Curated OER
Will It Sink Or Float?
Learners develop their understanding of buoyancy and density related to sinking and floating. They investigate which objects sink and float through experimentation. They determine that different substances sink or float depending on...
Curated OER
Physical Science- Sink or Float?
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.
Curated OER
Sink or Float
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.
Curated OER
Sink or Float?
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...
Curated OER
Floating on Salt Water
Mixing substances together causes their properties to change. This resource illustrates that concept for fifth graders by having them consider four questions that have to do with buoyancy and boiling point. Learners begin to understand...
Curated OER
Sink or Float?
Students predict and test different items to see if they sink or float. In this sink and float lesson plan, students predict whether an item is buoyant or not, and learn that size and weight do not matter when it comes to buoyancy.
Curated OER
Buoyancy
This is a brief survey of the states and properties of matter directed toward upper elementary physical scientists. Solids and liquids are compared. Density and buoyancy are related. Use this presentation just prior to demonstrating...
Curated OER
What Floats Your Boat?
This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load line...
Curated OER
Buoyant Behavior
Combine science and literature with this lesson on buoyancy. Read There's an Ant in Anthony by Bernard Most to examine words containing the letters a, n, and t. Then introduce your class to the word "buoyant." Demonstrate how an egg...
Curated OER
Buoyant Boats
Fourth graders explore the concept of mass and buoyancy. After building boats out of several materials, they predict whether each boat floats if certain objects are added. Students test their predictions and draw conclusions from their...
Curated OER
Marine Debris
Now is the time to educate tomorrow's citizens to care for the planet, and here is a instructional activity to help facilitate the process. Collect some marine debris and bring it into class. Have your class separate it into types and...
Curated OER
Lesson: Can-Do Canoe
Collaborative groups work together with a variety of materials to design an eight-inch canoe that floats for at least three minutes. There is no direct instruction involved in this plan, just a list of materials and a procedure for...
Curated OER
Sink It
Introduce your class to the concept of sinking and floating. In groups, they classify objects after making predictions about which materials will sink or float. They record their results and create graphs and charts to share with the class.
Curated OER
The World's Simplest Cartesian Diver
Have your class learn about buoyancy using this simple lesson plan. First, they bring in condiment packets and see what happens when they place it in a glass of water. Then, they use one of the packets to illustrate the concept of a...
Curated OER
Thermo and Fluid Dynamics of a Homemade "Lava Lamp"
High schoolers 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.
Curated OER
Build Your Own Submarine
Students construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics lesson, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some do not.
Curated OER
Ice Floats
Students explore the changing density of water. In this physics lesson, students investigate how an object's density determines whether it will float or sink in water. They explain why this unique property of is important to living things.
Curated OER
Freshwater/Saltwater "Eggs-Periment"
Students explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. In this buoyancy instructional activity, students utilize freshwater, saltwater, plastic cups, hard boiled eggs and food coloring to experiment with the floating...
Curated OER
Creating the Ideal Cargo Boat
Students build boats out of clay to test the buoyancy of the boat in water. Students break into pairs and construct their boat to specific guide lines, then experiment with their boat in the water.
Curated OER
Staying Up
Young scholars will explain the Archimedes's Principle. For this lesson on plankton, students will describe three factors that can affect the buoyancy of plankton. This lesson contains extensive background information, extensions, and...
Curated OER
Ships to a New World
Students experiment with buoyancy as a force. For this buoyancy lesson, students access an assigned website to examine the sailing vessels that came to the New World. They work as teams to build boats out of aluminum foil to see which...
Curated OER
How Fish Maintain Neutral Buoyancy
In this buoyancy activity, students 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.
Curated OER
Sink or Float: Exploring the Laws of Buoyancy
Young scholars explore the relationship between density and buoyancy. After watching a video explaining buoyancy, students discuss displacement and floating. Young scholars have a raft building competition. Afterward, they conduct...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Who Sank the Boat?
Fifth graders experiment with student-made aluminum boats to test for buoyancy. They design a boat and determine how many marbles it takes to sink it while recording their data in a spreadsheet. They design a graph using the data and...