English Teacher Adriaan Louw
Water, water, everywhere, but not a drop to drink…. Or at least, don’t drink this water, its part of your test!
For the midterm project, grade 5 students tackled the ideas of buoyancy, density, volume, gravity, and how they all interact to explain the behavior of objects around them. The focus was especially on how objects behave in water, and how someone with the right understanding could manipulate things to get different results.
With a little guidance, and a lot of hands on experimentation, the grade 5 students took everyday materials like play dough and chopsticks, and turned them into boats that not only floated for at least 10 minutes, but they also carried surprisingly heavy loads. Let’s take a look at the process they followed.
As with all KCFS projects, the first lessons are an opportunity for students to learn about the background and vocabulary related to what they will study. This is often the first time students see applicable science terms in English, so it is necessary to ensure later success. Ask any student to explain mass and weight to you, and you are likely to be greatly amused.
After the necessary background is in place, students move on into the ask phase. At this point, they are introduced to a scenario and a problem. For this project, the problem posed is create a boat for rivers and lakes, and the challenge is to achieve this using materials that aren’t necessary ideal choices.
Armed with the background and the task, students must move onto coming up with solutions and then researching relevant information. Discussion, Chromebooks, books, pictures, and videos all come into play here. Research is free, as long as it is on target, to allow for all students to have an opportunity to excel.
The next two steps go hand in hand and are often the most fun. Students build a boat, and then test it. First to see if it will float, and next, to squeals of laughter, what it takes to make it sink. Using the brave Science Bears*, boats are loaded until they fail.
Finally, after all the cleaning is done and results are recorded, students take stock of their process, plan, and results. They discuss opportunities for improving their designs based on their outcomes, and finally present the whole process to their peers.
*Science Bears are tiny plastic bears that weigh between 3- 12 grams depending on size. They selflessly sacrifice themselves to further scientific research in various ways during KCFS classes. Learn more in the other project newsletters!
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