Cross-Curricular Bottle Flipping

Since the craze of water bottle flipping has taken over during lunch and transition periods I thought about giving students time to actually understand why it happens. They were beyond thrilled just to know we were going to flip bottles. While essentially that was what we were doing, I let them know that there was more to it than just flipping any old water bottle. We started our study by asking questions and writing them down so we could refer to them. They wanted to know how much water to use, is there a specific bottle size/brand, what angle is best, does the surface affect the landing, whether or not a dent in the water bottle will make a difference, etc. After this we continued on to discuss experiments and using constants vs. variables. Part 1 had each student selecting 4 different water bottles and deciding on how much water to be in each one (1/2 or 1/3 full). They also needed to figure out the techniques they would use for each flip (which hand to use, body position, bottle location, and hand movement. Once this was completed, students selected the number of times to flip each of the four bottles. While flipping, they recorded whether or not they were successful. After all four bottles were flipped the selected number of tosses, students then had to take their data and figure out the success rate and percentage.

It was then that we were able to move to Part 2. Part 2 had students using the one bottle with the highest success rate from Part 1. This became the new constant. The students were then to measure and fill the bottle with four different amounts of water (1 inch, 1 1/2 inches, etc.) and flip the bottle the same number of tosses as in Part 1. They again recorded the results and used the data to figure out success rate and percentage in Part 2. Once students had completed this, they were recorded using a Slow Motion Camera App on the i-Pads. These video clips were then watched by all three classes.

As we closed out this unit of study, students discussed the science behind how and why a water bottle is able land in an upright position after being tossed. The use of words gravity, mass, and momentum were used to help explain the process. I loved that I was able to take a mindless game and make it into something more for the students. It made them enjoy coming into Science class as well as participate. They were excited to see each others results and progress while at the same time compete with themselves in order to successfully land a water bottle. I have incorporated a game (Toss & Task) found that allows students to toss a water bottle 5 times after answering a question correct. I've tied this into our Social Studies unit on the American Revolution. Students were asked questions relating to the Revolutionary War and if they were correct, they could toss their bottle and collect points if it landed straight up and on top of the points sheet. All in all, it was a great way to get students motivated and engaged in their learning.

Guest Blogger,

Maria Woods

4th Grade Teacher, Village Elementary