Ms. Rechenbach’s class has been learning about of sink and float in science. After our planning meeting we decided that we wanted to make things interesting for the students. We came up with the idea to have students design boats and then test the boats to whether it will sink or float.
We started off the lesson explaining to the students that we are going to be shipbuilders. (Kindergarteners love having fun jobs!) We divided the students into groups. Each group had access to recycleable materials and had time to make a boat. The students had certain rules they have to follow for their boat.
1. Each group had to use at least 3 different types of materials.
2. The boat couldn’t be longer than a ruler
3. The boat had to float for at least 10 seconds.
The students quickly got to work creating their boat. It was amazing to see the creativity and teamwork these students showed. Check out their awesome creations below.
Ms. Rechenbach and I then created a google form, so kindergarteners from other schools could look at the boats and predict as to whether the boats will float or sink. We gave the other kindergartners a week to make their predictions.
A week later we came back together to look at the predictions. We then tested to boats to see how the predictions compare to the actual result.
The groups then came back together to discuss why their boats either floated on top of the water or sank to the bottom. Each group then picked representatives to record their findings on an iPad. The plan is to put the videos on Ms. Rechenbach’s blog for the kindergarteners that made the earlier predictions.
This lesson was so much fun and the students were engaged the entire time. Do you want to do a lesson similar to this one? Make sure you sign up for a time so we can start planning.
