Super interesting site. There's an interactive (javascript based) grid here - http://academo.org/demos/conways-game-of-life/ - where you can input the patterns and watch them animate over time. Never fails to entertain.
An ice cube occupies a greater volume than the water that went into forming it, so I think the answer for question 5 would be the level of water in the beaker decreases.
You also need to remember that the ice cube is sticking out of the water. In fact the two effects cancel each other perfectly, so the water level stays the same.
To think about it in a more clear light, consider that the ice cube has the same weight frozen or melted. Thus by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archimedes%27_principle it will displace the same volume of water frozen or melted.
Nope! :^) In the boat question, when the bolts are in the boat they are displacing water equal to their weight. After they drop to the bottom, they are displacing water less than their weight. So less water is displaced, i.e. total water level drops.
