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Density: Make a golf ball float!
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In this activity (on page 2 of the PDF), the learner places a golf ball between salt water and colored fresh water. The golf ball is not as dense as the saltwater.

Salt 'n Lighter
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In this activity, learners discover that as the salinity of water increases, the density increases as well. Learners prove this by attempting to float fresh eggs in saltwater and freshwater.

Diet Light
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In this quick activity, learners observe how the added sugar in a can of soda affects its density and thus, its ability to float in water.

Descartes' Diver
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In this activity, learners explore how changes in fluid pressure affect the buoyancy of a Cartesian diver inside a plastic soda bottle.

Floating Paper Clip
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In this activity, challenge learners to float a paper clip in a cup of water. Learners discover that a paper clip will sink in a cup of water, except when it is placed on a piece of paper towel.

Density Intensity
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In this activity on page 12 of the PDF (Rethinking the 3 R’s: It’s Easy to be Green), learners examine how recyclable materials are separated by various properties at recycling centers.
Floating Paperclip and Other Surface Tension Experiments
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In this activity, learners experiment with surface tension using everyday household items such as strawberry baskets, paperclips, liquid dish soap, and pepper.

Above Water: Buoyancy & Displacement
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In an investigation called "Shape It!" learners craft tiny boats out of clay, set them afloat on water and then add weight loads to them, in order to explore: how objects stay afloat in water; what th

The Great Plankton Race
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In this activity, learners are challenged to design a planktonic organism that will neither float like a cork nor sink like a stone.

Layered Liquids: Chemistry You Can Drink
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In this chemistry activity (on page 2 of the PDF), learners make a layered drink with liquids of different densities.

Buoyant Bubbles
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What keeps bubbles and other things, like airplanes, floating or flying in the air?

Make a Wire Critter That Can Walk on Water
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In this activity, learners make water-walking critters using thin wire, and then test how many paper clips these critters can carry without sinking.

Sink or Float?
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In this water activity, learners test which objects float and which sink. Learners discover that objects behave differently in water.

Suminagashi: Floating Ink Paper Marbling
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In this activity, learners try to float ink on the surface of water to create a pattern and then capture it with absorbent paper.

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.

Using Color to See How Liquids Combine
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Learners add different liquids (water, salt water, alcohol, and detergent solution) to water and observe the different ways the different liquids combine with water.
Float or Sink?
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In this water activity, learners test which objects float and which sink. Learners discover that objects behave differently in water.

Dissolving Different Liquids in Water
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In this activity, learners add different liquids to water and apply their working definition of “dissolving” to their observations.

Hovercraft
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In this activity, learners build a hovercraft using a paper plate, cup, and simple motor.

Exploring the Ocean with Robots
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In this activity, learners are introduced to robotic submarines called gliders. Learners make “gliders” from plastic syringes and compare these to Cartesian bottles and plastic bubbles.