Buoyancy Teacher Resources

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...

Why does some aluminum float while other aluminum sinks? An interesting simulation begins with an introduction using oil, water, and blocks of wood and brick. After experimenting with gravity, buoyancy, density, volume, masses, and force...

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...

Scientists discovered the key to nautilus buoyancy when they X-rayed the shell of living mollusks. An educational video shares these X-rays and explains how the process works. It connects evolutionary changes, a unique circulatory...

Swimmers know to float by turning their bodies horizontally rather than vertically, but why does that make a difference? In an interesting instructional activity, scholars explore buoyancy and the properties of air and water. They test...

Check out a lesson plan that starts with force of gravity and moves through the concepts of mass, weight, volume, and density. Learners calculate density, test the buoyancy of objects, and then demonstrate understanding by altering the...

Dive into a STEM lesson! Scholars learn about positive and negative buoyancy and how they relate to concepts of density and pressure. They design a device that can dive into water to pick up an object.

How can you determine the maximum speed of a sailboat? A sailing presentation included with a straightforward lesson plan prompts learners to calculate the maximum speed of a sailboat with a displacement hull. The presentation continues...

If you are flying high in a hot air balloon, can a helium balloon pass you? Simulation allows pupils to predict how changing pressure, volume, and temperature impacts helium balloons, hot air balloons, and a sphere filled with a...

In this buoyancy worksheet, students read about neutral buoyancy and that the downward force of gravity is equal and opposite to the upward force of water. They answer four critical thinking questions about buoyancy.

Here's a lesson plan that will really float your boat! Introduce physical science scholars to the relationship between buoyancy and density through an assortment of individual and collaborative exercises. Lab groups work together to...

Need to demonstrate buoyancy to your class? Rise to the occasion with a video from Veritasium! The narrator demonstrates how a golf ball behaves in dish detergent and saltwater, then adds the detergent to the saltwater for a surprising...

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...

Students examine whether objects will sink or float.  In this buoyancy activity students bring in objects and experiment to see if they sink or float.

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...

Young scholars explore the relationship between density and buoyancy. After watching a video explaining buoyancy, students discuss displacement and floating. Young scholars have a raft building competition. Afterward, they conduct...

Students discover buoyancy by creating model boats.  In this water science lesson, students discover the physical properties of water and how floating is possible with large ships by building model boats from recycled materials....

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...

In this density and buoyancy worksheet, students calculate the density of a substance using the formula for density. Students apply Archimedes principle to explain the concept of floatation.

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...

Groups of young oceanographers get to use action figures to experiment with the property of buoyancy! This memorable lesson plan provides detailed background information, a link to the laboratory worksheet, and thorough instruction...

Middle-schoolers still enjoy playing with bubbles! In this series of eight laboratory activities, science learners explore convex and concave surfaces, angles, gas laws, buoyancy, density and more! 

Young scholars design and execute a lab through which they study the distinctions between density, buoyancy, and volume.

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...