Amaze your scholars with an activity that uses a Cartesian diver to demonstrate Pascal's Law, Archimedes' Principle, and the Ideal Gas Law. Groups then repeat the process and make their own diver move up and down in a bottle.

  Students build boats out of clay to test the buoyancy of the boat in water.  Students break into pairs and construct their boat to specific guide lines, then experiment with their boat in the water.   

Let's go sailing! An instructive unit includes six lessons with multiple activities to teach scholars about density, center of gravity, buoyancy, and the Archimedes Principle. They can complete the final project of building a boat...

Young scholars explore the changing density of water. For this physics lesson, students investigate how an object's density determines whether it will float or sink in water. They explain why this unique property of is important to...

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!

Learners construct their own submarine following a certain procedure. In this physics lesson, students calculate the density of objects using a mathematical formula. They explain why some object floats in water while some do not.

Young scholars explore water properties by conducting a class experiment. For this buoyancy lesson, students utilize freshwater, saltwater, plastic cups, hard boiled eggs and food coloring to experiment with the floating capabilities of...

Students explore sinking and floating.  In this buoyancy lesson, students conduct an investigation dealing with regular and diet soda. Students drop various soda cans into water and then discuss why some float and some sink. 

Learners 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. 

Students describe four states of matter and their characteristics, explain thermal expansion of matter, interpret state changes in terms of kinetic theory of matter, explain relationship between temperature and volume of a gas, state...

For this lesson, students will investigate why the Cartesian diver dives and rises in a 2 liter bottle. They will also, through their own discovery, come up with a question and then change one variable and record their results. Students...

Instructional module focusing on density as a physical property of matter. Discussion incorporates historical references as well as formulas. Site also includes an interactive practice quiz and links relating to the topic.

Through this curricular unit, students are introduced to the important concept of density. The focus is on the more easily understood densities of solids, but students may also explore the densities of liquids and gases. Students devise...

This lesson introduces students to the important concept of density. The focus is on the more easily understood densities of solids, but students can also explore the densities of liquids and gases. Students devise methods to determine...

Students observe Archimedes' principle in action in this challenge where a toy boat is placed in a container of water and a rock is placed on the floating boat. Students must explain why the water level rises/falls/stays the same based...

Tells the story of how Archimedes discovered the Archimedes Principle and his water displacement method for determining the volume and density of an object. Provides an explanation and several examples of how it is done.

In this activity, students investigate the history of density, its uses, and applications. Students will generate and calculate data applying it to a graph. They will be looking at the relationship between mass and volume.

Students follow the steps of the engineering design process as they design and construct balloons for aerial surveillance. After their first attempts to create balloons, they are given the associated Estimating Buoyancy lesson to learn...

Five lessons about the study of fluid mechanics. The unit concludes with students applying what they have learned to determine the stability of individual above-ground storage tanks given specific storm conditions so they can analyze...