KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION DEPARTMENT

LESSON PLAN FORMAT

Teacher Candidate:

Gina Laureti

Date:

Cooperating Teacher:

Dr. Varano

Coop. Initials

Group Size:

20

Subject or Topic:

Allotted Time 50 minutes

Buoyancy

November 5

Grade Level

3rd

Section

STANDARD:
3.2.3.A2. Recognize that all objects and materials in the world are made of matter.
I. Performance Objectives (Learning Outcomes):
A. The students will observe buoyancy by pushing on a beach ball and being
unable to make it float.
B. The students will explain the relationship between buoyancy and density by
writing it in their own words.
II. Instructional Materials
A. Brain Pop video http://www.brainpop.com/science/motionsforcesandtime/buoyancy/
B. Clear tub of water
C. Beach ball
D. PowerPoint
E. Index cards with scrambled buoyancy definition
F. Red pepper
G. Grapes
H. Index cards for exit slip

III. Subject Matter/Content (prerequisite skills, key vocabulary, big idea, outline of
additional content)
A. Prerequisite skills
1. Students have prior knowledge of matter.
2. Students have prior knowledge of density, volume, and displacement.
B. Key Vocabulary
1. Buoyancy: the ability of a substance to float. It is the upward force
produced by liquid on an object. Buoyancy depends on the density of
the object.

C. Big Idea
1. How does an objects buoyancy affect whether or not it floats or
sinks?
2. How does an objects density affect its buoyancy?
D. Additional content
IV. Implementation
A. Introduction
1. The teacher will begin the lesson by showing a Brain Pop video about
buoyancy:
http://www.brainpop.com/science/motionsforcesandtime/buoyancy/
2. Before the video, the teacher will tell the students to listen for what
they already know and what is new to them.
3. After the video, the teacher will ask the students what was new to
them in this video. The students will reply that they are unsure of
what buoyancy is.
4. The teacher will explain that today we are going to learn about
buoyancy.
B. Development
1. The teacher will begin the lesson by having a clear tub of water in the
front of the room with a blown up beach ball. The teacher will invite
the students to come around the table the materials are placed on.
2. The teacher will put the beach ball into the water. The beach ball will
float. The teacher will ask the students, as a review, why the beach
ball floats. Students will answer that the ball has low density so
therefore it floats.
3. Next, the teacher will choose a couple of different students to come
up to the table and try to push the beach ball into the water to make it
sink. The ball will not sink, and there will be a force that pushes back
on the ball. The teacher will have the students explain what they feel
when they try to push the ball down. The teacher will explain that the
force that is pushing back on the ball is called buoyancy.
4. The students will go back to their seats.
5. The teacher will put a PowerPoint on the board. The teacher will
follow along with the PowerPoint for the remainder of the lesson.
6. The first slide will have questions that include: Have you ever
floated when you went swimming? Have you ever tried to lift
someone in the water? If so, were they heavy or light? The
teacher will have the students turn and talk to a partner about if they
have ever experienced these things and what happened.
7. The teacher will ask one pair to share what happened to them. The
teacher will explain that what keeps things afloat is buoyancy. She
will explain that buoyancy is the upward force produced by a liquid to
make an object float.

8. The teacher will hand out index cards with one word on each index
card. In their partner pairs, the students will unscramble the words to
make the definition of buoyancy.
9. After each group has unscrambled the buoyancy definition, the
teacher will call on one pair to share their definition. One person in
the pair will write the definition on the board. The rest of the groups
will check their definition is the same.
10. Now the teacher will place a red pepper into the water. The pepper
will float. The teacher will ask the students how the pepper is
floating. The students will reply because of its buoyancy. However,
the teacher will begin to explain that it is because of the peppers
buoyancy and density that it is floating.
11. The teacher will explain that in the first lesson, we learned that
density is the amount of mass an object has and that will depend on if
the object will sink or float. Buoyancy is affected by an objects
density. If the object is very dense, the force pushing up on the object
(buoyancy) will not be enough to make it float. But if the object is
not very dense, the buoyancy will be enough to keep the object afloat.
12. Peppers have a very low density and therefore buoyancy will keep
them afloat. The teacher will ask what the students think will happen
if grapes are placed in the water. Teacher will take a tally vote of
what the students think will happen.
13. A member from each pair will receive a grape. The students will all
put the grape in the tub of water at the same time. All of the grapes
will sink to the bottom. The other member of the pair will explain
why the grape sunk. Students will explain that grapes are dense and
buoyancy is not enough to make them float.
C. Closure
1. The teacher will go over again what buoyancy is with the students
and how density is affected by it.
2. The teacher will hand out an index card to each student. Students will
write in their own words what buoyancy is and its affect on density.
3. The teacher will remind the students of key words to include.
D. Accommodations/Differentiation
1. A.P., who has a specific learning disability, will be called on in the
beginning of the lesson when the teacher asks students to come up
and push on the beach ball and try to make it sink. By having A.P. be
one of the students to come up, he will be engaged and will be able to
experience the force pushing back up first hand and will have to do
less inferencing.
2. A.P. will be paired with his peer-tutoring partner during group work
so his partner can help him, if needed, in further explaining buoyancy
and its affect on density.

3. A.P. will be provided with a word bank for his exit slip on his index
card.
E. Assessment/Evaluation Plan
1. Formative
a. The teacher will use the exit slips conducted at the end of class to
determine if the students understood the definition of buoyancy
and its affect on density. She will use the following checklist to
assess the exit slip:
The student mentioned that buoyancy is the force
making the object float.
The student mentioned that density determines if
buoyancy is enough to make an object float.
2. Summative
V. Reflective Response
A. Report of Student Performance in Terms of Stated Objectives (Reflection on
student performance written after lesson is taught, includes remediation for
students who fail to meet acceptable level of achievement)

Remediation Plan
B. Personal Reflection (Questions written before lesson is taught. Reflective
answers to question recorded after lesson is taught)
1. Were the students able to understand the relationship between
buoyancy and density?

2.

Did the students need to be engaged in a more hands on activity to

understand the lesson?

3.

Did the students have enough knowledge to explain the relationship

between buoyancy and density into their own words.

VI. Resources (in APA format)

A. BrainPop Video:
http://www.brainpop.com/science/motionsforcesandtime/buoyancy/

B.

Staroscik, A. (2011, January 1). Buoyancy. Retrieved October 10,

2014, from http://scienceprimer.com/buoyancy