How the World Works
Central Idea: Forces are used to create motion in our work and play
For this we were inquiring into how forces work on different materials and how forces and materials are applied in work and play.
Together, we talked about floating and sinking. For me to get a better understanding of what the children know about floating and sinking, I asked them to find something in our classroom that they liked to play with and hypothesize about whether it would float or sink. See below.
We then gathered our resources, and tested our hypothesizes.
Juwana guessed that the block would sink because it was so long. She later discovered that wood floats.
Hashim guessed that the train would sink. He found that it actually floated.
Retal guessed that the water bottle would sink because she thought it was dead. She said that it was floating because its floating from the waters.
Ahmad guessed that the lego would sink. He said that it actually go up.
Amaya guessed that the plastic pineapple would sink because it was so big. She said that after she realized that it would float because plastic doesn't sink.
Azka guessed that the rolling pin would sink because she wanted it to. She said that it actually floated.
Saleh guessed that his puzzle piece would float and it did!
Malath guessed that play dough would float, but it sank to the bottom. She said she thought it would float because it was little.
Iman guessed that a book would float and she was right. She guessed it would float because it is so big.
Sean guessed that a marker would float. He said he guessed it would float because it is light.
Hajar guessed a doll chair would float and it did!
We recorded our findings. Green means we guessed correctly, pink means we guessed incorrectly.
After we looked and discussed why we thought something was going to float or sink, we looked at the different materials these toys were made of and decided which types of materials would float or sink. We decided to keep this chart up and if we find any other materials that we use in our work and play that either float or sink we will record them.
