Students kit Floating and sinking
This kit allows children to observe the essential phenomena of floating and sinking.
The key experiments are based on “boats” that the children can make from two sorts of plasticine: One sort is lighter than water and therefore floats whereas the other one is heavier than water and usually sinks unless it is moulded into a shape that can float.
The box also contains balls and a cube made of materials used in the building of ships and boats: wood, steel, aluminium and plastic.
Scales can be used to determine the apparent reduction in weight experienced by a body when it is immersed in water.
All phenomena are examined separately in comprehensible experiments:
The carrying capacity of ships, the displacement of a body suspended in water, the buoyancy and the surface tension of water.
Teacher’s manual ‘Experiments in workstations: Floating and sinking’
With copy templates covering 14 workstations.
Age 9-10
Materials for up to 14 workstations (for 28 children at least)
Technical specifications
Size of kit: 540 x 450 x 150 mm
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1 - Introduction 2: How to use plasticine for experiments
experiment "Introduction 2: How to use plasticine for experiments"
The main goal of this tutorial is the ability to divide the dough into equal portions in the box.
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2 - Workstation 1: Why does light plasticine float?
experiment "Workstation 1: Why does light plasticine float?"
The children fill mini cups with water and modeling clay of different weights. You watch what happens to the putty.
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3 - Workstation 2: What makes some balls of plasticine float?
experiment "Workstation 2: What makes some balls of plasticine float?"
The children form balls of different sizes from the two types of play dough and drop them into the water after they have determined the mass with the scales.
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4 - Workstation 3: What are ships and boats made of?
experiment "Workstation 3: What are ships and boats made of?"
The learning outcome from working on station 3 lies in the realization that hardly any ship floats anymore because the material from which it was built also does. In addition, the children learn to name the materials and can – in a simple context – give examples of ships and boats.
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5 - Workstation 4: What does a ball do to the water it is in?
experiment "Workstation 4: What does a ball do to the water it is in?"
Here the children find out that all balls of the same size displace the same amount of water, regardless of their mass!
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6 - Workstation 5: How to make heavy plasticine float
experiment "Workstation 5: How to make heavy plasticine float"
The children form a portion of modeling clay – which is a low cylinder at the beginning – first into a cube, then into a/one... and keep putting it into the water - no body floats. Only the hollow, bowl-shaped body floats.
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7 - Workstation 6: Comparing two ships
experiment "Workstation 6: Comparing two ships"
The children can easily see the reason why the amounts of clay must be the same, even if they reason with terms like "fair". Here, in conversations, there is a good opportunity to propaedeutically discuss the conditions under which scientific experiments become meaningful.
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8 - Workstation 7: Launching a ship and loading it
experiment "Workstation 7: Launching a ship and loading it"
The children realize that the ship is already displacing water when you put it in the water and even more when you load it.
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9 - Workstation 8: When do ships sink?
experiment "Workstation 8: When do ships sink?"
The children like to deal with sinking and find at least the possibilities mentioned in the "solution hiding place". Some of the terms mentioned there are new to many students (leak, capsize, fill with water).
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10 - Workstation 9: Does water have secret powers?
experiment "Workstation 9: Does water have secret powers?"
If we hang the two weights in the water on the "fishing rod" - what will happen? Will there be a difference?
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11 - Workstation 10: What keeps ships afloat?
experiment "Workstation 10: What keeps ships afloat?"
We will shortly provide you with a description of the experiment at this point.
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12 - Workstation 11: The pond skater’s trick
experiment "Workstation 11: The pond skater’s trick"
This beetle's "trick" is to use the surface tension of water. As the children find out in their experiments with thin discs of different sizes made of "heavy" modeling clay, we also succeed in this "trick".
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13 - Workstation 12: Whose ship can carry the biggest load?
experiment "Workstation 12: Whose ship can carry the biggest load?"
We will shortly provide you with a description of the experiment at this point.
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14 - Workstation 13: Make your own container ship
experiment "Workstation 13: Make your own container ship"
We will shortly provide you with a description of the experiment at this point.
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15 - Workstation 14: From dugout to container ship
experiment "Workstation 14: From dugout to container ship"
We will shortly provide you with a description of the experiment at this point.
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16 - Notes on conclusion 2: Our teacher does an experiment for us
experiment "Notes on conclusion 2: Our teacher does an experiment for us"
We will shortly provide you with a description of the experiment at this point.
- 1 × Paperclip
- 12 × Plastic beaker, 250 ml, with scale
- 3 × Teaspoon
- 5 × Dial balance, 100 g
- 1 × Pack of light plasticine
- 12 × Mat
- 1 × Packet of heavy modelling clay, red
- 12 × Water dish
- 3 × Plastic ball, PP, 25 mm Ø
- 3 × Plastic ball, POM, 25 mm Ø
- 3 × Ball, nickel-plated steel
- 3 × Wooden ball, 25 mm Ø
- 1 × Overflow beaker
- 2 × Plastic box 140/50/35 mm
