Students will use engineering skills to develop and use models as well as collaboratively plan an investigation to make sense of buoyancy.

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In this math activity, learners are challenged to create aluminum foil boats that will hold plastic bears until the boats sink. The lesson serves as a fun, hands-on way to collect data. Data from two attempts is collected and used to make two class box-and-whisker plots with some surprising results. This lesson guide includes questions for learners, assessment options, extensions, and reflection questions.

Students learn about and experiment with the concept of surface tension. How can a paper clip "float" on top of water? How can a paper boat be powered by soap in water? How do water striders "walk" on top of water? Why do engineers care about surface tension? Students answer these questions as they investigate surface tension and surfactants.

Students will use engineering skills to develop and use models as well as collaboratively plan an investigation to make sense of buoyancy.

Students will use engineering skills to develop and use models as well as collaboratively plan an investigation to make sense of buoyancy.

Students use a small quantity of modeling clay to make boats that float in a tub of water. The object is to build boats that hold as much weight as possible without sinking. In the process of designing and testing their prototype creations, students discover some of the basic principles of boat design, gain first-hand experience with concepts such as buoyancy and density, and experience the steps of the engineering design process.

Students explore the densities and viscosities of fluids as they create a colorful 'rainbow' using household liquids. While letting the fluids in the rainbow settle, students conduct 'The Great Viscosity Race,' another short experiment that illustrates the difference between viscosity and density. Later, students record the density rainbow with sketches and/or photography.

Students learn that buoyancy is responsible for making boats, hot air balloons and weather balloons float. They calculate whether or not a boat or balloon will float, and calculate the volume needed to make a balloon or boat of a certain mass float. Conduct the first day of the associated activity before conducting this lesson.

This experiment teaches students about surface tension. Through the use of paint students will learn how water beetles (and other animals/objects) can stay on the surface without sinking.

Students will learn about buoyancy and why certain items sink or float. They will relate their findings to how fish swim.