Teach Engineering
Buoyant Boats
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...
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Art: Hot Air Balloon Replicas
Students investigate the science behind hot air balloon flight. In a lecture and demonstration, they observe how helium-filled balloons are affected by the wind. Using basic household items such as newspaper, paper cups, and balloons,...
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Buoyancy: Who Sank the Boat?
Students examine whether objects will sink or float. In this buoyancy lesson students bring in objects and experiment to see if they sink or float.
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Archimedes' Principle of buoyancy
High schoolers use the internet to research Archimedes' principle of buoyancy. In groups, they summarize the principle and share it with the class. They also participate in experiments in which they test the principle and share their...
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Big Enough?
Students explore the concept of density and buoyancy. In this physics lesson, students discover the different factors that affect an object's density and buoyancy in water. Students conduct several investigations to further understand...
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Density Review
In this density learning exercise, learners review how to calculate density and how to apply Archimedes' Principle, Boyle's Law, and Charles' Law. This learning exercise has 10 matching, 13 short answer, and 6 fill in the blank questions.
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Science: Floating and Sinking Objects
Second graders discuss why some objects float while others sink. They examine various objects and predict whether or not they will sink or float. Students discover the properties needed for objects to float.
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Day Six: Floater What Ifs
Students observe earth science by examining results from an experiment. In this buoyancy lesson, students practice floating different items in two different liquids and identify why certain objects will float and others sink. Students...
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Chemistry: The Case of the Sunken Ice Cube
Students examine a density demonstration involving ice cubes and beakers of water and alcohol. After observing how one ice cube floats in water and sinks in alcohol, they determine which mixture of the two would suspend the ice cube in...
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Water Properties of the Great Salt Lake
Fourth graders examine the ecosystem of the Great Salt Lake in this two-part lesson, completing a KWL chart before and after the field trip to the site. While there, they draw and write about their observations. To test for buoyancy,...
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Properties of Matter: "Sink or Swim"
Third graders recognize that different materials have different properties which can be observed such as texture and bouyancy, and compare and contrast, through observation, ability of some objects to float because of action of...
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Floating Pencil
Students discover how salt water makes a pencil float better than freshwater by measuring and comparing the lengths of the portion of the pencil that floats above the water surface. They then determine if an unknown water sample is...
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Immiscible Liquids and Density
Students will make a lava lamp. In this density lesson, students will combine water and oil and make observations, then add salt to the oil and observe the oil sink, then float again when the salt dissolves in the water.
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Marine Debris
Learners will perform experiments to examine if debris will float, or blow in the wind. They discuss the effects of these characteristics on marine debris.