Sinking and Floating

 In Kinder we have been exploring the concept of Sinking and Floating and learning about what affects an object’s buoyancy. This was explored first through a small experiment where we tested to see if an orange floats with its peel on, and then tested the orange with its peel off. We discovered that even though an orange is lighter without its peel, it is the peel that helps it to float because of the small pockets of air all over it. This was a great experiment to help explain some of the reason behind why very large and heavy object can float.

 The students experimented with objects from their environment and made predictions about whether they thought the object would sink or float. The class then had a challenge to each make a boat that would float from materials of their choice. They did a wonderful job at explaining why they chose their particular materials and also how this would affect their boat’s buoyancy.