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Changing the Density of a Liquid: Adding Salt
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Learners see that a carrot slice sinks in fresh water and floats in saltwater.

Comparing the Density of an Object to the Density of Water
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Learners compare the weight of equal volumes of wax, water, and clay. Learners discover that since the wax weighs less than an equal volume of water, it is less dense than water and will float.

Defining Density
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In this introductory demonstration and activity, learners are introduced to the concept of density as they explore a rock and a wooden block in water.

Changing the Density of an Object: Changing Shape
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Learners will see that changing the shape of an object, like a clay ball, that is more dense than water, can affect whether the object will sink or float.
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.

Density Rainbow
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In this activity, learners mix several sugar solutions to investigate the property of density. Each sugar solution has a different density and color of the rainbow.

Weighty Questions
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In this activity about humans and space travel (page 1 of PDF), learners compare and contrast the behavior of a water-filled plastic bag, both outside and inside of a container of water.

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.

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.

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.

Density Rainbow and the Great Viscosity Race
Learners conduct two activities to investigate two properties of liquids: density and viscosity. In a clear container, learners stack 7 different liquids which will layer according to their density.

Dancing Spaghetti
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In this chemistry activity, learners use spaghetti to explore density and chemical reactions.

Below the Surface: Surface Tension II
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In this activity learners explore surface tension. Why are certain objects able to float on the surface of water and how do detergents break the surface tension of water?

Boats Afloat
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In this activity, learners discover what buoyancy is and determine the characteristics that make an object buoyant. Learners design, build, test, and evaluate boats made from a variety of materials.

Changing the Density of an Object: Adding Material
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Learners see that a can of regular cola sinks while a can of diet cola floats. As a demonstration, bubble wrap is taped to the can of regular cola to make it float.

Milk Carton Boats
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This activity (on page 2 of the PDF SciGirls Activity: Milk Carton Boat) is a full inquiry investigation into boat hull design.

Sinking Water
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In this experiment, learners float colored ice cubes in hot and cold water.

Oh Buoy!
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Learners work in pairs to design, construct, and test a device that exhibits positive, neutral, and negative buoyancy. They test a number of different objects in water to see if they sink or float.

Color Splash
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In this activity, learners mix water, cooking oil, and liquid food coloring to create beautiful colored designs in a cup. Use this activity to explore liquid density and solubility.

Inverted Bottles
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In this activity, learners investigate convection by using food coloring and water of different temperatures.