Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Objects Sink and What Objects Float

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Special needs young scholars explore why certain objects sink or float. They will make predictions on what objects will sink or float. Students conduct an experiment using a large bowl of water and several objects and test their...
Lesson Plan
American Chemical Society

Comparing the Density of an Object to the Density of Water

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating Fishes: How do Fishes Control Buoyancy?

For Teachers 7th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buoyancy: What will float and what will sink

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students write and explain why an object sinks or floats.  In this buoyancy lesson plan students demonstrate how items float or sink and graph the results. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders sort objects into those they think will float and those that will sink and test their predictions. They experiment with clay molding it into shapes that float. They place pennies in them until they sink. They test other...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buoyant Behavior

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Grand Designs And Great Failures

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing of ships. students discover that most ships are constructed very similarly-whether they are schooners or destroyers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Young scholars design, build, and test the specifications (water displacement and load line) for a model boat. The instructional activity focuses especially on integrating design principles with inquiry-based experimental skills.
Activity
It's About Time

Mass and Volume

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Don't be so dense that light bends around you; study the relationship between mass and volume instead. Young chemists measure the density of a variety of liquids and solids. A reading passage and analysis questions introduce pupils to...
Activity
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Teach Engineering

Rock and Boat

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Present the class with a question on whether the water level of a pond will rise they take a large rock out of a boat and drop it into the pond. Groups come down on all sides of the question and try to justify their answers. The activity...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating Fishes: Boat Sinking Lab

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

A Weighty Issue

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies.  The group who is able to put the most...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Prime and Composite Numbers - Kenwood Academy

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Learners investigate prime and composite numbers. They use a number chart and cross out multiples of 2,3,5 etc. up to 100. Pupils fold pieces of masking tape around pennies and label them with composite numbers, then fold masking tape...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Note Taking And Skills And Lab Reports

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students perform simple and fun experiments to use the scientific method, take careful notes, and write a lab report. They first make and test a hypothesis about how many drops of water they can fit on the face of a penny and then test...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. In this buoyancy instructional activity, students make predictions as to whether or not specific objects will sink or float in water. Students conduct the experiment and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating Soap

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Pupils use the Scientific Method steps to complete an experiment on various brands of soap to determine their floating capabilities. For this scientific method lesson, students write a hypothesis about the ability of various soap bars to...
Unit Plan
Illinois Valley Community College

STEM Activities for Middle School Students

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Use STEM activities within the class to provide connections to concepts. The resource includes activities that range from working with buoyancy to building rockets and launching them. Other activities involve the engineering design...
Unit Plan
University of Southern Indiana

Manifest Density

For Teachers 5th - 8th Standards
There's a lot content packed into the four lessons of this physical science unit on density. From salad dressing to the water cycle and hot air balloons, these lessons engage students in hands-on activities that explore real-world...
Activity
University of Waikato

Temperature, Salinity and Water Density

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The difference between sinking and floating may be a little salt. Young experimenters analyze the effect of salt and temperature on the density of water. They use their results to predict the effect of climate change on ocean ecosystems.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating and Falling Flows

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Students discover fluid dynamics related to buoyancy through experimentation and optional photography. Using one set of fluids, they make light fluids rise through denser fluids. Using another set, they make dense fluids sink through a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Which Objects Will Sink or Float?

For Teachers 1st
First graders work in cooperative groups and utilize a variety of materials to test objects ability to sink or float. In this sink or float lesson, 1st graders discover why some object sink and others float. Students will graph results...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Will it SINK or Float?

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Students predict whether objects will sink or float in water. They classify objects as sinking or floating in water. Students identify and explain similarities between objects that sink and float.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers K
Students observe and classify objects that float or sink.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Density: Float or Sink

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students discover density.  In this density lesson, students discover the properties of objects that allow them to float or sink in water.

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