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Dripping Wet or Dry as a Bone?
Learners investigate the concept of humidity by using a dry and wet sponge as a model. They determine a model for 100% humidity, a sponge saturated with water.
Acid (and Base) Rainbows
Learners use red cabbage juice and pH indicator paper to test the acidity and basicity of household materials. The activity links this concept of acids and bases to acid rain and other pollutants.
How Can Gravity Make Something Go Up?
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In this activity, learners use cheap, thin plastic garbage bags to quickly build a solar hot air balloon. In doing so, learners will explore why hot air rises.
Imploding Pop Can
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In this dramatic activity/demonstration about phase change and condensation, learners place an aluminum can filled with about two tablespoons of water on a stove burner.
Physics in the Sky: Physics on a Plane
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On an airplane trip, learners have an opportunity to investigate the properties of air pressure at different altitudes.
Crunch Time
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In this quick and easy activity and/or demonstration, learners use two empty 2-liter bottles and hot tap water to illustrate the effect of heat on pressure.
Percentage of Oxygen in the Air
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In this activity, learners calculate the percentage of oxygen in the atmosphere by using steel wool's ability to rust.
Tumble Wing Walkalong Glider
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In this physics activity (page 2 of the PDF), learners will construct their own walkalong glider. They will explore how air, though invisible, surrounds and affects other objects.
How can Clouds Help Keep the Air Warmer?
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In this activity, learners explore how air warms when it condenses water vapor or makes clouds.
Toasty Wind
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In this quick activity, learners use a toaster to investigate the source for the Earth's wind. Learners hold a pinwheel above a toaster to discover that rising heat causes wind.
Water Drop Races
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In this activity, learners will explore the physics of liquids and gas by playing with both! Learners of any age use their own breath to move drops of water across a smooth wax paper surface.
A Pressing Engagement
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In this quick and easy activity and/or demonstration, learners illustrate the effect of the weight of air over our heads.
Does Air Weigh Anything?
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The demonstration/experiment provides quick proof that air has mass.
If Hot Air Rises, Why is it Cold in the Mountains?
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This demonstration/activity helps learners understand why higher elevations are not always warm simply because "hot air rises." Learners use a tire pump to increase the pressure and temperature inside
Turning the Air Upside Down: Convection Current Model
Learners see convection currents in action in this highly visual demonstration. Sealed bags of colored hot or cold water are immersed in tanks of water.
Go with the Flow
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In this quick and easy activity and/or demonstration, learners use two empty soda cans to illustrate Bernoulli's principle.
Balloon Inside a Bottle
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In this activity about phase change and condensation, learners boil water in an empty pop bottle in the microwave.
Air Cannon
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In this activity, learners create air cannons out of everyday materials. Learners use their air cannons to investigate air as a force and air pressure.
Can Crushers
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In this activity, learners conduct an experiment by heating an aluminum can filled with water to investigate air pressure.
Fly a Hot-Air Balloon
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Learners assemble a hot-air balloon from tissue paper. The heated air (from a heat gun) inside the balloon is less dense than the surrounding air and causes the balloon to float.