Swimmers know to float by turning their bodies horizontally rather than vertically, but why does that make a difference? In an interesting instructional activity, scholars explore buoyancy and the properties of air and water. They test...

What do we do when a dive is too dangerous for humans to accomplish? Send in the robots! Middle school scientists get acquainted with several different models of submersible robots in the second instructional activity of six from NOAA....

Can a boat the size of a palace possibly float? Discover how a king and a famous Ancient Greek mathematician named Archimedes answered this question, and explore the history behind Archimedes' principle and how a law of physics that is...

Stop wasting energy searching for physics resources, this comprehensive collection of worksheets has you covered. Starting with introductions to the scientific method, dimensional analysis, and graphing data, these skills practice...

Playing with balloons, water, oil, and bottles help put this lesson over the top! Participants use air-filled balloons in water tanks to experience gas compression. They also use oil-filled bottles to experiment with buoyancy. Included...

Young scientists investigate the scientific concepts and principles that help make common toys such as hula hoops, yo-yos, slinkies, and silly putty work. As a class, they read "Backyard Rocket Science, Served Wet" to get a look behind...

Children's literature contains a treasure trove of engineering activities. A STEM curriculum resource highlights some possible lessons based on children's literature. It includes instructions on how to incorporate literacy for a set of...

Picture books provide great learning opportunities for STEM. A curriculum resource document gives several lessons in each grade level for K-6. The activities have learners read a book before applying the engineering design process to...

Scientists discovered the key to nautilus buoyancy when they X-rayed the shell of living mollusks. An educational video shares these X-rays and explains how the process works. It connects evolutionary changes, a unique circulatory...

Eureka! Using the clay boats made in the previous lesson, learners investigate the idea of buoyancy and water displacement to finish the last installment of five in a Floaters and Sinkers unit. Their observations during the activity...

Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory instructional activity sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats...

Whatever floats your boat. Young engineers learn about density by measuring the masses and volumes of boxes filled with different materials. Using their knowledge of densities, they hypothesize whether objects with given densities will...

Potentially get all the way across the water. The fourth of five design challenges asks pupils to develop a plan for a paddle-powered boat that will store its energy. Given a limited number of supplies, the class members design, build,...

Whatever floats your boat—with some additional weight. The first activity in a five-part series challenges pupils to design a boat to hold pennies. Using the design process, learners design, build, and test their boats, making sure they...

Sometimes in physics, the logic is a little illogical. A video presentation shows how to use extreme cases to apply logic to physics stumpers. The examples pertain to displacement situations, but scholars can apply the concept to all...

Balloons will go where you want them to. Young pilots first add paper clips to a balloon to make it neutrally buoyant. They then use cardboard to steer the balloon in different directions, taking air pressure into account.

Will your next buoyancy lab rise to the occasion? Make a splash with action figure divers! Teams of young physicists explore the relationship between mass and buoyancy by adding weights or balloons to achieve a diver that neither sinks...

Why does cereal clump together in milk? Scientists answered this question in 2005 with the help of physics and math. A video explains the relationship between buoyancy, surface tension, and the meniscus. It teaches how to attract or...

Need to demonstrate buoyancy to your class? Rise to the occasion with a video from Veritasium! The narrator demonstrates how a golf ball behaves in dish detergent and saltwater, then adds the detergent to the saltwater for a surprising...

How do astronauts know how to live and work in a weightless environment? It doesn't come naturally! Junior physicists conduct experiments to examine the link between buoyancy and microgravity. Each activity illustrates a different aspect...

Here's a lesson plan that will really float your boat! Introduce physical science scholars to the relationship between buoyancy and density through an assortment of individual and collaborative exercises. Lab groups work together to...

Does the temperature of the surface of the earth relate to the movement of the earth's plates? Three variables — temperature, composition, and thickness encourage scholars to discover plate tectonics. They create mountains, volcanoes,...

There's more to fluids than meet the eye—they include gases, liquids, and polymers, too! Scholars complete three hands-on activities exploring different properties of fluids. They explore viscosity by measuring the resistance, or...

Ghost ships are real and are used to map ocean currents. Aye, thar be much to learn for landlubbers, sprogs, and buccaneers as well in a short video that offers scientific explanations for the amazing phenomenon of ghost ships.