SUBJECTS: Technologies
YEARS: F–2
A ball of plasticine sinks. Could you change its shape to make it float?
Watch this clip to see some plasticine being made into different shapes. Find out which shape floats.
Take a look at the shape of a motor boat. Why is it pointy at the front?
Things to think about
- 1.How would you change the shape of a plasticine ball to make it float? Why would that shape help it to float?
- 2.Look at the different shapes of plasticine. Guess which one will sink and which one will float. What shape is the plasticine that floats? Why does it float? Look at the white boat. What do you notice about its shape?
- 3.Make your own plasticine boat. Try making a boat that holds marbles. Challenge a friend to make a boat too. See which boat can hold the most marbles. What does the clip say 'streamlined shape' means?
- 4.Design a boat using different materials. Test materials before you design your boat to see how they go in water. Which materials are waterproof? Is your boat design going to be pointy at the front (streamlined)? Ask an adult to help you cut any of the materials.
Acknowledgements
Music by Glyn Lehmann.
Date of broadcast: 7 May 2001
Copyright
Metadata © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia Ltd 2012 (except where otherwise indicated). Digital content © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). Video © Australian Broadcasting Corporation (except where otherwise indicated). All images copyright their respective owners. Text © Australian Broadcasting Corporation and Education Services Australia is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).