Dana Hausauer

Dorothy Dalgliesh Grade 2

Science: Boats and Buoyancy
Curriculum and Instruction: Lesson
Plan Package Overview

Rationale:

This lesson was the very first lesson of the Buoyancy and Boats unit for my
grade 2 class. I decided to start the lesson by explaining what buoyancy
meant. This will be a term used throughout the unit. Even though they are
not required for the outcome both my TA and I thought it would benefit them
to have a new word in their vocabulary. I remember the Buoyancy and Boats
unit from when I was in grade 2 so I wanted to really get the class excited for
the unit like I remember being. My TA had told me that the students really
enjoy watching movies so I googled it and found The Magic School Bus. I
made a worksheet e would go with the Magic School Bus video. I planned to
hand out the worksheet at the beginning of the lesson and then start the
video. I would pass the video and discuss each answer with the students so
that each student would have the answers in their worksheet. The ideas
covered in this video are very important for this unit so I would to ensure that
each student understood the points from the video.

Lesson
Title/Focus

Introduction to Buoyancy and Boats

Date

Wednesday
November 13, 2013

Subject/Gr
ade Level

Grade 2- Buoyancy and Boats

Time
Durati
on

40 minutes (1:051:45)

Unit

Buoyancy and Boats

Teache
r

Ms. Hausauer

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcome
s:

2-7

Specific
Learning
Outcome
s:

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.

Construct objects that will float on and move through water, and evaluate
various designs for watercraft.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:

1.
2.
3.
4.

Understand
Understand
Understand
Understand

what the term buoyancy means

that heavier materials sink and lighter materials float
how to change something that floats into something that sinks
how to change something that sinks into something that floats

ASSESSMENTS
Observations:

Key Questions:
Products/Performan
ces:

Observe which students raise their hand during the

brainstorming
Observe which students understand what sinking and floating
means
Observe students reactions during the video
Observe which students can answer questions after the video
What makes something float?
What makes something sink?
Students will write down main ideas from the video to keep in
their Science notebook

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

The Magic School Bus video

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

The Magic School Bus- Ups and Downs
Ups and Downs worksheet

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson

Before the lesson begins ensure the video is up on the

screen- go to youtube and type in Magic School Bus Ups
and Downs
Introduction

Attention
Grabber

Assessment of
Prior Knowledge

Expectations for
Learning and
Behaviour
Advance
Organizer/Agend
a
Transition to
Body

Tell the students that we are now starting the Buoyancy

and Boats unit in Science. Ask the students what they
believe buoyancy means? The actual definition is- the
tendency of an object to remain on the surface of the
water. Explain that during this unit we are going to
explore what makes something float or sink, how we can
change something to float or sink, and how we can build
our own boats that will float on the water.

Time

5
minutes
(1:051:10)

Brainstorm as a class what the terms floating and

sinking means. What makes something float? What
makes something sink?

2
minutes
(1:101:12)

All students are expected to participate in the

brainstorming either by contributing or by listening

n/a

1. Brainstorm what floating and sinking means

2. Watch The Magic School Bus video
3. Fill out the worksheet that corresponds to the video
together as the video is playing
Ask students to clear their desks and take out a pencil
Start the video on the smartboard

n/a

1 minute

(1:121:13)
Body
Learning Activity
#1
Assessments/
Differentiation:

-Watch the video Ups and Downs

-While watching the video pause and answer questions

Time
35
minutes
(1:13-43)

Have a worksheet with fill in the blank for Alex

Closure

Time

Assessment of
Learning:

Students will hand in their worksheets from the video to

be used in the next lesson

Feedback From
Students:

Ask the students if they have any questions about the

video

Feedback To
Students

This will be dependent on how the students participate

during the movie. If they were well behaved tell them
that I appreciated their behaviour during the movie. If
they were not well behaved tell them that the next time
we watch the movie I would like them to be more
focussed on the screen instead of talking.

Transition To
Next Lesson

Tell the students that in the next class we will explore

and test more objects that sink and float.

Sponge
Activity/Activities

If there is extra time in class I will have the students look around
the classroom for objects that they may want to test in the next
class

Reflection
s from
the
lesson

2
minutes

Overall, this lesson went really well. I had the class try to sound
out the word buoyancy. This is a very difficult word and they
came close to sounding it out. I read the word from the board
and then discussed what it meant. I told the class that the unit
that we are going to start we are going to test things that float
and things that sink. I then had the students brainstorm what
they thought sinking and floating meant. They also gave me a
few examples of things that would sink and things that would
float. I then told the students that by the end of the unit we will
be able to make our own boats that will float. The class was
really excited about making their boats which is making me
really excited to continue the unit! I made a mental note of their

excitement to set some time aside in the upcoming classes to

get them really excited about making the boats. If I were to
teach this lesson again I would have a better introduction to the
video. Instead of having them focus on a certain idea in the
video I just explained that we are going to watch a Magic School
Bus video and that we will be filling out a worksheet as we
watch it. I made two worksheets for the video. The first
worksheet was a short answer for all of the kids in the
classroom but one. The second worksheet was a fill in the blank
for one student in the classroom. As I was making it I wasnt
sure if it would be too much writing for the grade 2s. I asked
my TA after I had made it and she though that it was
appropriate for my class. After having done it I thought the
worksheet worked well but it took longer than I had expected to
fill out the answers with the class. Once an answer was said in
the video I would pause the video, read the question and
discuss it with the class. I would then write the answers that
they had produced on the board. Pamela had mentioned that
this maybe wouldnt be the best idea because you are not able
to assess if they were actually able to know that answer. The
group of kids that I have in my class are on the weaker side and
so they would need the written answers on the board in order to
understand what we had just discussed. For next time, I would
leave more time aside to work on the questions as I went over
the class time by about 5 minutes (this was okay with my TA
though).

