Introduction:

Stimulate the children's thinking by having them to first give their prior knowledge about things that sink and float.
 

Materials:

Small plastic baggies, several small tubs filled with water (as needed), corks, pencils, paper clips, crayons, twigs of wood, marbles, plastic spoons, several bars of soap and a record sheet for each science team.
 

Procedures:

Give each group a record sheet and a tub of water (try not to have more than three children in each group). Then give each group a small baggie filled with a cork, pencil, paper clip, crayon, twig or wood, marble, plastic spoon and a bar of soap.  Ask the students to make predictions of which items that they think will sink and which items that they think will float.

During the experiment and record portion, have the students in the science groups to take turns dropping each object into their container of water.  Ask them to observe what happens. Instruct them to complete the Sink or Float Record Sheet.  Have the students to discuss as a total class why certain things sunk while other did not.
 

Have students open their Field Notes and record what happened during the experiment.

Ask Earl a question about sinking and floating, then play Sing or Float at Nick Jr. 

Home Learning:

Have the students to design and create a vehicle that floats. Inform them to use materials that they can find around their homes. All designs are to be brought back to school to be explained and tested.

Evaluation: 

Give each student a worksheet with pictures of each of the experiment items.  Have them to cut and paste them correctly on individual science posters labeled "Sink or Float".

Extension: Story Tree

• Have students write a story about an amphibian using a story tree
• Using desktop publishing draw, create a tree template with eight lines, the first line being the shortest and each line getting longer to accommodate words
• Follow the directions
• Write
  line 1. the name of the amphibian
  line 2. two words of who are enemies of the amphibian
  line 3. three words of who are friends of the amphibian
  line 4. four words about what the animal eats
  line 5. five words that describe what he looks like
  line 6. six words that tell about its babies
  line 7. seven words that describe where the animal lives
  line 8. eight words on how it hides from its enemies
• Proofread, spell check, print
• Share with class

Field Trip:

Take the students to visit a local pond. Observe the pond life that dwells on top of the water and that that dwells on the bottom. Students will complete a Pond Life Record of Field Trip.

Resources:

Boardman, Christine. Better Than Book Reports. Scholastic: New York. 1992.