Curated OER
Displacement and Density
High schoolers explore displacement. In this displacement and density lesson plan, pupils find the volume of irregular shaped objects. Afterward, they determine the volume of containers. They compute the amount of water displacement.
Curated OER
Volume Lab
How can we find volume if it a shape isn't easy to measure? Investigate methods for determining this as the volume of regular and irregular objects is explored in several stations. Learners discover that when the standard formula for...
Curated OER
Measuring Matter
Explore various types of measurement with fourth graders. They will practice using balance pans to measure the weight of a coin and a graduated cylinder to determine the displacement volume for a bolt. The metric system will be the focus...
Curated OER
Water Displacement to Determine Volume
Sixth graders explore the water displacement method to determine the volume of solid objects such as rocks, nails, and marbles.
Curated OER
MEASURING THE DENSITY OF WATER
Students perform an experiment to measure the density of tap water vs. salt water.
Curated OER
What Floats Your Boat?
This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson series on ships. Links to the other two lessons are included. This particular part is mostly a group lab activity in which they build a boat, find its load line...
Illustrative Mathematics
Computing Volume Progression 4
This resource was written for the younger math learner, but finding the volume of an irregular solid is also a problem for algebra and geometry students. Based on Archimedes’ Principle, one can calculate the volume of a stone by...
Curated OER
Barge Building: What Floats Your Boat?
Students construct aluminum foil boats that float while holding the greatest number of pennies. They investigate the concept of water displacement, record their results, and watch a Bill Nye video on buoyancy.
Teach Engineering
What Floats Your Boat?
Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson sets the stage for two activities associated with buoyancy. The first involves building boats out of clay, while the second uses these boats to measure the...
Cornell University
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...
Santa Monica College
The Density of Liquids and Solids
There are underwater rivers that flow on the ocean floor thanks to a difference in density. Scholars learn about the density in both liquids and solids in the second lesson of an 11-part series. They then determine the density of water,...
Curated OER
Rising Waters
Fourth graders rank balls by size from smallest to largest and from lightest to heaviest and then by how much they made the water rise. They then discuss why certain balls make the water rise higher than do other balls.
Curated OER
Move that Tower
Students investigate ways to find the density of irregular shaped objects. In this physics lesson, students calculate density using its mass and volume. They explain why some objects float or sink in water.
Curated OER
Target Earth
Space scientists use water displacement to determine the mass of a cubic centimeter mini meteorite, and then use it as a small-scale representative of an asteroid. They figure out the orbital velocity of an asteroid. Then they use a...
Teach Engineering
Floaters and Sinkers
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...
Curated OER
Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat?
Students 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.
NASA
The NBL Pool
That is a lot of water. Class groups explore the size of the NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Pool and calculate the volume of water needed to fill it. They then compare that volume to the amount of water needed to fill a pool the size of a...
Curated OER
Microbes
Microbiology beginners feed different sweetening agents to yeast and measure carbon dioxide production to estimate energy contained in each. They set the trials up in zip-top plastic baggies and then measure gas volume by water...
Curated OER
Density as a Unique Physical Property
Students find the density of objects by finding their mass and their volume. In this density lesson plan, students determine the mass of objects, the find the volume by using formulas or by water displacement and they calculate the...
Curated OER
Fishy Physics
Students explore how fish are able to move easily from one depth to another in water. In this fish lesson students create their own balloon fish.
US Environmental Protection Agency
Sea Level: On the Rise
With the global temperature on the rise, the effects of climate change are starting to be seen. However, many people have a difficult time conceptualizing the long-term effects, such as sea levels rising. Given an easy and effective...
Pennsylvania Department of Education
Determine Volume of Solids Using Water Displacement
Students explore math functions by completing math equation worksheets. In this inequality instructional activity, students define a list of math terms and discuss the difference between an equation and inequality. Students utilize a...
Curated OER
Water Quality Monitoring
Students comprehend the four parameters of water quality. They perform tests for salinity, dissolved oxygen, pH and clarity or turbidity. Students comprehend why scientists and environmental managers monitor water uality and aquatic...
Curated OER
Turn Up the Volume
Measuring volume can be a mystery for 5th graders, but this hands-on activity gives the gift of discovery. The volume of simple rectangular solids and irregular shapes are calculated through various methods including displacing liquid in...