There's a lot content packed into the four lessons of this physical science unit on density. From salad dressing to the water cycle and hot air balloons, these lessons engage students in hands-on activities that explore real-world...

Learners 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.

This open-ended boat building exercise is meant to be part of a three-lesson plan 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...

Students predict whether objects will sink or float in water. They classify objects as sinking or floating in water. Students identify and explain similarities between objects that sink and float.

Junior high schoolers explore possible theories for the cause of the Hunley submarine sinking. Through hands on activities, they investigate how to create a waterproof seal. Afterwards, they discuss how seals work and various...

Middle schoolers engage in this, the third in a three-part series on ships. The overall lesson series is designed to allow students to extend their understanding of floating, sinking, density, and buoyancy and apply it to the design and...

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...

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...

Young scholars explore animal and plant adaptation.  In this ecosystems science lesson, students view websites to gain information about plankton and its  interdependence within ecosystems. Young scholars identify ways in which...

Turn your pupils into engineers who are able to use scientific principals to design a ship. This long-term project expects pupils to understand concepts of density, buoyancy, displacement, and metacenter, and apply them to constructing a...

Students construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics instructional activity, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some...

Present the class with a question on whether the water level of a pond will rise they take a large rock out of a boat and drop it into the pond. Groups come down on all sides of the question and try to justify their answers. The activity...

Students complete several cross-curricular activities to learn the letter Ff. For this letter recognition lesson, students complete activities that include geography, music, physical education, science, seasonal, space science, and...

Students research inventors and inventions and their impacts. In this invention lesson, students research inventions and their affects in good and bad ways.