Float

Morning Group:

When I saw the book, 'Float' by Daniel Miyares in the library the other day, I thought it would be a great one to explore on a gloomy day. Well, that was today!

Anyone could read the book because there were no words, but the pictures stirred our imaginations about a boy and his paper boat.

So, of course we had to make our own! There were instructions in the book cover and some of us tried out our own designs as well. 

We went down to the beach, where the wind and waves were busy! There was a stream coming from a storm drain that we tried our boats out in. Many got waterlogged pretty quickly, but it was still fun!

We made sure to not leave any paper behind when the boats sank or fell apart!



Some of the group went for a paddle in the sea while others worked together to create a dam.



A few children said that with the wind today, it would have been perfect for flying kites instead. If such a day comes again, that's definitely what we will do! Still, floating boats was still fun.

Ideas for home:
- Can you make a stronger boat design - perhaps one that can carry a small waterproof toy for a ride? On our last day of term, (December 17th), we want to have a beach day together, where the afternoon group will test out the rafts they have been building all term. We could also have a small boat course for any boats you make for toys. (Plus, if it's sunny, we can have a swim, make sandcastles, have a picnic lunch and enjoy our last day together on the beach.)

Afternoon Group:

A big challenge today - making 'cocktails' - trying to get different colours to sit on top of each other in a glass. All we had was a mixing glass, spoon, warm water, food colouring, salt and a display glass each.

Lots of conversations about what the salt would do with the water and I enjoyed seeing people explaining what they thought would happen and why.







Tadaa! We had some success - with salt water on the bottom and fresh water above it. WHY?





We then spent a while talking about our understanding of floating and sinking, before deciding to look at birds next week.

Then it was time to check out the latest with some group members' rafts before our time together ended. Remember not to bring your rafts for the next two weeks... we will give them a final test the week before Beach Day!





Ideas for home:
- Experiment more with separating colours in water. Try using a clear straw and try a few different salt to fresh water combinations to see what happens.
- This website, http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/fiords, talks about fiords. We have a layer of fresh water over sea water in fiords because of the heavy rainfall. You might want to learn more about these massive cocktails and the sea life in them!
- Think through the questions we hadn't covered in the group - What makes the sea salty? What happens to different items in salt or fresh water over time?
- Some of you talked about making videos. Here's a challenge - create a video for the morning group to explain why things float or sink. Have fun!
- If you have any ideas about our bird inquiry from next week, let me know!