Friday, September 05, 2008

Understanding Background (Prior) Knowledge

The reason we identify background knowledge in our model of the Scientific Method is so we can stimulate our brain and prepare it to accept new knowledge. It is important to think about things we know so we can connect them to things we want to learn.

Today I want you to identify what you have learned so far about floating and sinking. Look back to the past experiments and demonstrations including the testing of objects to see if they floated and your experiences with the clay boats. What have you learned so far about floating and sinking? I would like you to identify five things you have learned. Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling in complete sentences.

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

I learned that if you make a clay boat light and then it will float and if you make the boat heavy and then it will sink and it depends on if you make it heavy or light.

Anonymous said...

I think that light things float while heavy things sinks.Also things with air float if its light and it has no air it will still float unless its in a ball.If it floats and it has a whole it will sink sooner or later if its like a boat.

Anonymous said...

I leaned that some clay boats flout and how to make marbles in a clay boat float or sink.

Anonymous said...

I learned that if you gets roll a piece of clay into a ball it will sink. I learned that if you have something little and if it is light it will float. And if you have something very heavy you know it is going to sink.

Anonymous said...

Iv learn about clay boats,light and heavy and also iv learn about sinking and floating ,and iv learn how will the clay boat do if we put marbles in the boat will it sink or float.

Anonymous said...

I learn how to float clay but if you put to many marbles the clay will sink.

Anonymous said...

Wat i lorn is that the clay bot float with out marbles. If you pot marbles in it will sink . It was fun . The clay was soft . But we got a now clay it was yellow it hold 39 marbles it was cool.

Anonymous said...

I learned that if you want to make something float it has to be light . the second thing I learned that if something is not light it will not float. The thread thing I learned is that clay can floatin the water.The forth thing i learned is that heavy objects will not float.The last i learned about floating and sinking is that clay can float with marbles.

Anonymous said...

I have learned that heavy things sink .And light things float .Things with air in it float somtimes . Things that are thin things float like clay.Things with no air in it don't float somtimes.

Anonymous said...

I learned that some heavy things can float, some light things can sink, that your prediction is sometimes wrong, and sometime right!

Anonymous said...

What I have learned is, aluminum wont float if it is crumpled, solid metal wont float, if the sides are high of a clay boat it will hold more marbles, more clay will hold more marbles, and if water is in the boat it will likely sink.

Anonymous said...

I have learned that some heavy things
can sink and float if they are spread out.Some small things can float and sink.Also you can make preconditions
that are true and false.

Anonymous said...

some heavy things float like clay boats.some heavy things sink like a marble. all light things float.rocks sink and teeth float.

Anonymous said...

Some of the five things that I have learned is that clay can float and that medal when it is in a ball sinks. Not only that ,when medal is in a certain shape it floats .Two other things that I have learned that lots of heavy things sink and lots of light things float,it might depend on the bouncy weight.

Anonymous said...

I have learn that clay will float if you make into a boat. I have learn that light things will float in the water,and that heavy things will not float in the water.That you have to not make the bottom to thick and the sides not to small but not to big.I am so excited about our next experiment because we are going to make aluminium boats.

Anonymous said...

The bigger the boat and the taller the walls the more it holds marbles. `

Anonymous said...

I that the clay sank the first time so we rolled it into a ball then we flatted it.the second time it hold less the 5 marbles. the third time it holed more then 5 marbles 8 marbles it did not sink that time only when we put 9 marbles.I learned about floating and sinking is that the clay boat sank then we fixed it and it got back to float again and that is about floating and sinking.

Anonymous said...

Five things I learned is that some heavy stuff floats as light stuff sinks,some things sink because they have holes and makes it heavyer and sinks, some boats float becausethey have motors, some float because the material they are made of. Those are the five things I know.

Anonymous said...

I learn that a clay can flout if it is in cup shape. Clay also flout if the wool is big.Clay flout even maerbouls in the clay.

Anonymous said...

I learn that clay boats can float. If the clay is wilder it will probably hold 30 marbles or more.I learn from the past that wood could float.

Anonymous said...

the five things i learned are heavy things sink and light things sink.
clay boats can be in different shapes to float or sink.

Anonymous said...

What I know about floating and sinking is that some brands of clay float while others sink.Some aluminum
objects sink.Wood beads float no matter how much they wiegh.I know that fishing bobbers sink because of
whats inside.I also know that things that contain air inside that it will possably sink.

Anonymous said...

what i've learned about floating and sinking is that some brands of clay floats. while other's sink , some aluminum float and some aluminum sink ,like wood beads they float and some sink beacause it's light weight ,fishing bobber's floated the large wood block floated well the marble that we had we put it in the water contaioner and the marble sank.

