Floating and Sinking Exploration

Name:

Date:

🔍 Part 1: Understanding Floating and Sinking

1. Floating and sinking can only happen in:

Air only

Liquids and gases

Space

Solids only

2. Which properties of an object might help you predict if it will float? (Select all that apply)

Size

Material it's made from

Shape

Colour

Whether it has air trapped inside

3. To make a floating and sinking test fair, you should:

Push some objects down harder than others

Use the same water level and gently release each object

Test objects in different containers

Only test objects you think will float

4. An object that is denser than water will:

Always float

Always sink

Sometimes float, sometimes sink

Float only if it's small

📝 Part 2: Predictions and Explanations

5. Look at these three objects: Object A, Object B, and Object C. Predict which will float and which will sink, then explain your reasoning.

Object A: Will _____________ because _________________________________

Object B: Will _____________ because _________________________________

Object C: Will _____________ because _________________________________

6. Explain what buoyancy means and how it affects whether objects float or sink.

7. A small object floats, but another small object sinks. Both are small objects. Explain why size alone doesn't determine floating and sinking.

🧪 Part 3: Design Your Investigation

8. You want to test whether the shape of an object affects floating and sinking. Describe how you would make this a fair test.

What would you keep the same?

What would you change?

How would you record your observations?

9. After testing your objects, you find that your prediction for one object was wrong. What should you do next?

10. Draw and label a simple diagram showing one object floating and one object sinking in water. Include arrows to show the forces acting on each object.

Floating and Sinking Exploration

Floating and Sinking Exploration

🔍 Part 1: Understanding Floating and Sinking

📝 Part 2: Predictions and Explanations

🧪 Part 3: Design Your Investigation

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