Episode 1 – Sink or Swim

First, you’ll need to download the Sink or Swim Lab Manual.

Please note– this was our first episode, ever. We apologize for the absence of audio for the first 10 minutes. Long story short we shut off the master audio switch before the stream to troubleshoot some static … and you guessed it. We forgot to turn it back on. DOH! It’s a good thing that you don’t miss out on any of the science though!

What allows us to float on water? It’s buoyant force! We’ll be making an apparatus that stays neutrally buoyant in water. In other words, the apparatus will not sink to the bottom nor float to the top, but rather stay buoyant in the middle! With any materials in your household, let’s start engineering!

Fun Facts: Fish have gas bladders that allow them to change their own buoyancy! Similar to a balloon, when inflated, it will allow the fish to be more buoyant and rise closer to the surface. When deflated, it allows the fish to sink closer to the bottom of the ocean!

Saskatchewan Curriculum Connection: FD8.2: Examine the effects of forces in and on objects in fluids, including the buoyant force. (a, h, i, j, l)