Buoyancy Bulls-Eye

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In this hands-on activity, learners will construct a scuba diver that can float in order to explore how sea creatures stay neutrally buoyant in the ocean and to see what kinds of forces might be influencing their buoyancy. By adding materials such as balloons, rubber bands, toothpicks, pennies, etc. to their figure, they will try to make it neutrally buoyant in a bucket of water. This lesson plan includes discussion questions, key vocabulary, and is standards-based. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org.]

Quick Guide

Preparation Time:
5 to 10 minutes
Learning Time:
30 to 45 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:
$5 - $10 per group of students
Age Range:
Ages 11 - 14
Resource Types:
Activity, Experiment/Lab Activity, Lesson/Lesson Plan, Simulation
Language:
English

Materials List (per group of students)

  • small action figures (one per student)
  • small rubber balloons (bag of 100)
  • rubber bands (box of 100)
  • tooth picks (box of 100)
  • pennies (at least 100)
  • masking tape (one roll per group)
  • paperclips (box of 100)
  • buckets (one per group)
  • water from the faucet
  • Buoyancy Bulls-Eye Worksheet (one per student)

Keywords

Subjects

  • Physical Sciences
    • Structure and Properties of Matter
      • Mass and Weight
      • Volume and Density
  • The Nature of Science
    • The Scientific Process
      • Conducting Investigations
  • The Nature of Technology
    • The Design Process
      • Problem Solving

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

  • see
  • touch

Other

Includes alignment to state and/or national standards:

Access Rights:

  • Free access

By:

  • California Academy of Sciences

Rights:

  • , California Academy of Sciences, 2008