Science Article: Buoyancy

ABSTRACT: Many times, when a third grade student is asked what objects sink, and what objects float? they will respond that bigger items sink, and smaller items float. Buoyancy is an abstract concept for elementary students. In this article, I set the scene for third graders to grasp the bigger picture of buoyancythe force that causes objects to float. The students apply their learning by examining objects that sink and float, and exploring why objects stay afloat or sink. Typically, buoyancy is reserved for a middle school grade level. However, I wanted to introduce the idea of a pushing force early. That way, students have a grasp on the basic concepts of buoyancy, and will be more prepared for a greater indepth analysis as they get older. When introducing a new science concept, it is often difficult to engage all students. It is very important for students to explore science activities that are inquiry-based. Hoping that I could get my students to become engaged from the beginning, I based this lesson off of the learning cycle, which begins right away with exploration. Having the students explore first pulls them in, and gets them to question what theyre working with. Standards: The standard addressed in this lesson falls under physical science; The position and motion of objects can be changed by pushing or pulling. The size of the change is related to the strength of the push or pull.

Day 1: Exploration The first step of the learning cycle is exploration, where students are encouraged to question a problem or hypothesis with a hands-on activity. It is beneficial because it gives students motivation about Science, and gets them interested in the subject matter. In this case, I wanted to see what the students already knew about objects that sink and objects that float. I started by demonstrating the activity to the class. I had a cup of water, and a piece of foam. I asked the students: What do you think will happen to this piece of foam? How do you know, or why do you think so?

After sharing ideas, I have the students explore more objects on their own. I split the students up into groups of 4. Small groups work very well when doing an activity because each student can contribute, and its a great way to incorporate the Social Learning Theory. Collaborative learning has proven to be extremely effective in the science field. It also reminds students of a key element of the nature of science: science is collaborative.

For this activity, I provided students with a cup of water, and a cup filled with several objects: A small ball of clay A paper clip A cork Aluminum Ice A small pebble I placed all cups on a table at the back of the room and had one person from each group come and get a cup. This saved a lot of time, because I did not have to pass any materials out, and there was no mayhem of 25 students scrambling to the back of the room. As the students tested out each object, they filled out a worksheet: Object 1. 2. 3. 4. Sink or Float? Why?

This worksheet, along with student discussion, served as my formative assessment to see what the students already knew. Formative assessment can be done in many ways (drawings, discussion, etc.) Some of the most common responses were: The object is heavy The object is big Gravity (kept it up)

We then had a discussion as a class. I asked them, which objects floated? and which objects sank? I gave the students time to discuss their thoughts with their peers. As the students shared their ideas, I wrote the answers on the board. I then asked the question, Why did some objects sink, and some objects float? The most common thought among the third grade class was that heavier objects sink and lighter objects float, and softer objects float better than harder objects. Overall, the students were thinking about the object, not the water. Day 2: Concept Development

The next stage of the Learning Cycle is concept development, where students build off the previous lesson to help them understand more about a buoyant force. I started with a review: What happened when we put different items in the cup of water? What causes something to sink or float? I encourage several students to share and leave an appropriate amount of wait time between each question. With appropriate wait time, the instructor is more likely to elicit answers than if than if they rush on to further prompt the students. I decided to base the next activity off of the discussion from the previous day. The students were focused on the items in the water, not the water itself. Therefore, I had the students examine the difference between an object in tap water and the same object in salt water. I started the lesson with two cups of water, and one egg. One cup contained salt water, and the other contained tap water. I had the students take out a clean sheet of paper, and draw a line down the middle. I tell them to label one side cup 1 and the other side cup 2. I had them do this to record their thinking process as they watched what happened with each egg. They could use this information to help them when they later worked on their own. I begin with cup 1, and ask them: What do you think will happen to this egg? Make a prediction on your sheet of paper under side 1, and explain why you think it will happen. I encourage students to make drawings, and write sentences as to demonstrate their thinking. This way, when I look back at their sheets, I can get a good understanding of what they know. I make sure to reiterate that students should stay in their seat and wait for me to come around with the cup of water. This way, everyone has a fair chance at seeing the egg, and I dont have to battle a group of third graders running up to the front. The room stays relatively silent. The students note on their papers that the egg in the first cup is resting at the bottom. I repeat the same process for the egg in cup 2. Students stay at their seats while I come around and show them the cup. Cup 2 contains the salt water, and it is easy to see their excitement and confusion as to why one egg sank and one egg floated. For this activity, I found it useful to use direct instruction to scaffold the students thinking. With direct instruction, the teacher should be explicit and reflective. In this case, I am explicit in helping the students notice that there is a distinct difference between the two cups of water. Then, I help the students be reflective thinkers by asking them specific questions about what they saw. Its important to get kids to think, what does this mean? This kind of questioning promotes higher level thinking.