Anonymous said...

it was the cold I think of the little was the good because. it was come is the were wten they the .good water.the little the was they good wherering because the water the goood is they .aand as the water was the how.

Anonymous said...

I have learned that making different
shapes of clay are better than others.What I know about sinking and floating is like when you put a wood bead in water it would float because it is wood.When you put a rock in water it will float because it is very light.You can put a piece of plastic in water and it will float. If you put a shoe in the water it will sink because it is heavy.If you put a swatted piece of aluminum because it has water in it.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know that you could make clay float especially with glass marbles in it.I learned a polyethylene cylinder floats and a acrylic cylinder sinks.I also learned that an eraser sinks and a domino sinks.

Anonymous said...

why does sometimes metal floats and some don't I think because its cold. AND why does some clay float and some don't

Anonymous said...

I learned that certain types of clay float better than others and certain ways to build your boat work better clay can hold lots of marbles clay can float or sink some things sink some things float

Anonymous said...

I haved learned that light things float and heavey things sink and I also learned that a ball of clay will sink,but a boat of clay will float even a boat of clay can float with marbles.A clay boat can hold at least 39 marbles or more.

Anonymous said...

I know that some clay boats sink and float. I know that it matters what shape it is. Clay bowl boats work better. It matters what clay you use. I know some things float and some things sink.

Anonymous said...

I have learned that an eraser floats,and aluminum cans float,a pencil,and a pen cap.Some things that sink are a crayon.

Anonymous said...

If you have a hole in the boot it will sink .But if you don't have no hole it will not sink

Anonymous said...

I learned that some kind of clay like dough did not work.
Also that some shaped boats work.
some water temp.can change the object can float. Some temp. can make objects sink.

Anonymous said...

I know that if a boat has a hole in the bottom it will sink.I also know that the shape matters.If you put to much marbles it will sink.

Anonymous said...

When you have a aluminum boat it will flout. And when when you have a ball of aluminum it will sink. When you have a ball of clay it will sink. But when you have a boat made of clay it will flout.When you have a soap bout it will flout.

Anonymous said...

I learned that if a boat has a hole then it will sink. and I lean how many

Anonymous said...

Why do fishing bobber floats?

Anonymous said...

Five thing I have learned about floating and sinking is that the shape makes a difference,the weight,and the material it is made of .

Anonymous said...

sertan things float like wood bead,fishing bobber and sertan things sink like glass marbles.

Anonymous said...

I know that floating is something that is light.Something that sink it is hight.

Anonymous said...

What I now about sinking and floating is that various items a sink and float.

Anonymous said...

I found out that a square boat will hold more than a circle boat will.

Anonymous said...

I have learned that some times it depends on what the object is made out of for it to float or sink.And that a bobber floats.Metal sinks of course.Some wood floats and other sinks.Clay boats float with alot of marbles.

Anonymous said...

I know hevey things sink & light thing flout

Anonymous said...

Five things i now about sinking and flouting is the what, and the mass,
and the shape, and if it has a crank, and it has to have a bottom

Anonymous said...

First i learned that your clay boat can not have holes in your boat 2nd i learned that your clay boats cannot have cracks 3th i learned that the clay boats needs to have a flat bottom it needs to have a wide open space 5th the walls need to be big enough so the water does not come in 6th i know why some things float and some things don't .density.

Anonymous said...

iv'e learned that a fishing bobber floats and wood beads float . and paper sinks

Anonymous said...

I think that when it is heavy it will sink and when it is light it will float.

Anonymous said...

I like to make sink bot and float

Anonymous said...

1. Boats cannot float with weak/low walls.2.boats will sink if a hole is in the bottom/side.3 Small boats will sink if there is to much weight in them.4 If boats are to heavy they will sink.5A light ,sturdy boats will float longer than heavy weak/boats.

Anonymous said...

In Investigate 1, we saw if 2 acrylic marbles would float and sink. From Investigate 1, I learned that even the same things can float and sink. In Investigate 2, we had to bring 5 small things that can get wet and see if each item would float or sink. From that, I learned that not all objects float or sink. In investigate 3, we had to check the weight of 14 items and see if they would float or sink, and from that, I learned that the weight has a huge effect on whether it would float or sink. In Investigate 4, we had to model a clay boat and see how many marbles the boat would hold. I learned that even though you have a sturdy boat, it may not hold as many marbles as you want. I also learned that even the most single crack can make your boat sink.

Anonymous said...

The heavy things sink and the light thing float.

Ben said...

it's not the weight of the boat it's the distribution and shape of it... a little bit weight... can't wait till u guys get your blogs!