Lesson Title – Who Sank the Boat?

Subject – Science

Lesson Title – Who Sank the Boat? 1

 Overview Materials
This lesson aims to extend the children’s interest in water play. This lesson also  ‘Who Sank the Boat? (Pamela
relates to the previous lesson ‘Five Little Ducks’, during which children poured Allen)
water down a pipe to make a rubber duck at the bottom float to the top. During
this lesson children will be introduced to the concepts of ‘floating’ and ‘sinking’,  A range of objects such as a cork,
crayon, cotton ball, feather, small
which describe the density or buoyancy of objects in water. There are objects in
plastic toy boat, metal toy car, plastic
our environment that sink in water whereas others float. This lesson will increase
Easter egg, paper, plastic straw,
interest in these concepts as children participate in a sink or float experiment to outdoor twigs, small bars of soap, a
predict and observe which way different objects go. small balloon (blown up), and
crumpled ball of aluminum foil etc.

Rationale  Bowl of water

Children are more likely to become confident and involved learners when their
 Whiteboard and markers
interests, experiences and understandings are recognized and included in the early
childhood setting. This assists them to make connections and to make sense of
new experiences. Connections and continuity between learning experiences in Objectives
different settings make learning more meaningful and increase children’s feelings
EYLF Outcome 4: Children are confident
of belonging. Children develop understandings of themselves and their world
and involved learners.
through active, hands-on investigation. Active involvement in learning builds
children’s understandings of concepts and the creative thinking and inquiry  Children develop dispositions for
processes that are necessary for lifelong learning. learning such as curiosity,
cooperation, confidence, creativity,
Activities commitment, enthusiasm,
persistence, imagination and
1. Transition – nursery rhymes and songs. reflexivity.
2. Read the book ‘Who Sank the Boat’ to the children.  Children develop a range of skills and
3. Ascertain prior knowledge – ask the children if they know what it means to processes such as problem solving,
sink or float. Relate these concepts to swimming in a pool or bathing in a inquiry, experimentation,
bathtub. Talk about why some objects float and some do not. When an object hypothesizing, researching and
stays on top of the water, we say it floats. When an object goes to the bottom investigating.
of the water, we say it sinks.  Children transfer and adapt what they
4. Introduce the term ‘experiment’. Help the children to understand that when have learned from one context to
we try things out to see if our ideas are correct, this is called an experiment. another.
Tell the children that they will be doing an experiment to see which items
float in the water and which ones sink.
5. Provide a range of objects. Talk about what the objects are made of.
6. Set up a large bowl filled with water. Place some of the objects in the water
and observe whether they float or sink.
7. Chart the findings. Emphasise the fact that it's not the size of the object that
determines whether it will sink or float, the importance is what the object is
made of.
8. Transition - one-by-one, have the children pick an object and predict whether
it will sink or float. Place the object on top of the water and observe what
happens.

Adaptations and Extensions

Lesson Title – Who Sank the Boat? 2

 This lesson challenges the often-held misconception that things sink because they
are heavy. Part of early science is for children to build on their existing
understanding and to be challenged. This is not about saying ‘no, that’s not right’
when they offer their theory about why something happens, but for educators to
offer extensions to the activity to take that understanding forward and to
challenge their thinking. Possible extensions to this lesson include:

 Give each child a sheet of paper with a bowl of water outlined on the sheet.
Ask the children to draw pictures of the objects that were placed into the
bowl of water. Draw pictures of objects that float at the top of the water line
and objects that sink down at the bottom of the bowl.
 Another fun activity is to try to sink a floating toy boat. Invite the children to
watch the toy boat float on the water surface and then add other objects that
will weigh the boat and make it sink.
 A really fun way for children to explore floating and sinking as part of their
ongoing play and investigation is to have children make wooden rafts. Show
the children how to weave pipe cleaners in and out of twigs and sticks to
create wooden rafts. Let the children explore floating their wooden rafts in
water. Have a competition to see who can get the most pebbles on their raft
before it sinks.

This lesson could also facilitate discussion about water pollution and the
importance of disposing of waste items correctly. For example, plastic bags may
float on top of the water and birds may become entangled in them. This relates to
the EYLF Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world.
This extension activity helps children to become socially responsible and show
respect for the environment.

Lesson Title – Who Sank the Boat? 3