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...

First graders work in small groups to observe the tendency to float or sink for a variety of objects in water. They sort the objects and discuss their observations. They use aluminum foil to construct a boat and test it for weight capacity.

Whatever floats your boat. Young engineers learn about density by measuring the masses and volumes of boxes filled with different materials. Using their knowledge of densities, they hypothesize whether objects with given densities will...

Students design and construct a boat out of aluminum foil and a few other simple materials. The boats then be tested by floating them in water, then adding mass until they sink. They explore the various shapes of boat construction.

Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory instructional activity sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats...

This silly story of a family, their pet goat, a coat, and boat will capture your pupils' attention as they work on the long /o/ sound, the oa digraph, and reading comprehension.

Don't be so dense that light bends around you; study the relationship between mass and volume instead. Young chemists measure the density of a variety of liquids and solids. A reading passage and analysis questions introduce pupils to...

Written to introduce pupils to buoyancy, this activity has collaborative groups work to design a floatable clay boat. They first observe that a stick of clay sinks in water and then are given their own stick to reshape into a floating...

Middle schoolers 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.

Students extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and testing of ships. students discover that most ships are constructed very similarly-whether they are schooners or destroyers.

A whole-group discussion kicks off a hands-on activity that challenges young engineers to build a sailboat using reusable materials. Participants gather recycled items to assemble their one-of-a-kind sailboat and test its ability to...

Students examine how weight and balance can effect if an item sinks or floats. They listen to the book "Who Sank the Boat?" by Pamela Allen, and discuss how the smallest animal sank the boat. Students then conduct an experiment in...

First graders work in cooperative groups and utilize a variety of materials to test objects ability to sink or float. In this sink or float lesson plan, 1st graders discover why some object sink and others float. Students will graph...

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...

First graders explore items that sink or float. They cut and glue pictures of objects that they predict will sink or float. Students place thir pictures on a picture of a bucket of water. Students then color the objects that they had...

Get the class thinking about why particular objects and animals are shaped the way they are. Considering water resistance and shape, learners assess a series of images and how those objects function in water. They finish by conducting a...

Students are introduced to the concept of buoyancy. The Video used in this lesson demonstrates and explains the characteristics of objects that sink and float. It presents the concepts of displacement, weight, and 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...

Students investigate the states of matter. In this physics lesson, students use water and ice to demonstrate the characteristics of a solid and liquid. Students record their observations as the state of the water changes.

Learners examine the relationship of man and nature as portrayed in Stephen Crane's, The Open Boat." The third person, omniscient point of view, the depth of character analysis found in the story, and the emotions evoked by the author...

When two vowels go walking, who does the talking? Learners explore this question with several activities featuring words with OA, AI, and EA. The activity includes many fun pictures and requires different skills sets such as context...

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

In this float or sink worksheet, 8th graders solve 1 science/math puzzle about displacement of water; the answer is available online.

Students construct clay boats and predict whether the boats will sink or float. Students will hypothesize what caused the boats to sink or float.