The word science comes from the Latin "scientia," meaning knowledge. How do we define science?

According to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary, the definition of science is "knowledge attained through study or practice," or "knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, esp. as obtained and tested through scientific method [and] concerned with the physical world." What does that really mean? Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural phenomena. The term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge people have gained using that system. Less formally, the word science often describes any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from it. What is the purpose of science? Perhaps the most general description is that the purpose of science is to produce useful models of reality.
Student everyday experiences Introducing new scientific language to students can cause considerable confusion, particularly when the students may have established a different understanding of the terms from their everyday use. Careful thought needs to be given to the selection of new scientific terms, the choice of language used in definitions and the implications of prior understandings based on everyday use.

Introduction
Floating and sinking is a common activity in early years classrooms. Students' ideas about floating and sinking are intriguing. The strategies for developing their understandings discussed in this topic are examples of the probing, investigative and challenging activities that characterise effective science teaching and learning.

Key concepts of floating and sinking

The activities in this topic are designed to explore the following key concepts: Early years

Whether something floats depends on the material it is made of, not its weight. Objects float if they are light for their size and sink if they are heavy for their size. An object can be light for its size if it contains air, such as a hollow ball. Materials with a boat shape will float because they effectively contain air. Water pushes up on objects with an upthrust force.

Middle years

Objects float if the upthrust force from the water can balance their weight (gravity force). Objects float depending on their density compared to water; for an object to float its density needs to be less than that of water.

Objects float when air is enclosed in an object; their density is lowered, thereby increasing the likelihood of floating. The upthrust depends on the amount of water displaced. Objects float better in salt water (density of salt water is greater than that of pure water). Water surfaces have a cohesive force (surface tension) that makes them act like a 'skin'. Small, dense objects (e.g. a pin; a water spider) can 'float' on the surface of water without breaking it, due to surface tension effects.

Scientific terms associated with floating and sinking

force: a push or a pull. density: amount of mass per unit mass of an object (i.e. the concentration of mass, or how 'heavy for its size' an object is). The density of water is 1 kg per litre. pressure: amount of force applied per unit area. At a given pressure, twice the area will experience twice the force. Archimedes' principle: A floating object will experience an upthrust force from water, equal to the weight of water displaced (pushed aside). It will sink into the water until it reaches the point where the weight of the water pushed aside equals its own weight. For an object that is floating, the mass of the material equals the mass of water that is displaced by the object (1 kg = 1 L of water). Dense objects cannot displace enough water to provide an upthrust force to counterbalance their weight, so they plummet below the surface. Objects made of material denser than water (e.g. a boat made of iron) can still float if they contain air so that the mean density is less than that of water.

Students' alternative conceptions of floating and sinking

Research into student's ideas about this topic has identified a number of non-scientific conceptions. Students will have views about at least three aspects of floating and sinking that differ from science views. These alternative views centre around the questions:

What do we mean by 'floating'? What determines whether something will float or sink? What causes things to float (i.e. what are the forces involved in floating)?

Interviews reveal that students can attach different meanings to the term 'floating' and that these meanings vary depending on the context (such as observing real objects in water as opposed to viewing line drawings). The students still seem to be at the formative level with respect to this idea and there are likely to be students in most classrooms whose understanding of 'floating' differs from scientists. Some students could become confused if teachers do not recognise this. Students have a range of views about why some things float while others sink. Younger students (7-10 years) often do not realise that there could be a single explanation. Their response is to give explanations for individual materials. The explanations offered could be described as partial explanations. They focus on specific aspects such as lightness or heaviness and fail to take into account other aspects (such as size) needed to formulate a general rule that would explain all cases. Very few students seem to have an understanding of flotation that approximates that of scientists. Others realise that they do not really know why things float or sink, but they appear interested to know.

A number of students think that the length of floating material, or the depth of water underneath or on top of an object, affects flotation level. Some further believe that floating material will sink if the part above the water is cut off, or if it has vertical holes put through it. After initial experiences with reshaped nonfloating material, almost all students realise that non-floating material can be shaped to float.

Scientific view An object floats when the weight force on the object is balanced by the upward push of the water on the object. The upwards push of the water increases with the volume of the object that is under water; it is not affected by the depth of the water or the amount of water. If the weight force down is larger than the upward push of the water on the object then the object will sink. If the reverse is true then the object will rise rising is the opposite of sinking. Different objects float at different levels in the water because as most regular objects are lowered into the surface of water, the upward push of the water steadily increases until it is in balance with the weight force of the object, and the object then continues floating at this level with the two forces in balance. Many objects that are hollow (and so generally contain air) float because the hollow sections increase the volume of the object (and so the upwards push) for very little increase in weight force down. However, it is not necessary for an object to contain air in order to float. No object can float without some part of it being below the surface of the water.

To float, the weight force on an object must be balanced by the upward push by the water on the object. The amount of material and the type of material that makes up the object affects the size of the weight force on the
object.

The volume of the object, which can often be altered by changing the shape, will affect the size of the upward push
on the object.

Provide an open problem for students to explore via play At this level it is appropriate for students to experiment with a variety of objects to see if they float or sink in water. They should be encouraged to identify common characteristics of objects that float and those that sink. Students can try submerging a ball in a bucket of water in order to feel the upward push of the water on the ball. A more quantitative approach could involve measuring the weight of different objects to see whether that affects how they float or sink in water. Students could experiment with different sized objects with the same weight to see how this influences their floating.

Encourage students to experiment with little sealable containers such as empty film containers to see if they float, and to what level, in water. They can then experiment by putting different amounts of sand into the containers to see how the change in weight affects the level of their floating.

Try this experiment as a project. Which of the following items do you think will float and which do you think will sink? Item Pencil Raw Egg Ruler Apple Nail Toy Boat Paperclip Rubber Ball Steps: 1. Fill a sink or a bucket with water. Leave around 5cm (2 inches) empty. 2. Slowly lower one item into the water. 3. Remove the item from the water and test the next item. 4. Continue testing each item. 5. Now add a few of your own to see what happens. NOTE: This is a project that you may want to take notes and/or record your discoveries in a notebook. Depending on the size of the contain you fill with water and the objects that you are going to test, you may want to do this experiment outside to give you more room and less mess to clean up after the experiment. Float Sink