Name: _________________________________________

Word Box:

waters
pushing
floats
push

heavier

less

smaller
weight

sinks
big

The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs

1. The banana _______________ and the rock
_________________.

2. The class sinks the bus because they add extra

__________________.

Light

3. The bus floats because of the ___________________

__________________.
4. The bread slice floated and the bread ball sank
because the bread

ball is __________________________.

5. An object that is smaller sinks because it has

__________________
water to move out of the way and less water
___________________
back.

6. Filling the pontoons help the bus sink because it makes

the bus
_____________________________.
7. The monster floated because it was ______________ and
______________.

Name: _________________________________________

The Magic School Bus Ups and Downs

1. The banana _______________ and the rock
_________________.
2. How does Ms. Frizzle`s class sink their bus?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
3. What is making the bus float?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

4. Why did the bread slice float and the bread ball sink?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
5. Why does an object that is smaller sink?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________
6. Why does letting water into the pontoons help the bus
sink?
__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

7. Why did the monster float?

__________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________

This lesson plan includes two lessons on it because they have two Science
classes today. In the first class we are going to rewatch the video from the
previous day. My TA said that this would be a good idea to do because the
first time they were focussed on answering the questions so this time they
can really focus on the video. I then planned to have the class experiment
with different objects in stations. The students will get 3 minutes at the
station to test out the objects and see if they will sink or float. I am going to
remind the students that they should ask themselves if the objects are
following the rules that we learned in the video. After the students had gone
to each station I am going to have the students fill out their predictions
worksheet. In the next class we will be going through 15 objects and record
whether they will sink or float. In this class we are just filling out what they
believe will happen when those objects are put into water. I made sure to
note that this is just a guess and it is okay if it is wrong. My TA had explained
that in her class the students dont like to be wrong often so it was important
to mention that if you didnt guess right that it is okay. I also had them fill out
their predictions in pen so they were not able to change their predictions
once we actually tested them out. I made a smartboard presentation with
each of the objects on it so that each student would know exactly what
object we are on. In Science we have 29 kids so it is very easy for them to
get lost (especially the ones at the back). I thought this would help give a
visual aid to the students while we are making our predictions. I made an
exit slip for the end of class to assess the students understanding of the
sinking and floating concepts.

Lesson
Title/Focus

Sinking or Floating

Subject/Gr
ade Level

Grade 2- Buoyancy and Boats

Unit

Buoyancy and Boats

Date
Time
Durati
on
Teache
r

Thursday
November 14, 2013
80 minutes (1:052:40)
Ms. Hausauer

OUTCOMES FROM ALBERTA PROGRAM OF STUDIES

General
Learning
Outcome
s:
Specific
Learning
Outcome
s:

2-7
Construct objects that will float on and move through water, and evaluate
various designs for watercraft.
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.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will:
1. Explore with different objects and assess whether they float or sink
2. Understand what the term buoyancy means
4. Understand that heavier materials sink and lighter materials float
5. Understand how to change something that floats into something that sinks

Observe which students raise their hands during the beginning of

the class when we are reviewing the video
Observe students reactions while they are experimenting with the
objectswere they surprised some of the objects floated or sank?
Key Questions:
What objects float?
What objects sink?
Do some objects float and then sink?
Do some objects float mostly on top of the water?
Do some objects float mostly in the water?
Products/Perform Students will record their predictions on Master #1
ances:
Observations:

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTED

Edmonton Public Schools Topic B: Buoyancy
and Boats

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Penny
paperclip
Chalk
Crayons
Rock
Styrofoam
Peanut
Dishcloth
Feather
#1

eraser
marble
pencil
cork
string
nail
Master

 5 buckets of water
random objects for centers

PROCEDURE
Prior to lesson

Attention
Grabber

Expectations
for Learning
and Behaviour
Advance
Organizer/Agen
da

Transition to
Body

Learning
Activity #1

Assessments/
Differentiation:
Learning
Activity #2

Learning

Set up stations in 5 groups of 5 and 1 group of 4

At each station set-up:
o Buckets of water at each station
o have random items for each group to test out
Introduction
Time

As the students are coming back from Phys.

