A PREDICT-OBSERVE-EXPLAIN STUDY ON FLOATING-SINKING WITH 5TH GRADE STUDENTS

In this study, the opinions of 5th grade students on floating and sinking are tried to be revealed. For this purpose, a research study was carried on with seven 5th grade students who have been studying at a private school in ？stanbul as of 2017-2018 academic year, and who attend the science club that operates at the same school. In this study that has been conducted to understand how students perceive the concepts of floating and sinking, data has been collected through the predict-observe-explain (POE) technique and analyzed phenomenologically. In addition, the interviews conducted with the students were used to support the data obtained through POE. In the study where three different POE applications were performed consecutively, it has been found that the concept of density which is at the core of the floating and sinking phenomenon is not used correctly and that students mostly associate the cause of objects' floating and sinking with weight. Students think that heavier objects sink whereas lighter objects float. Students who associate floating and sinking with buoyancy of water, on the other hand, have not made any explanations about what buoyancy depends on. The study also found other misconceptions than those about floating and sinking. It has been observed that some students use the concept of power instead of force. It can be argued that POE, which is used as the primary data collection tool in this study, is an effective technique in eliciting the misconceptions of students