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The article I read was “Will It Float” by Dan Vincent, Darlinda Cassel, and Jeanie Milligan. The article begins with how the idea for the article came about. Fifth graders were sorting candy... See More
The article I read was “Will It Float” by Dan Vincent, Darlinda Cassel, and Jeanie Milligan. The article begins with how the idea for the article came about. Fifth graders were sorting candy bars such as Snickers and Three Musketeers by predictions of weights. After weighing the candy bars, students were shocked that the Snickers bars weighted more than the Three Musketeers bar, even though the Three Musketeers bar is larger. The fifth graders found it mind-boggling that smaller objects can weigh more than larger objects.
The authors of this article developed a lesson for students to learn more about mass, volume, and density. The activities that went along with the lesson incorporated the 5E Learning Model. The 5 “E’s” are: Engage, Explore, Explain, Extend, and Evaluate. For the first “E” Engage, students went through four centers that allowed them to observe and feel items in order to make a prediction. They had to decide if the materials such as wood, pumice rock, steel spheres, and a Cartesian Diver (made from a two liter bottle and glass dropper) would either sink or float. Their predictions were to be recorded on a worksheet. The sinking of the South American tree wood, Lignum Vitae, let the students know that there are some types of wood that do sink (Vincent, Cassel, & Milligan, 2008). Next, students explored with an activity measuring eight different objects. Students had time to think by classifying into two lists which objects would float or sink. After students made their predictions, they calculated the mass and volume of each object and calculated the volume displacement.
For Explain, students presented their data findings to the class. Students had to work with their group members to create a graph of the data and explain how they calculated mass, volume and density. The fourth “E” Extend was applied when the sink-or-float activity solidified student thinking. The last “E” Evaluate allows teachers to assess student understanding of the concept. Questions asked by the teacher let the teacher know which students had a hard time with the investigation. Teachers can use that information to reteach mass, volume, and density if needed.
Reference
Vincent, D. , Cassel, D. , & Milligan, J. (2008). Will It Float? Science and Children, February, 36-39.