Students analyze the relationship between density, buoyancy, and salinity. In this chemical properties lesson, students read a background activity for the lesson and experiments to the topics. Students discuss the questions and complete...

Water with varying amounts of dissolved salt are dyed and then used to compare densities. The objective is to discover the effect of salinity, and therefore density, on ocean water on the stability of the ocean. Many branches of science...

Middle schoolers participate in an experiment to determine which objects float or sink. They use different amounts of salt for the objects and discover as the salt content increases, objects will float. They record their predictions and...

This particular lesson plan was written by the National Earth Science Teachers Association, but density is a concept that you can teach at the beginning of the school year in your life, physical, or earth science classes. It would be fun...

How does a scuba diver control whether they sink or float? Scholars observe the relationship between absolute pressure and depth below the surface in an undersea simulation. They control the diver size and depth to center of mass to...

Students investigate the states of matter. In this physics lesson, students use water and ice to demonstrate the characteristics of a solid and liquid. Students record their observations as the state of the water changes.

In this float or sink worksheet, 8th graders solve 1 science/math puzzle about displacement of water; the answer is available online.

This is a brief survey of the states and properties of matter directed toward upper elementary physical scientists. Solids and liquids are compared. Density and buoyancy are related. Use this presentation just prior to demonstrating...

Don't just sink the boat. Using a closed container as a submarine, pupils experiment to see what to add to the container to make it float, sink to the bottom, and hover in the middle. After finding one option, learners see if they can...

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...

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...

Three simple activities kick off a unit investigation of density. Your physical scientists make observations on the volume and mass of wood, water, and rocks, and make comparisons. Though this is written for grades three through eight,...

Second graders discuss why some objects float while others sink. They examine various objects and predict whether or not they will sink or float. Students discover the properties needed for objects to float.

Students design a simple boat and predict how much weight it can carry. They should also discover why objects float or sink and how this can be determined experimentally. A great lesson on buoyancy!

Students explore the concepts of float and sink by playing a game where they build things on mud, water, rock and jelly. In this Anthony's sink or float game lesson, students discover what materials remain strong in various conditions....

Learners explore how density can cause things to sink or float by experimenting with a jar, oil and corn syrup.

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. 

This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson plan series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load...

The earth sciences are the focus for this Jeopardy-style review game. Categories include geology, space, scientific investigation, meteorology, and oceanography. Diagrams and pictures are involved with most of the questions, making this...

Whatever floats your boat. Young engineers learn about density by measuring the masses and volumes of boxes filled with different materials. Using their knowledge of densities, they hypothesize whether objects with given densities will...

Sometimes the simplest experiments leave the biggest impression! Introduce young chemists to the Cartesian Diver by having them make one of their own. Use the Diver to further their study of liquids and gases, as well as compression.

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...

Make a splash with young scientists as you teach them all about water using this activity packet. Thirstin, a cartoon glass of water, walks children through the water treatment process, teaches them about different sources of water, and...

In this sixth of seven activities revolving around the concept of density, physical science fans figure out if anything can be done to change the density of an object. Demonstrate by placing a can of regular and a can of diet soda into a...