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...

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 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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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.

Students examine why some objects float or sink. In this physics instructional activity, students engage in several mini-experiments which challenge them to draw their own conclusions regarding why certain objects sink or float. An...

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...

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.

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.

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...

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

Fourth graders, in groups, experiment with density and the displacement of water by creating and designing their own boats and seeing which boat holds the most centimeter cubes without sinking..

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...

Students investigate buoyancy, displacement and density.  In this flotation lesson students study the Archimedes' Principle, analyze data and draw conclusions. 

Students examine whether objects will sink or float.  In this buoyancy lesson students bring in objects and experiment to see if they sink or float.

Don't just sink the boat. Using a closed container as a submarine, pupils experiment to see what to add to the container to make it float, sink to the bottom, and hover in the middle. After finding one option, learners see if they can...

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!

Students inspect nutrition by conducting a science experiment in class. In this vegetable identification lesson, students examine a group of different veggies and predict whether they will sink or float in a tub of water. Students check...

Continuing with the concept of volume and its effect on density, learners now work with a piece of clay to see if they can get it to float in water. This is a memorable end to a seven-part investigation of density. Make sure to check out...

In this buoyancy instructional activity, 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...

Students investigate Archimedes' Principle and show how it relates to density. In this Archimedes' Principle lesson plan, students experiment with a beaker of water, a Styrofoam "boat" and a weight. They predict what will happen when the...