Effective questions during class discussion might be: What happened to the egg in cup 1? What happened to the egg in cup 2? Why did the first egg sink? Why did the second egg float? What was holding the egg up? How do you know that? What does this tell us about yesterdays prediction? Is size and weight of an object always important for whether something sinks or floats?

The questioning at this point is crucial to the students concept development. The goal is get the students to understand that something is pushing that second egg up. We want the students to question, What is it thats holding that egg up? Another important aspect for the students to gather is that there is something different between the two cups of water. We want them to question what that difference is. As an instructor, it is important to scaffold student understanding with questions so that the students can begin to solve their questions on their own. To further the students thinking to help them make connections, I have them think about their misconceptions about the floating egg before their experiment. How did their thinking change? Day 3: Application The third and final stage of the Learning Cycle is intended for students to apply what they have learned over the unit. Therefore, the goal for today is to have students use their knowledge about buoyant forces and create a boat that floats. They will test out their creation by putting as many pennies onto the boat as they can without making it sink. On a back table, I will have supplies laid out for the students to work with. Students will be provided with: Tub of water Aluminum foil Paper Clay Salt Before beginning, students talk with their group members to discuss what they think will float best, and how they can get their boat to hold up the most pennies. During their brainstorming session, I am sure to walk around and see what they are thinking and question their ideas. This activity shows students yet another aspect of the nature of science: the fact that scientists have to be creative. I am sure to

encourage the students to use their creativity along with what they have learned to build a boat that will float and hold multiple pennies. On a worksheet, I have them explain the following: What materials did you use? Why did you choose those materials? What is holding up the boat? This assignment can also be turned into a competition, depending on the atmosphere of the classroom. The group that builds the boat that holds the most pennies wins. Based off of experience, I know that this really builds motivation and excitement about the project. The application process can also serve as a formative assessment. It is key to do a formative assessment so that the instructor can evaluate to what degree the students mastered the content. For this lesson, I took notes during their building process and recorded their thinking process. I asked many extended answer questions that helped me understand how much they knew about buoyant forces.

ELL Students At some point, there will be ELL students in your classroom. It is important to know what you can do as a teacher to facilitate their learning. For this lesson, I made sure to write all discussion points on the board. This way, the students were able to hear and see the discussion. I also put the ELL students in different groups, so that they could have a mentor peer to facilitate their communication process. Relating back to Nature of Science Often times, students have great misconceptions about what a scientist is, and what they do. Many students believe that scientists are often men, they work alone and follow a step-by-step process that allows no creativity. I think that if these stereotypes can be broken, students are likely to be more interested in science and even pursue it as a career. There are so many ways to help kids understand the nature of science, and we can teach it in the same way that we teach other aspects of science: through discovery. In this lesson, many aspects of the nature of science were exemplified. Collaborative learning, trial and error, and creativity are a few examples. Most likely, though, students wont notice that on their own. At the beginning of the year, I scaffold the students while they brainstorm what makes a scientists. Through the discussion, I introduce them to many aspects of the Nature of Science. Then, at the end of each science lesson, I like to ask the students a few questions to get them thinking about how they are scientists:

How were you a scientist today? What was exciting about todays science activity for you? How did you work creatively? What other things can you think of that you did that made your work scientific?

This helps the students not only reflect on their work and what they learned that day, but it encourages them to think critically about how they worked, and why their decisions were important.

Conclusion Rather than giving students a new vocabulary word to learn, it is more effective to let them explore how water can hold objects up. The most effective process to introduce students to a new concept is the learning cycle. Students are encouraged to explore, develop their schemas, and then apply what they have learned throughout the unit. This way, the students are more likely to truly understand a concept instead of just learning a new vocabulary term.