Float vs.

Sink
Build a Boat
Experiment
5E-Lesson Plan
Susu Saba and Julia Peshenko
Professor Kim
ELED 305

Background
Information
Grade Level: 5th grade, 21 students
Time: 20 minutes
NGSS Standards: 5-PS2-1. Support an argument that the
gravitational force exerted by Earth on objects is
directed down. (Clarification Statement: Down is a
local description of the direction that points toward the
center of the spherical Earth.) (Assessment Boundary:
Assessment does not include mathematical
representation of gravitational force.)

Course Objectives
Students will:
1. Build and construct their own floating boat.
2. Test their boats to see how long it can float while adding weight to
it.
3. Hypothesis and predict how long it will float and how many objects
they will use to let it float the longest.
4. Compare and contrast between the materials they use.
5. Make predictions about their floating boat.
6. Draw conclusions and discover the end results about floating vs.
sinking objects.
7. Summarize what they did and write it in their Scientist Journals.
8. Enjoy building their boat out of creative materials.

Material
To build the boat: Tin foil, straws, card board, tape,
popsicle sticks, sponges, rubber bands.
To test the boat: marbles
Extra materials: small clear container of water,
towels, pencils, scissors, and Class worksheets
and handouts.

Engagement
What properties or characteristics determine
whether an object will float or sink?
Ask them about what happens when you go
swimming?
What happens when you bring toys in the bathtub?
What types of toys float?
What types of toys sink?

Engagement
Lets take a look at these materials: pencil, paper clip,
scissors, rubber band, marble, etc.
Which of these objects do you think will float?
Which ones will sink?
KWL chart.
Vocabulary words WTM Chart

KWL Chart
K:
What I KNOW

W:
What I WANT to Know
know

L:
What I LEARNED

WTM Chart
W: WORD
Matter
Physical Properties
Mass
Weight
Solid
Liquid
Buoyancy
Gravity
Equilibrium
Density

T: What you THINK it means

M: What is MEANS

Vocabulary
1. Matter: Anything that has mass and takes up space.
2. Physical Properties: how something looks, feels, smells, tastes, or sounds.
3. Mass: the amount of matter in an object, objects mass always stays the same, can
be measured using a balance. (different from weight)
4. Weight: is the amount of gravity pulling on an object down, measured using a
scale.
5. Solid: has the shape of their own. They usually keep their shapes and they take
up a certain amount of space. The atoms in a solid are packed together. Some
solids sink in water, and some float.
6. Liquid: have no shape of their own. They fit the shape of their container. They take
up certain amount of space. They flow like: water, juice, soft drinks, syrup.
7. Buoyancy: upward force of fluid that pushes an object up.
8. Gravity: the downward force that pulls objects to the Earths surface.
9. Equilibrium: when objects and forces are in a state of balance.
10.Density: the amount of some thing per unit volume, unit area, or unit length.

Exploration
In your groups I want you to think like scientists for 2
minutes.
What makes a boat float?
What materials are boats made of?
Can you name more than one type of boats?
What do each boat have in common?
What do you notice about the shape of the boats?

BOATS

Explanation
Pass out the directions to the experiment, follow along as we
read.
Please assigned a role in each group: Leader, Clean up
helpers, Note taker, and Material person.
One material person from each group come up to collect
their items they will use to build their boats.
Begin building your boats and fill out worksheet!

Extension
Be CREATIVE!
Make it look nice!
Sketch out the boat before!
Use what you learned to help you build the best floating
boat!
Come up with a name for your boat.
Hypothesis, how many marbles can your boat hold before it
sinks?
And work on your Floating vs. Sinking worksheet.

Evaluation
Lets test out your beautiful boats!
Pick one person to come up to the front to add
weight to your boat.
The ship that floats the longest and has the most
marbles is the winner!

Evaluation
Mini recap discussion.
Take out your scientist journals and answer these
questions:
What did you learn in todays lesson?
What did you like or didnt about the experiment?
How could you have made your boat float longer?
What new words did you learn today?

Resources/Reference
s
Tretter, R. (2000). Sink or float? Nursing Management
(Springhouse), 31(10), 113-121. doi: 10.1097/00006247200010000-00005