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.

In this buoyancy worksheet, students read about the principles behind objects floating including density, buoyancy and Archimedes' Principle. Students complete a buoyancy lab where they use a balloon and water and a film canister and...

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...

Potentially get all the way across the water. The fourth of five design challenges asks pupils to develop a plan for a paddle-powered boat that will store its energy. Given a limited number of supplies, the class members design, build,...

Steer young minds to build better boats. Future engineers first spend a few days exploring the TinkerCAD software and completing some embedded lessons. They then design sea crafts with buoyancy in mind and print them using a 3-D printer.

In this Archimedes' principle instructional activity, high schoolers answer 13 questions about the concepts of Archimedes' principle such as water displacement, buoyancy and force. The answer questions from a lab they did in class to...

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...

Students experiment with buoyancy as a force. In this buoyancy instructional activity, students access an assigned website to examine the sailing vessels that came to the New World. They work as teams to build boats out of aluminum foil...

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!

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 make and test predictions about sinking and floating, and classify objects according to whether they sink or float.

Learners 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.

Students 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., that...

Students observe Archimedes' principle in action in this challenge where a toy boat is placed in a container of water and a rock is placed on the floating boat. Students must explain why the water level rises/falls/stays the same based...

Students explore material properties in hands-on and visually evident ways via the Archimedes' principle. First, they design and conduct an experiment to calculate densities of various materials and present their findings to the class....

Each student uses a small quantity of modeling clay to make a boat that will float in a tub of water. The object is to build a boat that will hold as much weight as possible without sinking. In the process of designing and testing their...

Young scholars learn that buoyancy is responsible for making boats, hot air balloons and weather balloons float. They calculate whether or not a boat or balloon will float, and calculate the volume needed to make a balloon or boat of a...

Students use modeling clay, a material that is denser than water and thus ordinarily sinks in water, to discover the principle of buoyancy. They begin by designing and building boats out of clay that will float in water, and then refine...

Students learn about displacement, density and buoyancy then apply their knowledge to build a floating object.

The tradebook, Who Sank the Boat? by Pamela Allen, is an excellent tool in teaching measurement. Learners will engage in activities involving different types of measurement. In the story, five animal friends decide to take a boat ride....

This lesson teaches the concept of measurement using grams and ounces through a student-created experiment. The students will get to test their own scientific predictions by constructing a boat and trying to sink it. This lesson provides...

Hands-on challenge to build an unsinkable boat out of straws and plastic wrap that can hold twenty five pennies. Provides full list of materials with ideas on how to build, test, evaluate, and redesign it if necessary. Also, includes...

Come and learn with this incredible seashore science resource. The content includes fun facts, experiments, reproducible activities, resources and more.