Hi,
My name is Rachel and I am excited to learn more about how the theme ‘Space’ can be used in the classroom.
Inquiry based activity- Floating Ice Activity.
• Talk to your students about the chemical bonds that hold water molecules together. Explain how those bonds stretch out when water freezes so that ice becomes less dense than liquid water.
• Pour water into a plastic bottle and then place it in the freezer. Compare the volume of the liquid and solid water after freezing.
• Fill a jug of ice water. Draw a line where the water level is before the ice melts. Allow the ice to melt into the water and make a second line where the water level is now. Compare the two.
• This activity could also lead onto “Floating & Sinking”- the children have large bowls of water. In each group they will have a number of materials. They will have a sheet predicting what will float and then they will record their results. This will encourage group work and co-operation as well as inquiry based learning and investigation.