Activity
Discovery Education

Motion in the Ocean

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...
Activity
DiscoverE

Design a Flotation Device

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Save the soup! Scholars devise a flotation device using straws, balloons, foam, corks, and other objects. A can of soup must stay afloat for at least a minute with this device—your dinner might depend on it!
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Determining Densities

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Don't be dense—use a robust resource. The second installment of a five-part Floaters and Sinkers unit has learners determine the densities of several objects. As part of the activity, they learn the displacement method for finding...
Worksheet
TLS Books

Vocabulary Practice

For Students 3rd
Using context clues is a valuable skill in reading comprehension. Help kids to learn about homonyms with a multiple-choice worksheet, in which they read two sentences and fill in the blanks with the word that would work in both.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Center for Learning in Action

Properties of Balls

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Enhance your states of matter lessons with a hands-on science investigation that compares six different balls' color, texture, size, weight, ability to bounce, and buoyancy. 
Lesson Plan
Florida International University

Simulating Microgravity with Buoyancy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
How do astronauts know how to live and work in a weightless environment? It doesn't come naturally! Junior physicists conduct experiments to examine the link between buoyancy and microgravity. Each activity illustrates a different aspect...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Why Cheerios Don't Sink

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Students investigate Archimedes' Principle and show how it relates to density. In this Archimedes' Principle lesson plan, students experiment with a beaker of water, a Styrofoam "boat" and a weight. They predict what will happen when the...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Role of Density in Sinking or Floating: Relational Causality

For Teachers Higher Ed
Students watch the teacher do a demonstration of density with diet and regular soda. Note: try this first, as different types of artificial sweetener have different densities. Students discuss density and volume. They discuss "Relational...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float: Exploring the Laws of Buoyancy

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students explore the relationship between density and buoyancy. After watching a video explaining buoyancy, students discuss displacement and floating. Students have a raft building competition. Afterward, they conduct experiments to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Density and Salinity

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe how different water densities control the depth at which different water masses occur. They explain one fact that they comprehend about salt water. Students comprehend that temperature and salinity affect the density...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Will it Float?

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss why some things sink and some float after dropping a variety of items into water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss with the teacher if everything will float in water. They observe a marble and determine whether it will float making predictions as a class. After observing the results, they discover that liquids exert an upward...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WHY DO SOME THINGS FLOAT WHILE OTHERS SINK

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore how density can cause things to sink or float by experimenting with a jar, oil and corn syrup.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Float or Sink?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Pupils examine why some objects float while others do not. They place various objects in water to observe their floating capability. Students record the object, its weight, and if the object floated. They construct a graph plotting...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Floating Oranges

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students get into groups or watch one demonstration of the game. They observe an orange floating in the pool, pretending it is a little boy/girl wearing a life jacket. Next, they watch as the orange is peeled and thrown back in, with the...
Lesson Plan
DiscoverE

Foil Boats

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How many pennies can an aluminum foil boat hold? That is the challenge in a collaborative activity designed to explore the concept of buoyancy. Learners use aluminum foil to build makeshift boats and test the weight they hold before...
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Buoyant Boats

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Eureka! Using the clay boats made in the previous lesson, learners investigate the idea of buoyancy and water displacement to finish the last installment of five in a Floaters and Sinkers unit. Their observations during the activity...
Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Oceans

For Parents 1st Standards
Flotsam by David Wiesner and The Magic School Bus on the Ocean Floor by Joanna Cole, illustrated by Bruce Degen, begin a reading adventure pack focusing on oceans. With story listening and thoughtful discussion, scholars complete several...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stacking Water

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students experiment with different salinities of water using straws and different colors of water. They collect and interpret data from the experiment.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water and Ice

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students explore the states of matter. In this physical science lesson, students observe what happens to water when it freezes and record observations. Students then observe ice when it melts and record observations.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Day Two: Generating New Questions

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students investigate buoyancy by participating in a lab experiment. For 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...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Plate Tectonics Study Guide

For Students 7th - 10th
For this plate tectonics worksheet, students answer questions about plate tectonics including topics such as the lithosphere, the asthenosphere, rising and sinking convection currents, continental drift and the types of boundaries.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Teach Engineering

What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure the...
Activity
University of Waikato

Buoyancy in Water

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Change where an object floats in water. Pupils experiment with a Cartesian diver by squeezing on the side of a plastic bottle. Learners pay attention to the bulb of the pipette as the bottle is squeezed to determine what is happening...

Other popular searches