Sink and Float

Today I noticed E and C were seated on one corner and were having a conversation.  As I was to go outside E came up to me and said "teacher, I’ve seen a big boat that sank on T.V. last night. It was a huge boat!” Then C who were behind E asked “Why did it sink? “It sank because the boat was too big and heavy! E was theorizing about the boat that he saw on television. “Te Whariki states that “Children experience an environment where they develop working theories for making sense of the natural, physical and material world” (Ministry of Education, 1996).

I responded on these children interest by setting up an activity for them. I took the water trough from the shed and invited the children to help me take some of the technological resources that were needed in this activity. They wanted to use the toy boats that were in the shed. I reminded them that there should be no splashing of water and explained that someone can slip and fall on the water that spills on the floor. I stayed close to the children while they were playing and as our centre’s policy to use “touch supervision” this means to have an adult be within an arms length of each of the children.

Many children believe that heavy objects sink and lighter objects float. So I told them that we are going to do an experiment to find out why some objects sink and float. They all put the toys on the water and saw that all the boats were floating. I encourage them to hypothesize why objects sink and float. “Why do you think the boat is floating? “because…it’s light and not heavy” J and M replied. I then told them to find ways to sink the boat. M put a toy pump to weigh the boat down but it was still floating. J waterlog the boat by tipping it over and filling it with water. “The boat sank!” they all exclaimed.

It was enjoyable to watch these children discovering an idea- concept about sink and float. The children learn a little bit about the scientific skills of prediction and observation as they explore the resources, finding ways on how to sink the boat. This learning experience have given them the chance to develop the skills of problem solving, curiousity and communication skills. It also encouraged language and literacy skills and that problem-solving skills developed during science activities can extend to social settings.

Most significantly, this learning experience can foster a positive approach to education by demonstrating that enjoyable features of everyday living-splashing, sorting, talking, watching and playing-are ways to learn (Smorti, 1999).

I believe as an early childhood educator I should provide opportunities for children to have a thoughtful and engaging experiences in Math, Science and Technology and provide children with a much greater access to a wide variety of experiences that will help them make sense of their world (Ministry of Education, 1996).

Reference List

Ministry of Education. (1996). Te Whāriki: He Whāriki Mātauranga mō ngā    mokopuna o Aotearoa. Wellington: Learning Media.

Smorti, S. (1999). Technology in Early Childhood. Early 

       Education, No.19 Autumn 1999.