Planned learning intention
Look closely at similarities and change
Resources
Small trays, dishes, water jugs, sponges, toilet tissue, newspaper, cotton wool, kitchen roll, greaseproof paper, wrapping paper, plastic sandwich bags
Step by step
* Prepare a table for four children to sit at.
* Provide small dishes, trays, water jugs and a range of materials for the experiments.
* Allow the children to pour some water from their jugs onto each of their trays and then attempt to transfer water into their dish using their chosen material.
* Introduce words that they can use to describe the effect of the water on the materials, such as absorbing, soaking up, dripping and so on.
* Encourage them to talk about what they are doing and how. Ask questions such as 'Which materials soaked up the most water?'
* Also encourage them to use the correct mathematical language to describe the quantities of water that they observe in the containers, such as 'half full'.
* If water is spilt on the floor, let the children use their recently gained skills in absorption to clear it up, encouraging them to be tidy and to co-operate as they can work in a team.
