During a unit on density, pupils ponder whether or not temperature affects this property. By carefully inserting blue cold water and yellow hot water into a room-temperature sample, they will see the answer. Make sure to have done the...

It's in your destiny to study density! Young scientists conduct an experiment to study the relationship between weight and density. They compare weights of liquid samples of different substances and predict how their densities are...

It's all about density! Here's a dense workbook for young scientists; they solve (and show work for) 29 density word problems, including a problem where they solve for the density of Godzilla. They complete labs analyzing metal...

Keep your class afloat with a hands-on density lesson. The challenging lesson has learners experiment with different materials to compare their densities. They learn that increasing or decreasing the amount of the material doesn't change...

The difference between sinking and floating may be a little salt. Young experimenters analyze the effect of salt and temperature on the density of water. They use their results to predict the effect of climate change on ocean ecosystems.

The arctic seas contain currents that are both warm (with high salinity) and cold (relatively fresh water) that circulate throughout the year. Through discussion, a lab, and a web quest, participants explore the impacts of melting and...

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...

Mass and density are difficult topics for kids to understand, and even more difficult when you have visual impairments or blindness. Learners will make boxes and fill them with cotton, sand, or crushed paper. They will feel the density...

Is your current lesson plan for salt and freshwater literacy leaving you high and dry? If so, dive into part one of a seven-part series that explores the physical features of Earth's salt and freshwater sources. Junior hydrologists...

Swirling and churning, the waters of the North Atlantic play a vital role in Earth's climate! Discover the many factors that produce circulation using a multimedia lesson from PBS's Weather and Climate series for high schoolers. Scholars...

Science, technology, and math come together in this one combination exercise. Analyzing the common soda can from both a purely mathematical perspective and a scientific angle allows for a surprisingly sophisticated comparison of...

The first golf balls were made of wood and would only last for a few games. Modern golf balls last a lot longer but they don't float. The presentation provides the directions for a lab to determine the minimum amount of salt needed to...

How does chemistry help deep-sea explorers? Part four of a five-part series of lessons from aboard the Okeanos Explorer introduces middle school scientists to technologies used in ocean exploration. Groups work together to analyze data...

Science rocks! Explore three types of rocks and the rock cycle with an igneous rocks experiment. Pupils discuss textures, composition, and learn how melts are formed from the Earth's crust. They weigh materials using a scientific scale...

Note that this lesson is best paired with the preceding lesson in the unit. In that lesson, elementary physical scientists observed that the color coating of M&Ms® candies do not mix when dissolved off of the chocolate surface. Now...

Salinity is the focus of two experimenters that work to answer the question, How does salt change the physical properties of water? Super scientists compare the freezing rate of salt and fresh water, combine the two waters to...

Ice is nice, and its condition on the planet has a significant effect. Junior geoscientists experiment with ice melting in both water and on land to discover how each affect the rising sea level. This detailed lesson outline even...

Let's go sailing! An instructive unit includes six lessons with multiple activities to teach scholars about density, center of gravity, buoyancy, and the Archimedes Principle. They can complete the final project of building a boat...

Let there be light. The last installment of a seven-part series has pupils conduct an experiment on light attenuation through different numbers of transparency sheets. They then relate the results back to how X-rays measure bone density.

An engating lesson plan relates mass and volume to better understand density. Young scientists explore and experiment with floating and sinking as well as density cubes. Then, they solve how to make a sinking item float.

Don't just sink the boat. Using a closed container as a submarine, pupils experiment to see what to add to the container to make it float, sink to the bottom, and hover in the middle. After finding one option, learners see if they can...

Change where an object floats in water. Pupils experiment with a Cartesian diver by squeezing on the side of a plastic bottle. Learners pay attention to the bulb of the pipette as the bottle is squeezed to determine what is happening...

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 lesson of six from NOAA. Lab groups then...

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