Flinkers!

This is a stray away from my usual reading/language arts type of activities, but I really enjoyed this little science project!

       First off, for those of you who aren't really familiar with the concept (I sure wasn't!), a flinker is an object that when place in a container of water, does not float at the top or sink to the bottom, but just "flinks" in the middle of the water area.  For this specific project, the challenge is for the students to make a flinker of some sort that will flink for at least 10 seconds.  

       My little twist to the lesson plan, I think in the beginning (especially if you are working with a younger age group...in my case, my wonderful Kindergarten chosen ones), you should cover the distinction between objects that float and sink.  Have a container of water and show the students different objects like pennies, paperclips, sponges, styrofoam peanuts, an empty plastic bottle, etc.  Have the students make guesses as to what they think might float or sink.  After doing the demonstration, have a discussion with the class about why they think certain thinks would float and other things would sink (i.e. what do they think makes them float or sink and different characteristics of these objects that may contribute to it).

       The students are separated into groups and start performing the project.  They test materials in water and start putting them together one-by-one to make their flinker design better each time.  They can attach things together, change the shapes of things, or anything else they may think of, this is when they can really be creative!  The students have to try to make their flinker flink for at least 10 seconds.  Have them call you over to show you and then, if you have time, let each group present their findings to the rest of the class. 

This was such a cute idea because they can really get creative and hands on with everything.  The kinesthetic learning approach is really the way to go, I believe, and this experiment gives them a chance to test things for themselves instead of just taking somebody's word for it. :)

I found this cute experiment first on the cpalms.org website and then on http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/flinker.html

an example of a Flinker!