Lesson Plan
TeachEngineering

Teach Engineering: Floaters and Sinkers

For Teachers 6th - 9th
This lesson introduces young scholars to the important concept of density. The focus is on the more easily understood densities of solids, but students can also explore the densities of liquids and gases. Young scholars devise methods to...
Lesson Plan
Utah Education Network

Uen: Nhmu: Boy, Is That Buoyant!

For Teachers 4th
Learn how salt increases the density of water and creates a condition of buoyancy.
Activity
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Layering Liquids

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
A lab activity to show students how different densities of liquid layer on top of each other by using four different colored liquids that contain different levels of salinity. This activity can also be used in an ocean unit where...
Activity
Read Works

Read Works: Talk About Dense

For Teachers 5th Standards
[Free Registration/Login Required] An informational text explaining the density of solids and liquids. A question sheet is available to help students build skills in reading comprehension.
Website
Texas Education Agency

Texas Gateway: Humidity, Evaporation, and Boiling

For Students 10th - 12th
Learn about the relationship between vapor pressure of water and capacity of air to hold water vapor, the relationship between relative humidity and partial pressure of water vapor in the air, and how to calculate vapor density,...
Activity
Scholastic

Scholastic: Dirtmeister's Science Lab: That Sinking Feeling

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Simple experiments dealing with water temperature and density that you can complete in the lab and at home.
Graphic
American Chemical Society

Middle School Chemistry: Temperature and Density

For Students 9th - 10th
Learn how the molecular movement in different temperature water affects the density of the liquid.
Activity
SEDL

Oceans [Pdf]

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
This large PDF file integrates math, science, and language into several lessons about characteristics of the oceans. Topics include ocean currents, tides, density, marine life, and pollution.
Activity
Science Buddies

Science Buddies: Buoyancy of Floating Cylinders

For Students 6th - 8th
This project presents an interesting puzzle. A disk of wood will float face-up, that is, with its circular cross-section parallel to the surface of the water. A long log of wood, however, floats with the circular cross-section...
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: Solid and Liquid Density Investigation

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
For this activity, students investigate whether objects and liquids float or sink when placed in water. As they proceed, they will develop an understanding of what density is. Student handouts are provided.
Activity
PBS

Pbs, Secrets of the Ocean Realm: Mountain in the Sea

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This experiment allows your students to study the effect of temperature on water motion and also to create their own density driven current.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Water Activity

For Teachers K - 1st
Students investigate water by estimating how long it takes to freeze, then see if the ice cube will float in water, and eventually work with other items to see if they sink or float in water.
Activity
Museum of Science

Museum of Science and Industry: Online Science: Design a Submarine

For Students 3rd - 9th
Become an engineer, and design a submarine that moves in the water like a real submarine. Try making it sink, float, and hover in the water.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Predicting the Spring Phytoplankton Bloom in the Gulf of Maine

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This lesson helps students understand the variables that influence the abundance of phytoplankton. Students will make predictions about the timing of the spring phytoplankton bloom in the Gulf of Maine. Furthermore, data from buoy...
Activity
Science Museum of Minnesota

Science Museum of Minnesota: Thinking Fountain: Density

For Students 3rd - 7th
An introduction to density, mass, and volume with links to related books and activities.
Lesson Plan
University Corporation for Atmospheric Research

Ucar: Cycles of the Earth System: Make Convection Currents!

For Teachers 5th - 9th
In this lesson, students will understand that temperature changes can cause density changes in water and in air.
Lesson Plan
University of Southern California

Usc: The Composition of Ocean Water

For Teachers 9th - 10th
This site gives background information to ocean water and its contents. It has a link to an detailed chart showing the minerals and their content amount in ocean water. It also has links to activities.
Activity
PBS

Pbs Teachers: Hot and Cold Water Experiment

For Students Pre-K - 1st
Demonstrate the relationship between water temperature and density using two clear plastic soda bottles.
Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Specific Gravity

For Students 9th - 10th
Wikipedia offers a brief explanation on what specific gravity is and why it is measured in terms of density of water. The equation for its measurement is also given.
Lesson Plan
Illustrative Mathematics

Illustrative Mathematics: G Mg Archimedes and the King's Crown

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The King of Syracuse reportedly requested Archimedes' advice for determining if a crown was made with the appropriate mixture of gold and silver. The problem asks students to find the amount of water displaced in Archimedes' experiment...
Interactive
PBS

Nova: Earth in Peril

For Students 9th - 10th
A series of nine maps with accompanying explanations. They show how population growth has affected the environment around the world in terms of water availability, climate change, land and forest use, and more. There are both interactive...
Activity
Museum of Science

Museum of Science: Water Density Experiment

For Students 9th - 10th
A simple lab activity to demonstrate that ocean currents are influenced by changes in water density.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: Who Is on Top?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students investigate density in this activity when they try to find out if oil or water has a higher density.
Lesson Plan
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College

Serc: Mn Step: Sink or Float: All Liquids Do Not Have the Same Density

For Teachers K - 1st
An experiment in density. After a review of floating and sinking of different materials, students test four bottles, all holding four ounces of water, to see if they will float or sink. They each contain a different density of sugar...