Module 11: Things That Float and Things That Don't by David A. Adler

BOOK COVER IMAGE:

BOOK SUMMARY: 

The book begins with discussing how the earth is majority water and discussing how people's main form of transportation since the beginning of time has been moving across water.  Then it describes how a boat can hold a large amount of people and not sink, while a small pebble does not float.  From here on out, the book highlights how anyone can have fun guessing on things that will and will not float, such as water bottles, apples, leaves, etc.  Then it encourages one to conduct the experiment by filling a sink with water.  It continues to discuss terms such as density and cubic feet, demonstrating how they play a role in floating and sinking.  We can even see how rolled up clay will sink but when shaped into a boat, will float.  It ends by explaining that the type of water will also have an affect on the buoyancy of an object, such as salt water versus fresh water.            

APA REFERENCE OF BOOK: 

Adler, D.A. (2013).  Things that float and thing's that don't. New York, NY: Holiday House.

IMPRESSIONS: 

Even though this book is covered with delightful illustrations of children, the content is factual but written so that young students can follow along easily.  The book gives a lot of information and is very instructional, guiding students to re-create their own experiments and telling them what to look for.  The information from the book is very accurate, and using terminology that is appropriate, however, it is very dense and includes a large amount of examples of things that float and don't, which means this book should be used with students in 1st-3rd grade.              

PROFESSIONAL REVIEW: 

"Adler expertly teaches the concept of density, moving beyond the classic floating and sinking experiments to a carefully constructed lesson that helps young thinkers appreciate both scienti fic explanations and practices. e treatment of density is masterful: Adler introduces the fundamental physical relationship with terms familiar to readers (weight relative to size), then gradually builds to the scientifi c de finition through examples and ideas that draw on intuitive, everyday experiences. By the end of the book, the term density is employed accurately and easily within sentences that fully summarize its meaning. Although hands-on experimentation is encouraged, equal time and e ffort is appropriately spent on scientifi c reasoning and thought experiments triggered by perfectly targeted questions. e concepts are kept simple and age appropriate, yet without shying away from the more abstract dimensions of science. is takes readers well beyond vocabulary memorization into true science comprehension. Cartoonlike illustrations portray two children and their scienti fically curious dog happily doing science." - Danielle J. Ford


Reference:

Ford, D.J. (2013). [Review of the book Thing's that float and thing's that don't by David A. Adler]. Horn Book Magazine, 89(6), 113.  

LIBRARY USES: 

Create library stations of items on a table to have kids discuss whether they will float or not.  The items could be either the same ones from the book or new items for kids to brainstorm.