Activity
US Department of Agriculture

Sink or Float?

For Teachers 2nd - 3rd Standards
Will it sink or will it float? Learners predict the outcome as they drop random objects into a container of water. Then, they keep track of the results and record the data in a t-chart to draw a final conclusion.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders explore floating and sinking and make predictions about whether certain objects are likely to sink or float. They read the story Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen. Pupils loacate rhyming words and discuss the events of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Will It Sink or Float?

For Teachers K - 2nd
Students perform experiments to see if items will sink or float. In this sink or float lesson, students work in groups to make predictions, and record the results. After the experiments are complete students make a book of the results.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Magical Diving Sub

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss and predict if a given object sinks or floats. They record their predictions on a data sheet. Pupils test the objects and organize them into floating/sinking groups. Students observe the floating and sinking of a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Swim

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Young scholars explore sinking and floating.  In this buoyancy instructional activity, students conduct an investigation dealing with regular and diet soda. Young scholars drop various soda cans into water and then discuss why...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Don't Be So Dense

For Teachers 6th Standards
An engating lesson plan relates mass and volume to better understand density. Young scientists explore and experiment with floating and sinking as well as density cubes. Then, they solve how to make a sinking item float.
Activity
DiscoverE

Action Figure Diver

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers K
Students observe and classify objects that float or sink.
Lesson Plan
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Center for Learning in Action

Density

For Teachers 2nd - 5th Standards
Explore the concept of density within states of matter—gases, liquids, and solids—through a group experiment in which young scientists test objects' texture, color, weight, size, and ability to sink or float.    
Lesson Plan
Cornell University

Buoyancy

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Swimmers know to float by turning their bodies horizontally rather than vertically, but why does that make a difference? In an interesting lesson plan, scholars explore buoyancy and the properties of air and water. They test cups to see...
Lesson Plan
NOAA

Come on Down!

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
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...
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Clay Boats

For Teachers 7th - 9th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Wonderful world of Water

For Teachers 1st
First graders examine the water cycle through readings and experiments. In groups, they conduct interviews with others and use the information to create a chart displaying the various uses of water. After brainstorming lists of ways to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Let's Get Carried Away

For Teachers K - 2nd
Learners discover how seeds travel from their parent plants in search of water, sunlight, and nutrients, and conduct experiments in which they note characteristics that encourage seed dispersal by means of wind, water, animal carriers,...
Lesson Plan
1
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Center for Learning in Action

Properties of Balls

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
Enhance your states of matter lessons with a hands-on science investigation that compares six different balls' color, texture, size, weight, ability to bounce, and buoyancy. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oil Changes Everything

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Students participate in a hands on activity simulating an oil spill. In this oil spill lesson plan, students conduct an experiment about an oil spill, discuss how it would affect the environment and provide solutions to prevent oil spills.
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Rock and Boat

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Salinity

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Learners define and discuss salinity, conduct classroom experiment to determine salinity of water sample by using hydrometer, record predictions, and demonstrate understanding of how salinity influences object's ability to float in water.
Activity
1
1
Teach Engineering

Buoyant Boats

For Teachers 7th - 9th Standards
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Letter Ff: Alphabet Theme

For Teachers 1st - 2nd
Students complete several cross-curricular activities to learn the letter Ff. For this letter recognition lesson, students complete activities that include geography, music, physical education, science, seasonal, space science, and...