Hold up a simple foil boat (or a picture of a small boat on a river or harbour). Keep the hook light: one curiosity question only. Do not hand out foil or set up trays yet. Use everyday words here; save the word load for step 2 when you teach it.

Key question: What shape do you think will float best and hold the most without going under?

Take three or four quick ideas. Link gently to Irish rivers, harbours and ponds where children may have seen boats (a ferry in the harbour, a rowboat on the Shannon, or ducks on a local pond).

Teach the ideas briefly before building. Read the board text aloud one word at a time, pause after each meaning, and point to your foil demo boat so children meet float, then load, then improve as separate beats (not one dense block). Project only the short board text; keep the full table here for you.

Lesson rule (not part of the word meaning): only one improvement this lesson — keep it Stage 2 light.

Misconception to head off: children often say heavy things always sink and light things always float. Keep the talk on shape (sides, a hollow middle) rather than weight alone. Hold up the open boat beside a tight foil ball so the shape contrast is visible.

STEM eyes: ask where children have seen boats on Irish rivers, harbours or ponds.

Before the lesson

Fill shallow water trays (one per group or shared stations) before this make step — groups need water ready to float-check their empty boat. Tear foil sheets roughly 20 cm by 20 cm. Put counters or coins in small pots (for step 4, not on the make tables yet). Lay towels beside each tray. Keep modelling clay with you for leaky-corner rescue only. Keep scrap paper and lolly sticks aside for early-finisher sails after a successful empty float. Roll sleeves up before water work.

Hand-out cue (start of this step)

Only now put one foil sheet per child or pair on each table, with towels and access to the water tray. Do not put clay, sticks or scrap paper on the make tables with the foil.

During the build

Groups of two or three. Model one quick boat yourself: press a flat bottom, fold four sides up, pinch the corners so they hold. Think aloud: I wonder if high sides will keep the water out… I predict a flat tray shape will float…

Core build is foil only. Hold extras back:

• Clay (teacher-held): offer a pea-sized bit yourself only if a corner leaks and the group cannot pinch it shut
• Optional sail (early finishers only, after the empty boat already floats): hand out a scrap of paper and one lolly stick once you have checked the float

Look-fors:

• A clear bottom and raised sides (not a crumpled ball)
• Corners pinched so water cannot rush in
• Groups naming float, sides or load in their talk

Differentiation: offer pre-folded corner demos for groups who struggle; challenge early finishers to add a small sail from scrap paper and a lolly stick (the boat must still float on its own first).

Safety: wipe spills straight away; no splashing; keep counters out of mouths.

Worked investigation (one tight pass before groups go)

Use your demo boat at the front tray. Keep this model short — about two minutes — so groups still have time for their own load and the journal page:

• I wonder: How many counters can this boat hold before it sinks?
• I predict: I think about four, because the sides are not very high.
• I test: Add counters slowly, one at a time. Count aloud with the class.
• I observed: It held three; on the fourth the side dipped and water came in.
• I think: Higher sides might keep water out longer — I will fold the sides up once.

Then release groups to their trays. Circulate and ask: What will you change once? Why? Only one improvement this lesson. The required path is oral prediction, first load count, and one improve. A second load is a bonus only if time; many groups will stop after the improve and that is fine. Protect the journal record next.

What to expect: wide, shallow boats often take fewer counters; boats with higher pinched sides usually take more. If every boat sinks at once, the foil is too small or the sides are open at the corners — show pinching corners again.

Class fold-in: when one group is at a shared tray, ask watchers what they predict and what they notice — watching is real participation.

Pupils record on the paper Investigation Journal page (one sheet per child from materials). Say what to capture, not where boxes sit on the page. Required three-part record:

• how many counters they predicted
• how many the boat held the first time before it sank or water came in
• the one improvement they made (a quick drawing or a short phrase scribed by an adult or peer is fine — emerging writers need not write a full sentence)

Optional fourth line only if the group actually did a second load: more, fewer, or the same. If they did not get a second try, they mark no second try or leave that part blank — do not push them to invent a comparison.

Scribes for emerging writers are fine; drawings of the before and after shape are valuable. Keep this beat calm — trays can stay out but loading stops so pages stay dry. Protect the full six minutes; do not fold this into tidy-up.