Students predict whether objects will sink or float in water. They classify objects as sinking or floating in water. Students identify and explain similarities between objects that sink and float.

Will your next buoyancy lab rise to the occasion? Make a splash with action figure divers! Teams of young physicists explore the relationship between mass and buoyancy by adding weights or balloons to achieve a diver that neither sinks...

Junior high schoolers explore possible theories for the cause of the Hunley submarine sinking. Through hands on activities, they investigate how to create a waterproof seal. Afterwards, they discuss how seals work and various...

There's a lot content packed into the four lessons of this physical science unit on density. From salad dressing to the water cycle and hot air balloons, these lessons engage students in hands-on activities that explore real-world...

Learners design, build, and test the specifications (water displacement and load line) for a model boat. The lesson focuses especially on integrating design principles with inquiry-based experimental skills.

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...

This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson 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 line...

How many pennies can an aluminum foil boat hold? That is the challenge in a collaborative activity designed to explore the concept of buoyancy. Learners use aluminum foil to build makeshift boats and test the weight they hold before...

Young scholars 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...

Students construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics lesson, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some do not.

Save the soup! Scholars devise a flotation device using straws, balloons, foam, corks, and other objects. A can of soup must stay afloat for at least a minute with this device—your dinner might depend on it!

Students explore animal and plant adaptation.  In this ecosystems science instructional activity, students view websites to gain information about plankton and its  interdependence within ecosystems. Students identify ways in...

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...

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...

What is the best way to test water quality? Using plastic bottles, scholars create monitoring sensors to test water quality. Creating three different sensors allows individuals to measure water quality at different water levels.

Eureka! Using the clay boats made in the previous lesson, learners investigate the idea of buoyancy and water displacement to finish the last installment of five in a Floaters and Sinkers unit. Their observations during the activity...

How do temperature changes affect ocean currents? Scholars explore convection currents by demonstrating the flow of water in a baking dish. They use ice, heat, and food coloring to see currents. Then, they draw conclusions about their...

Students complete several cross-curricular activities to learn the letter Ff. In this letter recognition lesson, students complete activities that include geography, music, physical education, science, seasonal, space science, and online...

Students research inventors and inventions and their impacts. In this invention lesson plan, students research inventions and their affects in good and bad ways.