Curated OER
Floating Fishes: How do Fishes Control Buoyancy?
Playing with balloons, water, oil, and bottles help put this lesson over the top! Participants use air-filled balloons in water tanks to experience gas compression. They also use oil-filled bottles to experiment with buoyancy. Included...
Curated OER
Buoyancy: Integrating Science and Literature
Integrate science and literature by using the scientific method to test the veracity of the floating peach described in Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach. Clips from a Bill Nye: The Science Guy episode about buoyancy frontload...
Curated OER
Buoyancy and Viscosity
Some of these beautiful diagrams should help your students understand the connections between pressure and flight. Pressure and density are also discussed, and a number of links are included to give fantastic interactive examples of...
Florida International University
Simulating Microgravity with Buoyancy
How do astronauts know how to live and work in a weightless environment? It doesn't come naturally! Junior physicists conduct experiments to examine the link between buoyancy and microgravity. Each activity illustrates a different aspect...
Curated OER
Will It Sink Or Float?
Learners develop their understanding of buoyancy and density related to sinking and floating. They investigate which objects sink and float through experimentation. They determine that different substances sink or float depending on...
Curated OER
Sink or Float?
Have your class explore density and buoyancy using this resource. Learners read the book Who Sank the Boat, and use several items, such as rubber balls, bottle caps, wood, and other household items to conduct an experiment. Using a tub...
Cornell University
Buoyancy
Swimmers know to float by turning their bodies horizontally rather than vertically, but why does that make a difference? In an interesting lesson, scholars explore buoyancy and the properties of air and water. They test cups to see which...
Curated OER
Sink or Float
Using a variety of objects, learners conduct buoyancy experiments. They make predictions on which object will sink or float and test their predictions. They use a graphic organizer to record their findings.
Curated OER
Physical Science- Sink or Float?
Learners investigate which objects sink and which ones float. Learners engage in an experiment, make predictions, and record results on a graphic organizer. This is a comprehensive and easy to follow resource.
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
Floating and Sinking - An Investigation
A simple and effective presentation could be helpful for your young scientists. Learners consider whether or not a piece of wood, glass, cork, brick, and ice will float or sink when placed in water. After the class has made their...
Curated OER
How to Float an Egg
Use the scientific method to experiment with an egg. Your class can examine buoyancy and density by finding how many spoons of salt are needed to float an egg. They can predict, experiment, record data, and analyze results.
Center for Precollegiate Education and Training
Buoyancy Boats
What did the sea say to the boat? Nothing, it just waved. An inquiry-based lesson starts with a simple concept on the Archimedes Principle and challenges pupils to make something out of clay that floats. Then, they design an object out...
University of Waikato
Buoyancy in Water
Change where an object floats in water. Pupils experiment with a Cartesian diver by squeezing on the side of a plastic bottle. Learners pay attention to the bulb of the pipette as the bottle is squeezed to determine what is happening...
Curated OER
Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat?
Students design, build, and test the specifications (water displacement and load line) for a model boat. The instructional activity focuses especially on integrating design principles with inquiry-based experimental skills.
Teach Engineering
What Floats Your Boat?
Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure the...
Curated OER
Does Soap Float?
Students form hypotheses and carry out an investigation in order to answer a central question: Does soap float? The focus of this lesson is on scientific inquiry, but it incorporates scientific topics such as sinking and floating.
Curated OER
Sink or Float?
Students make and test predictions about sinking and floating, and classify objects according to whether they sink or float.
Curated OER
Sink or Float?
Young scholars will determine whether various objects sink or float in water. They do not need to explain why objects sink or float. They are rather to be encouraged to observe that the same objects will sink or float every time, i.e.,...
Curated OER
Sink or Swim
Students explore sinking and floating. In this buoyancy lesson plan, students conduct an investigation dealing with regular and diet soda. Students drop various soda cans into water and then discuss why some float and some sink.
American Chemical Society
Comparing the Density of an Object to the Density of Water
Investigators construct a makeshift balance and compare equal volumes of wax and water. They do the same for clay and water. Then they discover whether the wax and clay will float or sink in water. Ultimately this is a comparison of...
Curated OER
A Weighty Issue
Want to get your students motivated in science class? Given only a piece of aluminum foil, assign groups the task of designing a "barge" that will support the weight of a bunch of pennies. The group who is able to put the most pennies...
Exploratorium
Descartes' Diver
Pique interest in water pressure, demonstrate buoyancy, and explore water displacement concepts with a homemade Cartesian diver. You may want to change the name of the toy, however, as is is not documented the Rene Descartes actually...
Curated OER
I've Got That Sinking Feeling
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!