We had predicted that buoyancy would be an outcome. One of our driving questions was, "Do you think it will sink, or float? Why? Explain your thinking." ( ... or some variation of this inquiry). And true to their own curiosity, the children made observations.
"The apples float."
"All the rocks sank."
"The leaf floats. Now it's sinking!"
"Yesterday the cones were floating. Today they sinking."
And more exploration occurred...
"When the rock is ON the leaf, it sinks."
"When the cone is on the leaf, it sinks slowly."
When attempting to explain their understanding of buoyancy, one child predicted that a stick would sink, "Because it is heavy." They were surprised when it floated. We determined that weight is not the only determining factor for buoyancy.
While exploring at the water table, one of the children noticed that the pine cone had undergone some changes. At this point, the pine cone had been in the water for about 30 minutes when he said, "The things are coming up."
I had to ask some more questions to get to the bottom of what he was saying. The 'things' were the scales of the pine cone. I had to look that up! I did not have the vocabulary for the spiny parts of a pine cone, until that day! Scales. They called 'scales'. [ More on this in a later post ...]
We continued to predict, and explore. We recorded our data, and called ourselves Scientists.
I continue to be amazed at the insights and the connections made in class. One activity can branch out, and lead us down several different paths. From this buoyancy experiment, we were led to explore the many materials and items that come from trees. There is never a dull moment at the atelier!
Thank you for dropping by! It's good to be back!
