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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.
Lava Lamps
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Learners observe working lava lamps to understand how they work (included in PDF link).
Hot Air Balloon
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In this activity, learners build a hot air balloon using just a few sheets of tissue paper and a hair dryer.
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.
Convection Current
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In this activity, learners make their own heat waves in an aquarium.
The Amazing Water Trick
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Using two baby food jars, food coloring, and an index card, you'll 'marry' the jars to see how hot water and cold water mix.
Pie-Pan Convection
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It's difficult to see convection currents in any liquid that's undergoing a temperature change, but in this Exploratorium Science Snack, you can see the currents with the help of food coloring.
Full of Hot Air: Hot Air Balloon Building
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In this activity, learners create a model of a hot air balloon using tissue paper and a hairdryer. Educators can use this activity to introduce learners to density and its role in why things float.
What Causes Pressure?
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In this kinesthetic activity that demonstrates pressure, learners act as air molecules in a "container" as defined by a rope.
Energetic Water
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In this activity, learners explore how hot and cold water move. Learners observe that temperature and density affect how liquids rise and fall.
Differing Densities: Fresh and Salt Water
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In this activity, learners visualize the differences in water density and relate this to the potential consequences of increased glacial melting.
Convection Demonstration
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In this quick activity (located on page 2 of the PDF under GPS: Balloon Fiesta Activity), learners will see the effects of convection and understand what makes hot air balloons rise.
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.
That Sinking Feeling
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In this quick activity, learners observe how salinity and temperature affect the density of water, to better understand the Great Ocean Conveyor.
Salt Crystal Garden
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In this activity, learners will explore saturated solutions and discover how crystals form.
Solar Convection
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In this activity, learners add food coloring to hot and cold water in order to see how fluids at different temperatures move around in convection currents.
Density Rainbows
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In this activity, learners explore the concept of density by pouring 5 different liquids into a jar. Food coloring is added if needed to give each liquid a distinct color.
Weather Stations: Winds
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In this activity, learners use a toaster to generate wind and compare the appliance's heat source to Jupiter's own hot interior. Learners discover that convection drives wind on Jupiter and on Earth.
Causes and Effects of Melting Ice
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In this activity, learners explore the concept of density-driven currents (thermohaline circulation) and how these currents are affected by climate change.
Changing the Density of a Liquid: Heating and Cooling
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Learners investigate how the temperature of water affects its density.