Lori Krawczyk

#590494

T321 Lesson Plan

Topic:

Sinking vs. Floating

Suggested Grade Level:

Grade 5

Concept/Objective:

The students will be using the scientific
method to test whether or not different shapes made from aluminum
foil will either sink or float.

Teaching Materials:

Paper and pen to make observations.

Student Materials:

approximately 5 small sheets of aluminum
foil per group, a balance, a centimeter ruler, a container (500 – mL
or larger), graph paper, scissors, water, stopwatches (1 per group
of students) or use of a wall clock.

Teacher Background Information:

Density is the relationship
between an object’s volume and its mass. Volume is the amount
of space the object occupies, and mass is a measurement of the
amount of stuff in the object, sort of like weight. An object
with a lot of mass can have a low density if it is very big, and
an object with little mass can have a high density if it is very
small. Water has a property called uplift which means that water
pushes up against objects that are placed on its surface. Gravity,
however, tries to pull the object down through the water, just
as uplift tries to push the object back up. If you place something
in the water that is less dense than the water, it will float.
However, if you drop something into the water that has a mass
that is greater than the mass of the water, it will sink. Another
background idea is displacement which is what occurs with ships
in the water. The ships are made of materials that are denser
than water, yet they float. This is because of displacement. The
object (ship) is pushing water out of its way. Water doesn’t like
being pushed around, so it pushes back against the object, trying
to return to the space from which it was pushed. Thus, the effect
of the water pushing against the ship makes the ship float.

Management Strategies:

For this lesson, I will divide the
class into groups of approximately 2 – 3 students who will
sit together at small tables with all of the necessary supplies
on the table. I would like to have a short discussion with the
students at the beginning of the lesson to make introduction.
However, I would like for the students to be able to work on their
own throughout the rest of the lesson, making inquiries and exploring
the different techniques that may be used to establish conclusions.
I will allow approximately 20 minutes for this activity in the
class (12 minutes in the T321 class), followed by a discussion
about the various group results. For obvious safety reasons, I
will ask that the students keep any spills or dropped objects
cleaned up to avoid slips and falls.

Procedure:

To introduce the lesson, I will ask the students
to name several objects that both float and sink. I will then
ask them to tell me why they think that those specific items float
or sink (write down on the board what these items have in common
or what their differences are). I will then precede with a very
short discussion about density, uplift and displacement. I will
then pass out the observation sheet (the other materials will
already be placed on the tables). The students will be given the
aluminum foil and a tub of water. I will first ask

them to come up with at least three different ways to adjust a
single piece of aluminum foil that they feel might make it float
and write down their predictions on the designated spot on the
sheet. I will then ask them to do the same (3 different ways)
for sinking. Once they have written down all of their predictions,
I will invite them to test out their predictions that they wrote
down through experimentation with the aluminum foil and the water.
Throughout the experimentation, I will ask them to keep track
of the amount of time that it takes for the aluminum foil object
to sink (if it sinks). To do this, they may use any of the supplies
that I have rayed out on the table (i.e. the graph paper, the
stop watch or clock, the balance, the ruler, etc.) Once they have
done the experimentation, I will ask them to write down their
procedures and their conclusions on the paper given. I will be
reminding them to record all of the data that they collect whether
it be on notebook paper or graph paper in the form of charts,
tables, diagrams, etc.

Assessment/Evaluation:

For evaluating this lesson, I will
have the students turn in their data and their observation forms.
In addition, on the observation form, I will have a list of questions
that the students will answer pertaining to their procedure which
will be done on an individual basis.

Extension/Integration:

This lesson can be easily integrated
into mathematics by having the students measure the rise of the
water when a certain number of marbles have been added (in a beaker
of water). This would be a great time to reintroduce density and
mass. For younger students, this lesson can be simplified and
used when doing a unit on boats or on water.