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 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...

In this deducing density instructional activity, students follow the procedures to set up an experiment about objects floating in water and liquids of different densities, answer questions, collect data and complete charts.

What do we do when a dive is too dangerous for humans to accomplish? Send in the robots! Middle school scientists get acquainted with several different models of submersible robots in the second lesson of six from NOAA. Lab groups then...

Young scholars investigate buoyancy by participating in a lab experiment. In this density instructional activity, students utilize vinegar and alcohol in beakers and attempt to float different items in them. Young scholars analyze which...

Students investigate buoyancy. In this buoyancy lesson, students apply the Archimedes Principle of Buoyancy to the experiment conducted in class to determine how battleships float.

In this density worksheet, students explore an internet program called Gizmo where they do an experiment with density. Students complete 18 questions.

Tenth graders experiment with floating and sinking objects and heavy and light liquids, using correct terms, like density, to explain what happens.  In this Hindenburg instructional activity, 10th graders watch a demonstration...

Students end up learning the formula for density and calculate the densities of various materials, and predict if they sink or float.

Students explore water, molecules, and surface tension. In this floatation lesson, students discover why some objects are able to float on water as they follow the procedures included in this activity.

Learners 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...

Students explore the characteristics of water. In this water exploration lesson, students participate in various learning centers to inquire how water drains and how to increase the flow of water. Students use estimation and measurement...

Students study the properties of the physical and natural world. In this properties of the physical and natural world lesson, preschool students work at discovery tables to see how simple machines work, what happens when items are put...

What did the sea say to the boat? Nothing, it just waved. An inquiry-based instructional activity starts with a simple concept on the Archimedes Principle and challenges pupils to make something out of clay that floats....

Students perform an experiment to measure the density of tap water vs. salt water.

During a unit on density, pupils ponder whether or not temperature affects this property. By carefully inserting blue cold water and yellow hot water into a room-temperature sample, they will see the answer. Make sure to have done the...

Students will make a lava lamp. In this density instructional activity, 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.

Middle schoolers 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...

Middle schoolers engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and...

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...

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...

Students experiment with different salinities of water using straws and different colors of water. They collect and interpret data from the experiment.

Students experiment with water density, temperature and salinity. In this water lesson, students observe how the coldest water sinks to the bottom of a test tube, and how saltwater sinks in comparison to freshwater.

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.