Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers All
Students experiment with different objects to test if they sink or float. They predict what the object will do before it is put into the water. They are allowed to play with the items after the experiment is over.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Buoyancy-Why Things Float

For Students 8th - 10th
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...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Liquids: Floating and Sinking

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders conduct an experiment. In this floating and sinking liquids lesson, 3rd graders discuss density and investigate it using syrup, vegetable oil and colored water. Students observe the results and complete a worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Science: Floating and Sinking Objects

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders discuss why some objects float while others sink. They examine various objects and predict whether or not they will sink or float. Students discover the properties needed for objects to float.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Dragon Boats

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students create a model boat. In this art lesson, students identify what makes a boat float and use milk cartons to create their own boat.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float?

For Teachers K - 5th
Students predict and explore to discover which objects sink or float in fresh and salt water, predict how salt affect objects, write predictions on T chart, discuss difference between man-made and natural waters, and graph results.
Activity
1
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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
DiscoverE

Foil Boats

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
How many pennies can an aluminum foil boat hold? That is the challenge in a collaborative activity designed to explore the concept of buoyancy. Learners use aluminum foil to build makeshift boats and test the weight they hold before...
Organizer
Mr. Hill's Science Website

Density Workbook

For Students 5th - 8th
It's all about density! Here's a dense workbook for young scientists; they solve (and show work for) 29 density word problems, including a problem where they solve for the density of Godzilla. They complete labs analyzing metal...
Lesson Plan
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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. 
Activity
DiscoverE

Design a Flotation Device

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
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!
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What Floats Your Boat?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers 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.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Relationship Between Salinity and the Density of Water

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students investigate density and salinity of water. In this density and salinity lesson plan, students find the density of objects and liquids and show the relationship between the salinity and density of water. Students add salt to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Density and Salinity

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students observe how different water densities control the depth at which different water masses occur. They explain one fact that they comprehend about salt water. Students comprehend that temperature and salinity affect the density...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Will it Float?

For Teachers 1st
First graders discuss why some things sink and some float after dropping a variety of items into water.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Weight of Water

For Teachers K - 3rd
Students participate in an experiment about the weight of water. They work together to discover that seawater is more dense than fresh water. They also determine which objects float and sink.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float Experiment

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students participate in an experiment to determine which objects float or sink. They use different amounts of salt for the objects and discover as the salt content increases, objects will float. They record their predictions and what...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sink or Float

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Students construct clay boats and predict whether the boats will sink or float. Students will hypothesize what caused the boats to sink or float.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

WHY DO SOME THINGS FLOAT WHILE OTHERS SINK

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students explore how density can cause things to sink or float by experimenting with a jar, oil and corn syrup.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Water Density and Stability Lab

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students observe how different water densities and salinity control the depth at which different water masses occur. Submarines are used as a case study. This is a well-designed with an excellent worksheet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Wonderful Water

For Teachers K
Students identify the various states of water and its natural flow downward. As a class, students take digital pictures of different forms of water and create a multimedia presentation describing their photographs. Groups of students...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Buoyancy: What will float and what will sink

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students write and explain why an object sinks or floats.  In this buoyancy lesson students demonstrate how items float or sink and graph the results. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Aquatic Exercise - Object Retrieval

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students are introduced to a variety of exercises to do in the water. In groups, they swim in the deep part of the pool to retrieve objects at the bottom. To end the lesson plan, they practice techniques to help them breathe and grab...
Activity
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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...