“This boat is unsinkable!” exclaimed the captain of the Titanic. “This boat is made of steel!” replied the shipbuilder.

In their investigation over the displacement of matter, sixth grade science students tested matter to see if its shape affected its volume. 

Students used a marble, foil ball, and clay ball to initiate the investigation.

They measured the circumference in centimeters, the mass in grams, the weight in newtons, and the volume of each ball in cubic centimeters.

Keeping the marble as the control, students reshaped the balls of clay and foil into boat shaped objects.  The results predicted were that even if the mass did not change, the boat shape would float while the ball shape would sink.  The students noticed a change in volume when the matter was reshaped.  The volume increased.

Archimedes was regarded as one of the leading scientists in Ancient Greece.  His theory was,

     "an object that is placed in fluid experiences an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid displaced by the object."  

 Since more water was displaced with the boat shape, more upward force was experienced, and the matter floated.

Students concluded that the increase in volume had to have come from the addition of air that the boat shaped matter held.   These results were seen with both the clay and foil.

Archimedes was also a mathematician.   He believed that the results had to be proven with math.  The formula he used was Density, D is equal to the Mass,M  of the object divided by the Volume,V.  D=M/V

If the answer is less than 1.0, the object should float because the density of  water is 1.0.