Title: Float Your Boat Subject: Science and Math Grades: K2 Concept: Students will learn about the

motion of boats in water. Learning Objectives: Describe how different model boats move through water. Describe how the shape of a boat affects its motion. Teacher Background: Boats are able to float on the water because of displacement. When the boat is lowered onto the water, it displaces a certain volume of water. The water beneath the boat will then push up on the boat with a force equal to the weight of the water that was displaced. If the weight of the submerged portion of the boat is greater than the weight of an equal volume of water, the boat will sink. While the materials that make up a boat are often heavier than water, they are usually offset by a large amount of air inside the boat. A boats ability to float is referred to as its buoyancy. The shape of a boat affects the amount of water it displaces as well as the amount of air that can fit inside the boat, and this therefore affects its buoyancy. A boats shape can also affect how a boat moves through the water. Boats with a narrow shape and pointed bow are able to cut through the water with a minimum amount of resistance. This allows them to travel smoothly through the water. A canoe is an example of this type of boat. By contrast, boats like barges, which have a square bow (front), encounter more resistance as they move through the water, so they require more power to move. In this lesson, students will explore how different boats move in natural bodies of water by constructing simple boat models and observing how they move in a tub of water. They will use their observations to create diagrams that explain how the shape of a boat is related to the way it moves through the water. Materials: 5 images of different boats (canoe, sailboat, barge, ferry, rowboat) 45 plastic tubs (preferably long and narrow), filled with water. If resources are available, use a stream table. Pre-made simple clay models of four boat shapes (small and narrow, large and with a narrow bow, large and square, small with a narrow bow). You
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may also use simple store-bought boat models. Each plastic tub should have one of each boat model. Paper cutouts of boat shapes that correspond to clay model boats Construction paper Glue

Vocabulary: Bow Buoyancy

Timing: Approximately four 20-minute class periods Class 1: o Lesson: 20 minutes Class 2 and 3: o Activity: 40 minutes Class 4: o Wrap-up: 20 minutes Lesson: 1. Begin by asking students if they have ever been on a boat or observed a boat as it moves through water. Encourage students to share their experiences and observations about the size and shape of the boat with the class. Was it a small boat, like a rowboat? Or a large boat, like a ferry? Define the word bow as the very front of the boat. Ask students to describe the shape of the bow of the boat they were on/in. Was the bow pointed? Was it square? As students describe the boats theyve seen or traveled on, draw the shapes they describe on the board. 2. Next, show the class pictures of different kinds of boats, one at a time. Ask students to describe each boat in terms of size and shape. Note: they may need to use cues from the picture to determine the size of the boat. Ask them questions to guide their observations: How many people do you think could fit on this boat? What shape is it? What shape is the bow? Have students respond to these questions for each picture. Students should view images of 45 different boats. 3. Then, ask students how they think the size and shape of a boat affect how the boat moves through the water. Show students the boat pictures again, and have them predict whether each boat will move through the water quickly or slowly, easily or with difficulty. Tell students that boats of different sizes and shapes will move through the water differently. Encourage students to reference their own experiences in boats when possible. Note: some large boats move very quickly (for example, a pontoon moves faster than a canoe), but these boats have motors that
Do not conduct any activity without adult supervision. This content is provided for informational purposes only. Discovery Education and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation assume no liability for your use of the information. Published by Discovery Education. 2010. All rights reserved.

