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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.
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.
Melting Ice
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In this activity, learners explore density, convection, stratification, and, by inference, the melting of icebergs. Learners make hypotheses, test their hypotheses, and explain their observations.
Sinking Water
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In this experiment, learners float colored ice cubes in hot and cold water.
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.
That's the Way the Ball Bounces: Level 2
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In this activity, learners prepare four polymer elastomers and then compare their physical properties, such as texture, color, volume, density, and bounce height.
Cooling Off
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In this activity, learners are introduced to challenges of maintaining temperatures while living in space.
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.
Inverted Bottles
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In this activity, learners investigate convection by using food coloring and water of different temperatures.
Salt Crystal Garden
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In this activity, learners will explore saturated solutions and discover how crystals form.
Make a Salt Volcano (Lava Lite)
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This activity about density provides instructions for making a miniature "lava lite" with just salt, oil, water, and food coloring.
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.