Students observe and experiment with the concept of density. This is done using a simple experiment that helps them to apply scientific principles of observation and proving a hypothesis.

Clay's as good a material as any to build a boat, right? An introductory lesson plan 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...

Why do some things float and others sink? A creative simulation allows learners to adjust mass and volume of an object to affect its buoyancy in water. A graph records the effect of each manipulation.

Students observe teacher demonstrations that illustrate density. In this density instructional activity, the teacher demonstrates how air bubbles in a carbonated drink can cause a raisin to float and how an egg sinks in fresh water, but...

Tenth graders experiment with floating and sinking objects and heavy and light liquids, using correct terms, like density, to explain what happens.  In this Hindenburg lesson, 10th graders watch a demonstration called the invisible...

Students end up learning the formula for density and calculate the densities of various materials, and predict if they sink or float.

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...

Students visit a swimming pool and brainstorm different water sports and what benefits swimming has over other types of exercise. They then discuss buoyancy and water pressure and when how objects sink or float before playing a game of...

Students formulate a hypothesis using critical thinking skills. They use an orange to examine the displacement of water as the orange sinks or floats.

Pupils explore the characteristics of water. In this water exploration lesson, students participate in various learning centers to inquire how water drains and how to increase the flow of water. Pupils use estimation and measurement in...

What did the sea say to the boat? Nothing, it just waved. An inquiry-based lesson starts with a simple concept on the Archimedes Principle and challenges pupils to make something out of clay that floats. Then, they design...

Students use materials found at a resource table to design simple devices that will house instruments to take water samples from a tub of water. They design 3 instruments, each varying in density so that one will float, one will hover...

Begin with an introduction to famous deep-sea submersibles. Learners work in groups to gather information on different vessels and then share with the class. Each group then uses water displacement to help calculate the density of...

Students study the properties of the physical and natural world. In this properties of the physical and natural world lesson, preschool students work at discovery tables to see how simple machines work, what happens when items are put...

Students examine why some objects float while others do not. They place various objects in water to observe their floating capability. Students record the object, its weight, and if the object floated. They construct a graph plotting...

Students define density in their own words. In this physics instructional activity, students calculate density using mass and volume. They explain why some objects sink and some float.

Students develop their own techniques for drawing a small sample of solutions into a straw. They hypothesize ways to increase the density of water, and discuss how salt-free rainwater tends to float on top of salty seawater.

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...

In this density worksheet, students calculate the density of objects given their mass and volume. They are given a table with the density of a variety of substances and given the mass or volume and must find the unknown.

Water with varying amounts of dissolved salt are dyed and then used to compare densities. The objective is to discover the effect of salinity, and therefore density, on ocean water on the stability of the ocean. Many branches of science...

For this mass worksheet, students fill in a chart with different items and their volume, whether they float or sink, and their density. Students complete this for 10 items and answer 6 multiple choice mass questions.

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...

Students discover the Archimedes principle through a buoyancy experiment. They measure the water displacement of a lump a clay which is denser than water then reshape the clay into a bowl which floats but displaces more water.

Students experiment with objects of different densities. In this density lesson, students examine same-sized objects with different weights, then look at a teacher explanation of density. Students make wave bottles and a density jar to...