allow them to move quickly. These boats have motors because it takes more energy to move them through the water. 4. Summarize student observations and predictions on the board, using standard boat shapes and sizes as a guide. Draw a small square boat, a large square boat, a small narrow boat, and a large narrow boat on the board. If there were boats of other distinct shapes and sizes that students described (rowboats and ferries have pointed bows and square backs), draw those on the board as well. Go through and identify the shape of each boat on the board, and summarize student predictions about how each boat will move through the water. 5. Explain to students that they will experiment with different boat models to determine how the size and shape of a boat affect how the boat moves through water. Activity: 1. Begin by modeling the process of predicting how a boat will move through the water. Distribute a chart base to each student, and have students fill it out as you model the process. Re-create the chart base on the board. Pick up one boat and show it to the class. Draw a picture of the shape of the boat in the appropriate column of the chart. Make observations about the boat. For example, students may observe: This boat is really small and has a pointed bow. Write this observation in the next column of the chart. Then, predict how the boat will move through the water. For example, students may predict: I think this boat will move through the water easily. A push through the water will make it go all the way across the plastic tub. Write this prediction in the next column of the chart. 2. Then, set a boat at one end of the tub filled with water, and give it a gentle push with your hand to make it move across the tub. Explain to students that the pushes should be the same for all boats so that students can see how they travel differently. Students should always use one hand to push the boat gently in the water. Write observations about how the boat moves (e.g., easily, slowly, quickly) in the appropriate column on the chart. 3. Then, divide students into groups so that no more than four students are at a tub. Have groups take turns making a prediction about how their boat will move through the water, and write each groups prediction on the board. Then, have each group take turns pushing their boats gently through the water. Add each groups observations about how their boat model moved through the water next to the groups original predictions on the board. 4. After students have made observations about each boat model, have each group share how the boats moved through the water. Summarize student findings on the board. 5. Create a simple graph that represents the comparative motion of each boat. Distribute paper cutouts of each boat model, a single piece of blue construction paper, and a glue stick to each group. Explain to students
Do not conduct any activity without adult supervision. This content is provided for informational purposes only. Discovery Education and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation assume no liability for your use of the information. Published by Discovery Education. 2010. All rights reserved.

that the construction paper represents the tub of water. Use the paper cutouts to represent how far each boat moved through the water. Model the process of constructing the graph. Mark the bottom of the paper as the beginning of the tub, and the top of the paper as the end of the tub. Have students do the same with their pieces of paper. 6. Look at each paper cutout and recount how far the corresponding boat traveled. Say, This small boat traveled all the way across the tub, so I am going to glue it all the way at the end of my construction paper. Ask students to help direct you in the placement of the rest of the boat cutouts, and glue them in the appropriate places on the construction paper at the front of the room as students do the same with their own cutouts and construction paper. Wrap-up: 1. Once students have finished their simple graphs, discuss the conclusions they can come to about the relationship between boat shape, boat size, and the motion of the boat through the water. Ask: What type of boat went the farthest? What boat did not go very far? Which boat shapes moved more quickly? Which boat sizes moved more slowly? Students should be able to describe the relationship between boat shape, boat size, and the motion of the boat through the water. They should observe that wide boats with flat, square fronts move more slowly through the water, while narrow boats with pointed fronts move more quickly through the water. 2. Give students a real-life scenario to get them thinking about how their models apply to the real world. For example, ask students what kind of boat they should use in order to move quickly across the water. Prompt students by having them think about the shape of the boats in the activity that moved the quickest. Then, ask what kinds of boats in the real world have similar shapes. (Students should note that a thin, narrow boat, such as a canoe or kayak, would move quickly through the water.) Allow students to sketch a drawing of their real-world boat. Students should be sure to label the different characteristics of the boat that allow it to move quickly. (For example, if students draw a canoe, they should note that it is narrow and pointed.) Students should also defend their sketches using the results of the investigation. For example, students can justify drawing a pointed boat by stating that all of the pointed boat models traveled the quickest through the water during the investigation. Extensions: Science: Students construct small boats from natural materials and observe their motion on local bodies of water. Students can experiment with the material, size, and shape of the boats by creating multiple boats and changing only a single variable.

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Social Science: Students make observations about how boats help people (transportation, shipping, fishing, etc.). Encourage them to make connections between the boat shape and how it is used.

Standards: Physical Science Position and Motion of Objects: The position of an object can be described by locating it relative to another object or the background. Position and Motion of Objects: 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 the pull. Math Geometry: Describe, name, and interpret relative positions in space and apply ideas about relative position. Geometry: Describe, name, and interpret direction and distance in navigating space and apply ideas about direction and distance.

Do not conduct any activity without adult supervision. This content is provided for informational purposes only. Discovery Education and the Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation assume no liability for your use of the information. Published by Discovery Education. 2010. All rights reserved.