I was substitute teaching for a “lower school” Science teacher last week and I got assigned Ye Olde Sink/Float lesson.
It’s a good one for multisensory persons. The language is straightforward, you can use recognizable objects and relate to their experience. You can change it around or add stuff or talk about adaptations: Eggs, ice, rocks, pumice…. They can make hypotheses and touch stuff and relate it to their bathtub and swimming pool life. It’s actually pretty great. There are reasons this lesson has stood the test of time.
So, I added this video.
So, the teacher had explained to me that she likes to wrap up class with a dance or something so that they can get some wiggles out. She suggested this one.
Anywho, as I watched each video, I said to my group of tiny people, “Hey! You know what I noticed? Watch for this lady doing this: (and I did my arms in the floss configuration above my head and then down). Now, watch that CBeebies video again…”
Oh Em GOODNESS! So, we watch old Jack again, only this time, we do the “sink sink sink” “float float float” situation. It was amazing. I am dedicated to placing a dance at the end of every preschool lesson I ever do ever. I am totally going to start recommending a dance in the Multisensory Response section. The best part: When I taught class numero dos, I was telling the students to do this dance and I made an actual authentic mistake by telling them to do “sink sink sink” [arms up] and “float float float” [arms down]. A little boy who had been emotional and distracted all lesson said, “Noooo [smiling]. He thought I was testing them on purpose. I was delighted! I was all, “Bravo, [name deleted]!” “I didn’t even know I’d made that mistake! Thank you!”
Screaming success. I will do some sort of tiered lesson soon. It obviously fits into a buoyancy or density lesson. I’ll think about where it falls into large-scale curriculum for more analytical learners or whatever.
Here are some ideas from Teach Engineering:
https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/cub_balloons_lesson01
https://www.teachengineering.org/lessons/view/duk_float_mary_less
Here’s another one. We’re collecting some relationships to some standards.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/teacher-resources/lesson-plans/buoyancy-diver
https://www.ccmr.cornell.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015/11/Buoyancy.pdf
Looks like the field is “Materials Science.”