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Gabrielle Pankhurst Lesson Plan Assignment 1

ED 3501 ABC
October 23, 2013

Buoyancy and Boats


Grade/Subject: Grade 2 Science

Unit: Buoyancy and Boats

Lesson Duration: 60 minutes

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES


General Learning Outcomes:
22 Recognize pattern and order in objects and events studied; and, with guidance, record procedures and observations,
using pictures and words; and make predictions and generalizations, based on observations.
23 Construct, with guidance, an object that achieves a given purpose, using materials that are provided.
27 Construct objects that will float on and move through water, and evaluate various designs for watercraft.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
1. Describe, classify and order materials on the basis of their buoyancy. Students who have achieved this expectation will
distinguish between materials that sink in water and those that float. They will also be aware that some floaters sit
mostly above water, while others sit mostly below water. The terms buoyancy and density may be introduced but are not
required as part of this learning expectation.
3. Assemble materials so they will float, carry a load and be stable in water.
7. Develop or adapt methods of construction that are appropriate to the design task.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Predict whether the objects presented will float or sink.
2. Categorize objects buoyancy into floating or sinking.
3. Create a boat using the material provided that will float and carrying a light amount of weight while in water.

ASSESSMENTS
Observations: Students actively participating in making

Key Questions: What characterizes an object as floating or sinking?

suggestions of whether objects sink or float. How well


students interact and contribute when making boats.

Do objects start out floating or sinking and than change?


What are important factors when constructing a boat to make it float?

Written/Performance Assessments: Students will hand in their worksheets for categorizing floating and sinking objects and the
boats they created in groups. Students will also be assessed on their participation in the story and boat creation as well as contributing to
whole class discussion.

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED


Resource #1: http://letsdoscience.com/content_pdf/Grade2BuoyancyBoats.pdf#pagemode=bookmarks&page=10
Resource #2: Who sank the boat? By Pamela Allen
Resource #3: Buoyancy and Boats Topic B Grade 2 Edmonton Public Schools
Resource #4: http://education.alberta.ca/media/654825/elemsci.pdf

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Floaters and Sinkers (Wood, Marbles, Coins, Tinfoil ball, Bowl, Sponge, Full and Empty Bottles, Pop Can, Cork, Crayon)
Boat Building Materials (Paper plates, Styrofoam Plates and Cups, Popsicle Sticks, Plasticine, Corks, Tinfoil)
Book Who Sank the boat by Pamela Allen
Glass Tank for water
Work sheets

PROCEDURE
Introduction (5 min.):
Hook/Attention Grabber: Youtube video on floating vs sinking pumpkin http://youtu.be/vP40QlC1h7I. Ask the class if
they think a pumpkin will float or sink in water and have them vote. Show youtube video to see what actually happens.
Assessment of Prior Knowledge: Whole class discussion. Ask students: What characteristics does an object needs to have
to make it a floater or sinker? What rules exist for floating and sinking objects?
Advance Organizer/Agenda:
1. Read Who Sank the Boat?
2. Have Students return to their desks, give instructions for next activity and hand out worksheets.
3. List and show students the objects we will be testing and predict whether they will sink or float. Write each object on
the coordinating side of the T-chart.

Gabrielle Pankhurst Lesson Plan Assignment 1

4.
5.
6.

ED 3501 ABC
October 23, 2013

Test the objects and write down on the second T-chart what happened to each object once it hit the water.
Constructing Boats -Split students up into groups of 5 to create a boat that will float in water.
Students will test their boats to see if they float and can carry a small amount of weight

Transition to Body: Have students move to the reading/carpet area and introduce the book we will be reading to the class:
Who Sank the Boat?

Body (50 min.):


Learning Activity #1: Picture Book on buoyancy and boats Who Sank the boat by Pamela Allen (10 Minutes)
Assessments/Differentiation: Have students predict what they think will happen on each page as another animal gets into the boat.
Ask students: What is the boat made out of that makes it float?

