Sink or Swim Slides
Sink or Swim
The Science of Floating
Prediction Time
🪨
A Heavy Rock
Sink? Float?
🦆
A Rubber Duck
Sink? Float?
Let's test them in our water bin!
Science Movie Time
Embedded media
Get ready to pause for big questions!
PAUSE AT 0:44
The Bathtub Question
"Have you ever noticed the water move when you jump in a pool or a bath? Where does the water go?"
🛁
This is called DISPLACEMENT!
Lab Step 1
1
Take your small square of Aluminum Foil.
2
Crumple it into a tight, heavy ball.
3
Drop it in the water. Does it sink or float?
🔘
PAUSE AT 2:03
Marble Guess!
Boat A
?? Marbles
Boat B
?? Marbles
Which design will win?
Lab Step 2
1
Take a new, flat square of Aluminum Foil.
2
Shape it into a bowl or a boat.
3
Place it gently on the water. Does it float now?
Big Discovery
A ball is small and sinks because it doesn't move enough water aside.
A boat is wide and floats because it pushes away LOTS of water!
Sink or Swim Worksheet
Sink or Swim
Name:
Date:
My Predictions
Circle what you think will happen!
🪨 Rock
Sink
Float
🦆 Duck
Sink
Float
My Foil Experiment
Draw what happened in the water bin.
The Foil Ball
The Foil Boat
Big Discovery
What did you learn today? (Write or draw)
Sink or Swim Teacher Guide
Teacher Guide
Sink or Swim: 1st Grade Science
Duration
45 Minutes
Subject
Physical Science
Topic
Displacement & Buoyancy
Materials Checklist
Lesson Procedure
1
Warm-up: Predictions (5 min)
Show a rock and a rubber duck. Ask students to vote on which will float. Test them in the water bin. Discuss results and introduce the core question: Why do some things float and others sink?
2
Video & Discussion (10 min)
Watch the SciShow Kids video. Use the slides to manage pause points:
- 0:44: Discuss the bathtub analogy. Ask: "Where does the water go?"
- 1:41: Ask: "Which boat design do you think will work better? Why?"
- 2:03: Ask students to guess how many marbles the boat will hold.
- 2:30: Discuss: "Why did one hold more? What was different about the shape?"
3
Main Activity: Foil Challenge (20 min)
Hands-on experimentation with foil shapes:
"Can you turn the same piece of foil from a sinker into a floater?"
- Students crumple a foil square into a ball and test it (Sinks).
- Students shape a new square into a boat/bowl and test it (Floats).
4
Reflection & Drawing (10 min)
Students complete the worksheet, drawing their ball and boat results. Facilitate a final discussion: The boat floats because its shape pushes more water aside than the ball!
Key Vocabulary
Displacement
Moving water out of the way to make room for an object.
Experiment
A scientific test to discover or prove something.