Curated OER
Wetlands/Watershed Model
Students work together to create a watershed model. They discover the flow of surface water on different topography. They examine how materials originate from miles away and end up in a different wetland.
Curated OER
Exploring Buoyancy
Students use materials found at a resource table to design simple devices that will house instruments to take water samples from a tub of water. They design 3 instruments, each varying in density so that one will float, one will hover...
Curated OER
WS 1.7 Density
In this density activity, students calculate the density of objects given their mass and volume. They are given a table with the density of a variety of substances and given the mass or volume and must find the unknown.
Curated OER
WS 1.7 Density /Archimedes Principle
Archimedes' principle is practiced as chemistry learners practice computing the density of different gases, liquids, and solids. Using a chart of standard densities, they also identify unknown materials by similar calculations. Fifteen...
Curated OER
Interactive Writing
First graders write about vehicles that float using the interactive writing procedure.
Curated OER
Pumpkin Science
Fourth graders examine pumpkins and use the scientific method to explore its contents. In this Pumpkin Science lesson, 4th graders measure pumpkins for circumference. Students dress as if they were in a lab and work in pairs to...
Curated OER
What are Properties of Wood?
Students use hands on scientific observation to determine characteristics of wood. They work directly with the materials and record their observations. Students test if wood absorbs water, if wood floats or sinks, and if all wood...
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...
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
Children's Literature Across the Curriculum Ideas-The Wheels on the Bus
Young scholars read The Wheels on the Bus by Maryann Kovalski. They complete a variety of cross-curricular activities surrounding the study of travel and transportation. Included are reading, art, math, science, writing, social studies,...
Curated OER
Science: Different Levels of Density
Young scholars observe experiments in density and describe the results. In the experiment, milk, corn syrup, and oil are added in different orders to three glasses, while one other glass contains only water. As objects are dropped into...
Curated OER
Chemistry: The Case of the Sunken Ice Cube
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...
Curated OER
Regular Coke versus Diet Coke, Which is Denser?
Students investigate the density of liquids. In this geometry instructional activity, students calculate the volume and differentiate between volume, mass and density. They observe similarity and differences between coke and diet coke.
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.
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...
Curated OER
Animal Homes
Match animals to their environments with a cute lab activity. Kids draw a line between each animal, such as a fish, a rabbit, and an ant, to the place where it lives. For hands-on practice, a science investigation instructs learners to...
Curated OER
It's A Gas!
Fifth graders complete a activity which has them place a list of gases in order from the least to the most dense. The density in grams is given for each. There's a good paragraph which provides background knowledge about the volatility...
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
States of Matter
Properties in measurement, pressure and viscosity of solids, liquids, and gases are the main topics covered in this slideshow. The explanations of Pascal's, Bernoulli's, and the Venturi effects are very clear. Easy to understand diagrams...
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
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
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.