Learning Activity #2: Float vs. sink (20 Minutes)


Have the objects set on a table at the front of the classroom, show the objects to the class one by one and have them write down if they
think it will sink or if it will float.
After all the predictions have been made the class will test the objects by putting them into the water. I will randomly select student to
come put an object into the water. Students will write on the second t-chart on the worksheet what actually happens.
Assessments/Differentiation: Are students making accurate predictions on whether an object floats or sinks? Get students to share what
they think for each object and why they made that prediction (have other students explain why they may have predicted the opposite)

Learning Activity #3: Boat Construction (20 Minutes)


Students will be split up into groups of five. Each group will be given a variety of materials to build a boat. All groups will
receive slightly different materials some of which are floaters and sinkers. Students must work as a team to build a boat
that will carry a light load with in later (use marbles for weight). Students will have 15 minutes to construct their boats
and then they will be tested in water.
Assessments/Differentiation: Are students working cooperatively and collaboratively with their group? Students use majority of
material provided while taking into consideration which of the materials will sink or float.
Sponge Activity: Have students present their group boats to the class, they will explain how the constructed the boat and what materials
they chose to included.

Closure (5 min.):
Consolidation/Assessment of Learning: Can student categorize and describe objects/materials that will float and sink?
Students were able to construct a boat for the purpose of floating and carrying a light load.
Exit Slip: I will hand out sticky notes at the end of the lesson, I will read and write the three questions on the board: What
did you enjoy most about this lesson? List one thing you learnt about floating objects today? List on thing you learnt about
sinking objects today? Do you have any questions? Students will have 2 minutes to write down their answer and they will
come to the front of the class and put their sticky note on the board.
Feedback From Students: Observe whether student are engaged and excited about experimenting with floating and
sinking objects, and building their own boat. Ask student what they enjoy about experimenting and building a boat. Exit
slips.
Feedback To Students: Mark and mark descriptive feedback/comments on their worksheet. Give each group descriptive
feedback of what they did very well at on constructing their boat and a suggestion for what they could have done
differently or change next lesson.
Transition To Next Lesson: The next lesson on buoyancy and boats students will cover SLO 4. Modify a watercraft to

increase the load it will carry and 8. Adapt the design of a watercraft so it can be propelled through water by
adding to and/or changing the boat they created this lesson.

Gabrielle Pankhurst Lesson Plan Assignment 1

ED 3501 ABC
October 23, 2013

Rational For Lesson Plan


I chose a grade 2 science lesson as I will teaching grade 2 class for my practicum. I chose
science as my subject because I am not very familiar with the curriculum and think it is a great subject
area to include hands on and collaborative learning. To introduce the lesson I used a YouTube video of
an experiment to see whether a pumpkin floats or sinks. Since most would assume a pumpkin sinks I
think it would be a great way to get students thinking about what other objects float and one sink. For
the first activity I will read a picture book to students called Who sank the boat? by Pamela Allen, the
book will be use to introduce students to the topic of buoyancy and how weight may affect the
buoyancy of objects. Including a picture book is a way for me to include literature in all subject areas.
For the second activity students are given the opportunity to predict/hypothesis and categorize
objects into floaters or sinkers. This activity will give students the change to think about what an object
does in water before they see it. For this activity I think it is important make the experiment hands on
and interactive. The activity allows for students to actually see what happens; they can make visual
observations such as do any of the objects float at first and then sink or vise versa? and contribute to
whole class discussion after each object is put in the water. Students will also have the opportunity to
put the objects into the water themselves rather than just watching the teacher do it.
The third activity is to have students construct a boat out of a variety of materials so that it will
float. Students will have to think critically about which objects are the most buoyant and how they can
effectively be used together to create a boat. Students will be engaged from the hands on and creative
aspect of this activity.
I chose to do an exit slip as part of assessing student understanding to get a better idea of how
students are doing individually with the concepts covered in the lesson since most of the activities were
done as a whole class or in small groups. I will be able to see if what students wrote down on their exit
slips matches up to what they have handed in on their worksheet and decide what concepts need to be
reviewed in the next class.
For this assignment I consulted two teaching guides, one from Edmonton Public School and the other
from Albertas Lets do Science, both these resources had many great activities, and a picture book. I
narrowed my choices down to these two activities because I liked that testing the objects focused in on
learning the concept of buoyancy and constructing a boat allowed students to explore how they could
create a buoyant object of a variety of materials for a given purpose. Originally I thought of just having
students construct a boat individually or in pairs but decided that having the second activity allowed for
me to focus the lesson as well as have students work collaboratively in groups.
3

Gabrielle Pankhurst Lesson Plan Assignment 1

ED 3501 ABC
October 23, 2013

Floaters vs. Sinkers Handout


What I think will happen then the object goes into the water?
Float

Sink

What really happened when the object went into the water?
Float

Sink

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