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...

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...

After reading about the history and science of personal floatation devices, patents, and intellectual property, engineering teams design a life vest for a can of soup. To evaluate which groups considered the need for waterproofing, hold...

Students discover buoyancy by creating model boats.  In this water science instructional activity, students discover the physical properties of water and how floating is possible with large ships by building model boats from recycled...

A classic investigation on the density of liquids is explained for you in this lesson plan. Te begin, you prepare water samples of different salinities and then add different food coloring to keep them separated and easily identified....

Begin with an introduction to famous deep-sea submersibles. Learners work in groups to gather information on different vessels and then share with the class. Each group then uses water displacement to help calculate the density of...

Learners form lab groups and work together to construct a submarine out of a soda bottle. Next, they observe its action in a tub of water as the inner pressure is changed. It is an engaging experiment. However, links to outside resources...

Groups of young oceanographers get to use action figures to experiment with the property of buoyancy! This memorable lesson plan provides detailed background information, a link to the laboratory worksheet, and thorough instruction...

Students use materials found at a resource table to design simple devices that will house instruments to take water samples from a tub of water. They design 3 instruments, each varying in density so that one will float, one will hover...

Have your class explore density and buoyancy using this resource. Learners read the book Who Sank the Boat, and use several items, such as rubber balls, bottle caps, wood, and other household items to conduct an experiment. Using a tub...

Natalie Morales performs a simple experiment to show what the word float means by placing a pumpkin in water. This video could be used as an introduction to a science experiment on buoyancy. It would be fun to have your class experiment...

Students design and build a floating vessel with its own propulsion system that will carry cargo across a wading pool.

Students design and execute a lab through which they study the distinctions between density, buoyancy, and volume.

Middle-schoolers still enjoy playing with bubbles! In this series of eight laboratory activities, science learners explore convex and concave surfaces, angles, gas laws, buoyancy, density and more! 

Create a cushion of carbon dioxide gas to float some soap bubbles on. Many concepts can be demonstrated through this activity: Carbon dioxide gas is more dense than air Bubbles are semipermeable, allowing only carbon dioxide to diffuse...

Cut milk cartons in half to make boats and let investigators attempt to sink them. They add dividing walls and observe what happens if marbles are put into only one of the newly formed compartments. Vocabulary is provided: buoyant force,...

Learners investigate which objects sink and which ones float. Learners engage in an experiment, make predictions, and record results on a graphic organizer. This is a comprehensive and easy to follow resource.

Using a variety of objects, learners conduct buoyancy experiments. They make predictions on which object will sink or float and test their predictions. They use a graphic organizer to record their findings.

Students construct their own lava lamp using simple substances. In this physics lesson, students explain how difference in density causes convection. They solve for forces and buoyancy using mathematical equations.

In this buoyancy worksheet, learners read about neutral buoyancy and that the downward force of gravity is equal and opposite to the upward force of water. They answer four critical thinking questions about buoyancy.

Students take a provided ocean Trivia Quiz in order to start a discussion of the ocean. They then perform an experiment on how the amount of salt in the ocean affects it and varies from ocean to ocean.

Investigators construct a makeshift balance and compare equal volumes of wax and water. They do the same for clay and water. Then they discover whether the wax and clay will float or sink in water. Ultimately this is a comparison of...

Pique interest in water pressure, demonstrate buoyancy, and explore water displacement concepts with a homemade Cartesian diver. You may want to change the name of the toy, however, as is is not documented the Rene Descartes actually...