Objective

By the end of this lesson, you will learn about submarines and their connection to Earth Science.

Materials and Prep

• Water basin or large container
• Plastic toy submarine
• Blue food coloring (optional)
• Small objects to act as "treasures" (e.g., coins, pebbles)

Prior knowledge required: Basic understanding of water and floating objects.

Activities

1. Fill the water basin with water and add a few drops of blue food coloring to make it resemble the ocean.

2. Place the plastic toy submarine in the water basin and observe how it floats on the surface.

3. Discuss the concept of submarines and how they can go underwater.

4. Submerge the toy submarine slowly into the water and observe how it sinks.

5. Retrieve the submarine and discuss how it can resurface by filling its ballast tanks with air.

6. Hide the small objects (treasures) at the bottom of the water basin and encourage the student to navigate the submarine to find them.

Kindergarten Grade Talking Points

• "Submarines are special boats that can go underwater like fish."
• "They are used by scientists and explorers to study the ocean and find new things."
• "When a submarine goes underwater, it fills its ballast tanks with water to make it heavy."
• "To come back up, the submarine pushes out the water and fills the tanks with air, making it lighter."
• "Submarines can explore deep parts of the ocean where it is too dark for people to go."
• "They have special equipment to help them see and move underwater."
• "Sometimes, submarines find sunken ships or treasure hidden deep in the ocean."