Suggestions for teaching floating, sinking and density
Understanding the concept of density is crucial to enabling students to explain the phenomena of floating and sinking. However, density is not an easy concept for students to understand, not least because as Dawkins, Dickerson, McKinney and Butler (2008) argue, the use of floating and sinking dem...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2017
|
| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/88753 |
| Summary: | Understanding the concept of density is crucial to enabling students to explain the
phenomena of floating and sinking. However, density is not an easy concept for
students to understand, not least because as Dawkins, Dickerson, McKinney and
Butler (2008) argue, the use of floating and sinking demonstrations in determining
density pays little attention to the idea that many objects do not have uniform
density. Obvious examples are air-filled, hollow objects. Dawkins et al. and Roach
(2001) have reported on the problems pre-service teachers in the USA encounter
with the concept of density, despite it being covered in high school chemistry
and physics text books. This article describes a teaching sequence used with preservice
primary teachers in Australia that helps them explain floating and sinking
by applying the concept of density appropriately. Some of the teaching ideas may
also be useful for teaching at the middle school level. The sequence is presented in
narrative form rather than as a formal lesson plan. |
|---|