Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Big Enough?

For Teachers 5th - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers are introduced to the concept of buoyancy. The Video used in this lesson demonstrates and explains the characteristics of objects that sink and float. It presents the concepts of displacement, weight, and buoyancy.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating the Ideal Cargo Boat

For Teachers 5th - 7th
  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.   
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

I've Got That Sinking Feeling

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students design a simple boat and predict how much weight it can carry. They should also discover why objects float or sink and how this can be determined experimentally. A great lesson plan on buoyancy!
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Freshwater/Saltwater "Eggs-Periment"

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. In this buoyancy lesson, students utilize freshwater, saltwater, plastic cups, hard boiled eggs and food coloring to experiment with the floating capabilities of salt...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Swim

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Learners explore sinking and floating.  In this buoyancy lesson, students conduct an investigation dealing with regular and diet soda. Learners drop various soda cans into water and then discuss why some float and some sink. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Does Soap Float?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students form hypotheses and carry out an investigation in order to answer a central question: Does soap float? The focus of this lesson plan is on scientific inquiry, but it incorporates scientific topics such as sinking and floating.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Density and Stability Lab

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students observe how different water densities and salinity control the depth at which different water masses occur. Submarines are used as a case study. This is a well-designed with an excellent worksheet.
Activity
Exploratorium

Bubble Suspension

For Teachers 5th - 9th
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...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

Above-Ground Storage Tank Design Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The challenge: determine whether a tank will float. A design activity has groups work as engineering teams in order to determine the stability of given tanks and liquid contents. The teams need to determine the equations to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Activity: Float a Clay Boat

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Written to introduce pupils to buoyancy, this activity has collaborative groups work to design a floatable clay boat. They first observe that a stick of clay sinks in water and then are given their own stick to reshape into a floating...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Buoyancy Factor

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine why some objects float in water while others sink and the ability of something to float does not depend entirely on its weight. Archimedes' principle is introduced and buoyant force is discussed. Practice calculations...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eisenhower 1/26

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders identify and explain what Bernoulli's Principle is and draw diagrams to incorporate Pascal. They also perform simple calculations of density, buoyancy, and fluid pressure. Finally, 8th graders describe fluid pressure in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

How Does the USS Alabama Float?

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students investigate buoyancy. For this buoyancy lesson, students apply the Archimedes Principle of Buoyancy to the experiment conducted in class to determine how battleships float.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Condiment Diver: The World's Simplest Cartesian Diver

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students examine buoyancy.  In this density activity students form a hypothesis, collect data and draw a conclusion using the data. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Come On Down!

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Young scholars research the implementation of a research vessel used for ocean exploration.  In buoyancy lesson students will construct a device that shows neutral buoyancy.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day Six: Floater What Ifs

For Teachers 10th - 11th
Students observe earth science by examining results from an experiment. In this buoyancy instructional activity, students practice floating different items in two different liquids and identify why certain objects will float and others...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day Two: Generating New Questions

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate buoyancy by participating in a lab experiment. In this density lesson, students utilize vinegar and alcohol in beakers and attempt to float different items in them. Students analyze which items float and do not while...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chemistry: The Case of the Sunken Ice Cube

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Cartesian Diver Lab

For Students 6th - 8th
In this Cartesian diver lab, students explain using text and diagrams how the Cartesian diver works. Students evaluate ways in making their lab design better. Students make predictions of how changing the variable would change the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating Pencil

For Teachers 4th - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Weight of Water

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students examine how salt water is more dense than fresh water. They discuss how manatees need to float and sink, conduct a sink or float experiment, and conduct an experiment with eggs and salt and fresh water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Properties of Matter

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students describe four states of matter and their characteristics, explain thermal expansion of matter, interpret state changes in terms of kinetic theory of matter, explain relationship between temperature and volume of a gas, state...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Fishy Physics

For Teachers 4th - 9th
Students explore how fish are able to move easily from one depth to another in water.  In this fish lesson students create their own balloon fish. 

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