Curated OER
Volumw Measurement, English System
Eighth graders biew each volume container and discuss where they have seen them in their home, and how they have seen them used. They explore the different names of volume sizes and their equivalents towards one another. Students...
Curated OER
Clay Boats
Seventh graders are given the opportunity to use model-building as a way to help comprehend the forces and phenomena at work in the world around them. They use both successful and unsuccessful models to make inferences, refine...
Curated OER
#24 Rotating Frames of Reference in Space and on Earth
High schoolers explore rotating frames of reference, focusing on the weightless environment in space and the Coriolis force.
Curated OER
Let's Catch Some Dirt From the Air
Students create "catchers" that collect dirt particles from the air. They observe the particulate matter that is collected from the air and discuss the effects and causes of air pollution.
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...
American Chemical Society
Middle School Chemistry: Density: Sink and Float for Solids
Students determine whether an object will sink or float by comparing its density to the density of water.
Utah Education Network
Uen: Sink or Float
Predict and test everyday objects as to whether they sink or float.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Density in Solutions: How Can You Make an Egg Float?
In this activity, young scholars will learn about density by determining how to make an egg float in water. By the end of the lesson, students will understand that density and weight are different and that density matters in floatation....
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Sesame Street: Sink or Float Educator Guide
This is an educator's guide for a unit on things that sink or float. It includes lesson plans, experiments, and activities. Students apply the scientific method as they investigate whether objects sink or float.
Better Lesson
Better Lesson: Floating and Sinking Sorting in Science
Students sort objects according to whether they sink or float.
American Chemical Society
Inquiry in Action: Changing the Density of an Object: Changing Shape
Throughout the activities in this investigation, students may have wondered how a boat made out of steel, which is more dense than water, can float. This activity addresses that question. Students will see that changing the shape of an...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Mn Step: Sink or Float? Inquiry Investigation
For this activity, students make predictions about whether different objects float or sink, then test them. They are asked to record their observations and results for each, and compare their results to others'.
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Density of Solid Objects
In this science inquiry, students investigate whether volume or density of objects determine the floating or sinking in water. Using a rock and a block of wood teachers engage students in the discussion of density, mass and volume.
Science and Mathematics Initiative for Learning Enhancement (SMILE)
Smile: Density in Relation to Float and Sink
Students find the densities of objects based on sinking or floating in this activity that demonstrates Archimedes Principle.
American Chemical Society
Inquiry in Action: Changing the Density of an Object: Adding Material
In this activity, students see that a can of regular cola sinks while a can of diet cola floats. As a demonstration, bubble wrap is taped to the can of regular cola to make it float. This high-volume but light-weight material increases...
American Chemical Society
Inquiry in Action: Compare the Density of an Object to the Density of Water
In this activity, students use tea light candle holders and a student-made balance to compare the weight of equal volumes of wax, water, and clay. Students will discover that since the wax weighs less than an equal volume of water, it is...
Science Education Resource Center at Carleton College
Serc: Investigating Floating and Sinking: Density
This investigation introduces the concepts of volume, mass, and density and how they interact. Students will make predictions of whether an object will float or sink after finding mass and volume of an object.
Texas Education Agency
Texas Gateway: Ap Physics: Fluid Statics: Archimedes' Principle
By the end of this section, you will be able to define buoyant force, state Archimedes' principle, understand why objects float or sink, and understand the relationship between density and Archimedes' principle.
Other
National Engineers Week Foundation: Flinker
Students investigate with common objects to see if they can make something that neither floats nor sinks, but rather "flinks" in the middle.
PBS
Pbs Learning Media: Buoyancy Brainteasers: Buoyancy Question
This interactive brainteaser from the NOVA: "Voyage of Doom" Web site challenges you to figure out what causes an object to sink.
Alabama Learning Exchange
Alex: What's the Matter: A Sinker or Floater?
Students will explore matter that sinks or floats when submerged in water and that matter is categorized as either a sinker or a floater. Students will work actively in small, cooperative learning groups as well as gather in a whole...
National Association of Geoscience Teachers
Nagt: Density Mystery Canisters
Students experiment with items that sink or float, and learn that water's density is equal to one, and objects/solutions with a density greater than one will sink, and those with a density less than one will float.
TeachEngineering
Teach Engineering: Floaters and Sinkers
Through this curricular unit, students are introduced to the important concept of density. The focus is on the more easily understood densities of solids, but students may also explore the densities of liquids and gases. Students devise...