Lesson
Title:
Name:
Buoyancy
Lauren Stelmaschuk
Lesson #
4
Subject:
Date:
Science
October 20
Grade(s):
8 and 8E
Prescribed Learning Outcome(s):
N/A
Instructional Objective(s):
Students will use density to explain buoyancy and apply this to a “real world” scenario
Students will understand the use of density in mining and oil drilling operations
Students will understand how gold panning works in relation to density
Prerequisite Concepts and Skills:
Finding Mass/Volume
Basic computational skills
Concepts: Density, Buoyancy
Materials and Resources:
Teacher
Students
Gold Pans
Density “stuff” – box of misc metals and Wooden
blocks, pegs, etc
Notes on mining/drilling/Barkerville and Canada
Tarp!
Pens/Paper
Lesson Activities:
Teacher/Student Activities
A and C blocks: 65 minutes
* Provided hands-on learning about
density in a fun and engaging way.
Collect homework, show mark-sheet and include new dates. Preview
today’s class and activities. Hand back completed work. (5-10 minutes)

Show students quick note presentation on PowerPoint (15 minutes)
* Students use the information
gathered over the week to complete
diagram.
(Go outside if nice)
Demonstrate gold panning technique (5 min)
 Shake mixture of sand/objects to show that the cork/wood will
“float” on top of the sand, and the metal will “sink”
 Without water => Less mess!!!!
Have students pan the density objects (in pairs or 3’s, depending on
attendance and number of useable pans) (20 minutes)
 Each sand bucket has 5 -7 items. Students must uncover all of
them with panning.
(Move inside if outside)
Students then explain the relative densities of Sand, Wood, Metal in a
E:\Fluids and Dynamics - Sci8\Lesson Plans\Lesson 4 Gold Panning!.docx
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diagram (10 min)
Diagram handed in by end of day for completion mark
Organizational and/or Behavioral Management Strategies:
Keep students working; leave very little lag time in order to maintain attention. The C block (regular) class likes
hands-on activities, and work well through them.
Assessment and Evaluation:
Diagram
Informal observation
Questioning
 Why does gold panning work?
 describe how gold panning works
 describe how the flow of water over he pan aids in the separation of materials
 describe the forces acting on the pan (Force is covered Monday)
Extensions:
- add info to posters
- describe how gold panning works
- describe how the flow of water over he pan aids in the separation of materials
- describe the forces acting on the pan (Force is covered Monday)
Adaptations / modifications:
Students who do not wish to pan can watch and take observational notes on what is happening. Provide ppt notes to
students who are having difficulty following the lesson.
Reflections:
Overall: This lesson went very well. The students were actively engaged in the activity and were able to complete
the attached worksheet. The written responses to the question at the end were detailed and thoughtful with very little
push from me as the teacher. I was so happy to see their own thinking about this process and how they pieced
together a density gradient using what they had learned previously. Working as a facilitator was a beneficial role for
me as I could monitor the student’s progress and team-working skills over the course of the lesson. The power-point
lesson at the beginning of the day went a little long due to student questions and I would remove the piece about
fractional distillation in oil refining as it was too complicated even for the enrichment class. The gold panning video
was a huge success and the students enjoyed my story of living in Wells part-time and meeting the individual
featured in the clip. I feel this really brought the impact of the lesson home and made it tangible. Many of the
students had been to Barkerville but had never pieced together density and gold panning before.
Improvements
 Have equipment ready before students arrive to class
 Create an advanced organizer that clearly outlines each step
 Have more objects available to pan for
 Create groups for students before class begins
o Had one group of 2 “trouble-maker/ class clowns” types (sweet kids, but they tend to go off-track
easily)
 Allow more time for the gold panning and offer a second opportunity to try it.
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/10
Name_________________________
Date:_______________
Identify the following
materials on the Density
Gradient as A, B, C or D
_____
_____
_____
_____
Sand
Water
Metal
Wood/Cork
/4
Explain how you determined the relative densities of the materials. What information did you
use? How did the exercise help you come to this conclusion? Were there any other sources of
information you used? ( /6)
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