STEM throughout the year- Unit 4 Sink and Float

STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. (This acronym can also be spelled “STEAM” in which the “A” stands for art.)

This packet is full of fun, hands-on, innovative STEM activities that your preschool, kindergarten, and first grade students are sure to love.

Why STEM?
As educators we are tasked with preparing the next generation for jobs that may not even be created yet. Students need to be able to work collaboratively with their peers and be able to problem solve. STEM offers students the opportunity to work on these skills.

STEM provides students with open-ended activities where they can go through the process of defining a problem, brainstorming a possible solution, planning, creating, and improving on their plan. This process helps prepare our students for their futures in fun and innovative ways.

How Does This Packet Work?
This packet is part four of a ten part series. Each unit is meant to span over the course of an entire month. Therefore, students can revisit the activities and improve upon their thoughts/plan. (You can also choose to use the lessons as stand alone activities.)

This packet is geared to help students think as engineers as well as physicists. Students will explore the simple concept of what sinks and what floats. However, through a series of experiments and explorations, students will get a brief introduction to physics and molecules. Students will begin to understand how buoyancy works and also weight distribution.

This month students will explore what makes objects sink and what makes objects float. They will complete a series of investigations to solidify their findings. This month’s STEM activities culminate with students creating their own version of the Mayflower. They will try to create a boat that can successfully hold 102 pony beads (one bead for each passenger that traveled on the Mayflower).

Activities:
1. Students will experiment with why objects sink or float.

2. Do all fruits float?

3. Lego challenge- Can you create a Lego boat that floats?

4. Tinfoil challenge- Can you create a boat out of tinfoil that floats?

5. Recycled Object Boats- Can you create a cargo ship (like the Mayflower) out of recycled items that floats?

In this packet you will find fully written out lesson plans, posters, activities, recording pages, and extensions to use during an entire month. These activities are perfect for fun Friday experiments, STEM labs, and science and art extensions.

Please look at the preview to get a better understanding of how this pack is set up and what is included. Your students will LOVE these lessons and activities.