Cultural Studies: Science (sinking and floating)

Children are always extra-excited to engage in activities that involve water – there’s just something about getting wet, even if only a little, which is why they go bananas for our science lesson on ‘sinking and floating’. Have a look at the below tutorial by My Montessori Works to give you an idea of the activity in practice:

This is one of the first lessons in the science area, and can easily be replicated at home. What you’ll need for this experiment is; a jug, a large container to fill with water, a range of objects that will either float or sink (some ideas: a rock, bottle top, wooden peg, ice-lolly stick, feather, coin, key, gem stone, button, shell, leaf etc.) and then two containers in which to sort the objects.

Involve your child in the experiment by allowing him to fill the jug with water and carry it over to the learning area, and then fill the container with water. There might be some spillage but it’s all part of the learning process – simply encourage your child to clean up! And then as you do the experiment; engage your child by asking him to think about whether each object is likely to float. Depending on the age of your child, there may be some ensuing discussion on the weight, size and material the each object is made of and how this might influence its ability to float.

Once you’ve chatted, discussed and even repeated parts of the exercise, remember that packing the materials away is an important part of the activity.

If you’d like further information about this tutorial, feel free to contact us at info@saintandrewsmontessori.com. We’re happy to answer any questions.

Photo by Montessoriandme