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Challenges with Sinkers; Insights
 Lesson
at a Glance:
Curriculum: Education Development Center, Insights, Liquids Unit
Grade: Third
Topic: Challenges with Sinkers
Nearing the end of their study of the EDC Insights "Liquids" unit,
Monique's third graders are attempting to make shapes from two materials
that sink slowly — aluminum foil and clay. Prior to this lesson,
the last of five on floating and sinking, the students had experimented
with a variety of materials that sink and float in three different liquids.
In this lesson, Monique encouraged the class to manipulate all of the possible
variables in order to make "slow sinkers" out of the foil and
clay. In the process, the students revealed many of the ideas that are
common to children of their age group, about the role of air and the placement
and position of the object in rising and sinking. After the lesson, Monique
commented, “What surprised me was that by this lesson, through keeping
extensive journals with diagrams and text, my students were able to interact
with the materials in a systematic manner, and engage with each other with
very little modeling. Going forward from this lesson they will have had
a wealth of experience with the macroscopic properties and behaviors of
different materials in liquids.”
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