Ed hand them a card with a letter on it. Tell
them that they are to sit at the group of
desks with that number.
Once everyone is sitting down ask students
to look in their Science books at the
worksheet from last class
All students will participate either by
contributing to the discussion or listening to
other students
All students will raise their hand
1. The class will get seated and settled
2. We will rewatch the video from The Magic School
Bus Ups and Downs
3. Give students 3 minutes at each station to test
out different objects in their bucket of water
4. Together as a class make predictions whether the
objects from Master #1 will sink or float
Have the students clear their desks and get ready
to start the video

Body
As a class we will rewatch the video Ups
and Downs
During the video I will pause it to answer the
questions and discuss the answers with the
class

3
minutes
(1:051:08)

2
minutes
(1:081:10)
Time
35
minutes
(1:101:45)
n/a

Once the students are at each of their

stations explain that they have 3 minutes at
each station to test out the objects. (Make
sure to put the timer on the SmartBoard).
Explain to them that they should take note of
what types of objects float and what types
sink. Do they follow the rules that we learned
in the video?
Hand out Master #1- Have each of the

20
minutes
(1:452:05)
15

Activity #3

Assessment of
Learning:

Feedback From
Students:
Feedback To
Students
Transition To
Next Lesson

Sponge
Activity/Activiti
es
Reflectio
ns from
the
lesson

students fold their sheet so just the

predictions section is showing
Have each student take out a crayon,
marker, or pencil crayon
Explain that this is an educated guessuse
the rules from the video that we just
watched. Explain that it is okay to be wrong
because it is just a guess before we actually
try it. Mistakes are how we learn.
Put the smartboard presentation on the
board so that each student can see what
object we are testing
While talking about each item pass some
around the class so they can feel the weight
and look at them closely
Show the first item (penny)show them to
put a mark in the floating box if they think
the object will float, or a mark in the sinking
box if the object will sink
Do the same thing for each object down the
list
Closure

Hand out exit slips for the students to complete.

Have the students write down any questions they
may have
Look at the exit slips after class and respond to any
questions
Explain to students that in the next class we will be
testing out these objects to see if they actually
float or sink.
Have the students hand in their predictions
worksheet so we can use them for next class

minutes
(2:052:20)

Time
10
minutes
(2:202:30)

5
minutes
(2:302:35)

If there is time give them time to discuss each of the objects

in their groups. Do they have the same prediction?

This lesson was planned with my goal in mind (plan enaging

activities that correspond with the curriculum). I moved the
desks before the lesson and when the students came in they
automatically when to where their desk was so I didnt need to

use the A,B,C,D cards. I explained to the class that that I was
going to make their groups but if they could behave in their
groups then they would be allowed to stay where they were. I
started the video Ups and Downs for the second time. The first
time that we watched it we paused and discussed important
buoyancy points. This time when we watched it I handed back
their worksheets that they had filled out and told the students
that if there was anything that they wanted to add while
watching the video again that they could. The students were
engaged during the video the entire time and there were no
problems at all. In the future when showing videos in lower
elemenaty I will most likely show the movie twice to reinforace
the main points. The video took the whole first class which was
longer than I had planned for. Inbetween classes the students go
outside for recess. During recess I filled the tubs of water and put
the objects for each testing center on the desks. This took the
entire recess so when doing this in the future I would have to be
sure to do it during a time when I had them time to do the setup. Before the students went out for recess I explained that
when they came back in there is going to be water tubs and
objects on their desks. I told the students that when they came
in that they were to sit on the desks quietly. I also said that they
were not allowed to play with any of the objects until they
receive directions from me. I said that if anybody was fooling
around with the materials they might not be able to participate
in the actvitiy. As soon as a said this I asked myself if I would
really have someone sit out on this activity because it was an
important concept for them to understand. When they came in
from recess everyone was really good about sitting in their desks
and not playing with the materials. There was only one group
who started to play with the materials. I took a stick away from

them (sticks are used as their classroom management) and they

were very well behaved afterwards. There was 6 stations and
each group had 3 minutes at each stationthis turned out to be
plenty of time especially by the end. I put the timer on the board
and walked around the class talking with students about the
objects. Once the timer went off I would shut off the lights and
the students would rotate desks clockwise. This worked very well
and there were no problems during the transitions at all. This
surprised me a bit as transitions are usually the times where we
have problems with the grade 2s. Once each group was done at
all of the stations there was about 8 minutes left of class. This
activity took longer than I had expected. We had the students sit
in their desks and have a contest to see which group could be
the quietest. We went around and dried off the desks and put
away the water and materials. We didnt have time for the last
activity that I had planned for the class. I am just going to move
the next activity to the next class. We also didnt have time to
complete the exit slip.
If I were to do this again what would I change?
1. have them on the floor so the water wouldnt make their desks
all wet and so they couldnt bump the desks which would make
the water spill
2. plan time for clean-up and bring towels for a quick cleanup
3. improve the timing for my next lesson

Name: __________________________
1. Name one object you thought would float?
_________________________

2. Why did you think that object would float?

__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__
3. Write down one object that we didnt talk about today that you
would like to test in water.
_____________________________________________

Name: __________________________
1. Name one object you thought would sink?
_________________________
2. Why did you think that object would sink?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__
3. Write down one object that we didnt talk about today that you
would like to test in water.
_____________________________________________