Curated OER
Technology of the Deep: Experiments with Buoyant Forces
Young scholars conduct a series of experiments to study the effects of temperature and salinity on the buoyancy of an object in water. They devise ways to make floating and sinking objects neutrally buoyant.
Curated OER
Interactive Writing
First graders write about vehicles that float using the interactive writing procedure.
Curated OER
Hot and Cold Air
In this hot and cold water worksheet, students use hot and cold water to experiment and see what happens when the two mix together. Students also answer 7 questions.
Curated OER
Immiscible Liquids and Density
Students will make a lava lamp. In this density lesson, students will combine water and oil and make observations, then add salt to the oil and observe the oil sink, then float again when the salt dissolves in the water.
California Academy of Science
Buoyancy Bulls-Eye
Why does a seastar sink, but a jellyfish float? Through a fun investigation, learners examine the concept of buoyancy using simple household items. The challenge: create neutral buoyancy for an action figure in water. With ample...
Teach Engineering
Clay Boats
Clay itself sinks, but clay boats float. Why? Young engineers build clay boats to learn about buoyancy. They test the weight the boats can hold using washers and then tweak their designs to make improvements, following the engineering...
Curated OER
Come On Down!
Begin with an introduction to famous deep-sea submersibles. Learners work in groups to gather information on different vessels and then share with the class. Each group then uses water displacement to help calculate the density of...
Exploratorium
Bubble Suspension
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...
PBS
Watercraft
Whatever floats your boat—with some additional weight. The first activity in a five-part series challenges pupils to design a boat to hold pennies. Using the design process, learners design, build, and test their boats, making sure they...
Curated OER
How Wet Can You Get?
Students visit a swimming pool and brainstorm different water sports and what benefits swimming has over other types of exercise. They then discuss buoyancy and water pressure and when how objects sink or float before playing a game of...
Curated OER
Marine Debris
Students will perform experiments to examine if debris will float, or blow in the wind. They discuss the effects of these characteristics on marine debris.
Curated OER
Day Two: Generating New Questions
Learners 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. Learners analyze which items float and do not while...
Curated OER
The Role of Density in Sinking or Floating: Relational Causality
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...
Curated OER
Give Me a Tall Ship
Sixth graders develop an understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design of testing of ships.
Curated OER
Float My Boat
Fourth graders, in groups, experiment with density and the displacement of water by creating and designing their own boats and seeing which boat holds the most centimeter cubes without sinking..
Curated OER
What Floats Your Boat?
Students discover the Archimedes principle through a buoyancy experiment. They measure the water displacement of a lump a clay which is denser than water then reshape the clay into a bowl which floats but displaces more water.
Curated OER
Designing and Floating Boats
Students participate in an experiment to determine if a toy boat will sink or float. They make the boats out of different materials and determine its carrying capacity by adding pennies. They graph their findings on a classroom graph.
Curated OER
To Float or Not to Float - A Lesson on Density
Students define density in their own words. In this physics lesson, students calculate density using mass and volume. They explain why some objects sink and some float.
Curated OER
Water Displacement
Students formulate a hypothesis using critical thinking skills. They use an orange to examine the displacement of water as the orange sinks or floats.
Curated OER
The Floating Golf Ball
Fourth graders discuss density. In this floating golf ball lesson students complete a lab activity on density while working in groups.
Curated OER
Science: Water States
First graders investigate the various forms of water. They discuss the properties of water. They discover examples of water's various states and locate other solids, liquids, and gases in their homes.
Curated OER
Water Density
Students identify and analyze the concept of density using the formula, density equals mass divided by volume. They review the differences in salinity levels of the ocean and note that the changes in density are caused by wind and...
Florida International University
Simulating Microgravity with Buoyancy
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...
CK-12 Foundation
Going Fishing
Why do some things float and others sink? A creative simulation allows learners to adjust mass and volume of an object to affect its buoyancy in water. A graph records the effect of each manipulation.