume. Also if you know the density and the mass you can find the volume or the other way around. With this lesson the topic of density if was too complex for the second grade level. I just want the students to know that what determines if something will sink or floats depends on what the object is made up of, and what the substances is made up of that the object is placed in. Make sure to as lots of questions and always have the student write why they think what they do. This is very important at this stage and we want the students to fully explain what they are thinking and why. Engage Time frame 10 to 15 minutes I would start by showing a demonstration of an object that sinks and floats, something that would really shock the students. I want the students to be shocked and really wanting to how this happened. The demonstration that I will show is a watermelon and marble. Also I will show the students that a bowling ball can float in water. Another thing I will show them are

2 basic things that they know will sink or float in water. I will show a rock that sinks and a piece of foam that floats. This will get the students thinking. I will ask them questions to start which one will sink and which one will float?, will they both float?, will they both sink?, etc. The motivation behind these questions is to see what they know already, and any misconceptions they might have on this topic. I will want them to explain why they think what they do. Then I will show them that a watermelon floats in water, and that a marble sinks in water. I believe this will get the students very excited because, I believe that they will think a watermelon would sink. I will also show the students a demo of sinking and floating again with a can of coke and diet coke. The coke can will sink and the diet coke will float, and this I think will get the students even more wanting to learn why things sink and float. Explore Time frame: about 30 to 45 minutes. You want the students to explore fully and understand so if more time is needed. Here the students will do a lab. This is where the students will make predictions and find on their own what sinks and floats. Also they will be making conclusions on their own here, and exploring sinking and floating themselves. If there are any students that are ahead of the others and get this concept very easily I will then have another lab they can do. They can then go on and test to see if the same objects they used for the water will sink or float in salt water. Explain Time frame: 20 to 30 minutes depending on how many questions the students still have. After each student has completed the worksheet we will then discuss in class what the students found. I will address any misconceptions the students had about the objects. We then will talk about why it is important to make predications and explain what you are thinking. This will be good for the students to know what it is important to do every time they are working on labs, etc. After all of this I will ask they student what they thought determined sinking and floating, and hope to go into a class discussion with this. I found a sesame street video, which might be a little young for the students but it fits my topic very well. It s a video that has to do with sinking and floating and making predictions which is what I want the students to get from this. Elaborate Time Frame: This is take home, shouldn t take the students more than a half hour at home.

3 Students will go home and do the same sorts of things as they did in explore. They will test different things at home that sink and float and bring it back to class to share with the rest of the students. The students will need to find 5 different things at home to test. They will have to have their parents sign off on their homework. I want the students to talk to their parents about what they have been learning in class, to make it stick in their head more and to explain to their parents and maybe they will have good ideas for the students to test at home. Evaluate Time Frame: As long as students need to finish up the test, but shouldn t take more that 20 minutes. To test the students on their understanding I will ask them what the determining factor of sinking and floating. With this I will see if they clearly understand if they got the main concept of the lesson. I want the students to know that with everything like this they will have to make predictions and explain why they think what they think. Also I want them to be able to back up their findings and explanations. Then I will give them a list of the major objects we talked about and they will have to tell me if the object would sink or float. The motivation behind the evaluation is to see what the students have learned.

4 Lab Obtain a clear plastic bucket. Then fill a little more than half with water. Pick seven objects to test from the following list: Clay, golf ball, cork, pencil, wood blocks, Styrofoam, apple, carrot, rubber duck, boat, ice cube, sponge, tennis ball, ping pong ball, rock, bar of soap, twig, coins. 1. Take a measurement on the balance of each item. Record them here. Items Mass in Grams

5 2. Record what objects you think will sink and which objects will float. And explain why you think what you do. Items Sink or Float Why? 3. Now that you have made you predictions come show me what you thought as a group before you continue on. 4. Now take the time and see what items sink or float. Make sure you put each object fully underwater before you test if they sink or float. Items Sink or float

6 5. After completing the charts think of any questions you have. Is there any objects that you thought would float that sank or you thought would sink and floated? Why do you think this happened? 6. What do you think determines if an object sinks or floats? 7. Be prepared to discuss what you found in class. And be willing to share and questions you had and be ready to explain answers and help other students answer questions they had.

7 NAME: Take home work Answer the following questions. 1. What 5 things did you test to sinking and floating? a. b. c. d. e. 2. Make predictions if you objects will sink or float? 3. What items sank? 4. What items floated? 5. Did any of your finding surprise you? 6. Parents: What did your student tell you we were learning about?

8 NAME: Sinking and Floating Checking for Understanding. 1. What do we do before every lab? 2. What determines if something sinks or floats? 3. Did the watermelon sink or float? 4. What about the marble? 5. Which pop can floated?

9 Answer keys and motivation behind questions. Lab Obtain a clear plastic bucket. Then fill a little more than half with water. Pick seven objects to test from the following list: Clay, golf ball, cork, pencil, wood blocks, Styrofoam, apple, carrot, rubber duck, boat, ice cube, sponge, tennis ball, ping pong ball, rock, bar of soap, twig, coins. 1. Take a measurement on the balance of each item. Record them here. We want to see if they know how to measure things still, be able to use a balance, and write correct units. Make sure the masses are correct, around the right number and not way off from everyone else s. Items Mass in Grams

10 2. Record what objects you think will sink and which objects will float. And explain why you think what you do. Here the students need to be able to record information in a chart correctly, and they need to be able to explain why. We want the students to be able to back up what they think. Items Sink or Float Why? 3. Now that you have made you predictions come show me what you thought as a group before you continue on. 4. Now take the time and see what items sink or float. Make sure you put each object fully underwater before you test if they sink or float. Depending on the objects different things will sink and float. Make sure the students have the right answers as they are going but we will go over it as a class when the lab is done. Items Sink or float

11 5. After completing the charts think of any questions you have. Is there any objects that you thought would float that sank or you thought would sink and floated? Why do you think this happened? Here again we want the students to back up what they are thinking. Fully explain what their train of thought is in their head. These answers can be different based on each student. 6. What do you think determines if an object sinks or floats? Here we want to see what the students are thinking. See if the students are on the right track, somewhere leading to what it is made up of, but this idea will be discussed later. 7. Be prepared to discuss what you found in class. And be willing to share and questions you had and be ready to explain answers and help other students answer questions they had. NAME:

12 Take home work Answer the following questions. 1. What 5 things did you test to sinking and floating? a. b. c. d. e. 2. Make predictions if you objects will sink or float? Why? Again making predictions is important and explaining why. 3. What items sank? Being able to record their findings. Right answer depending on their findings. 4. What items floated? Being able to record their findings. Right answers depending on their findings. 5. Did any of your finding surprise you? Important we want students to explain themselves. 6. Parents: What did your student tell you we were learning about? This is important to help get the students involved. If anything looks off when they turn the homework in bring it to the class, and demo the experiment to fix what the students found at home that was wrong. NAME:

13 Sinking and Floating Checking for Understanding. All these questions are to see what the students have learned from this section. 1. What do we do before every lab? Here they should say something about making predictions and explaining why on answers. 2. What determines if something sinks or floats? Here they need to say what it is made up of. If that is nowhere in the answer it s not right, they missed our whole lesson. 3. Did the watermelon sink or float? Why? The watermelon floated. Because it made up mostly of water so it will float. 4. What about the marble? Why? The marble sank. What it is made up of it different material than water which makes it sink. 5. Which pop can floated? Why? The diet coke can. Because there is less sugar in it than the coke which makes it float.