Changing the Density of an Object: Adding Material

American Chemical Society

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. Learners will use this idea to make an object that is more dense than water float. [Activity is publicly available through a web crawler capture on Archive.org. Activity write-up only, images are unavailable.]

Preparation Time:: 5 to 10 minutes
Learning Time:: 10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:: $1 - $5 per group of students
Age Range:: Ages 8 - 14
Resource Types:: Activity, Demonstration, Experiment/Lab Activity, Lesson/Lesson Plan
Language:: English

Materials List (per group of students)

Water
Large clear plastic container
Can of regular cola
Can of diet cola
Small water-resistant item that sinks
Small water-resistant items that float like zip-closing plastic bags, styrofoam pieces, cork, empty film canisters with lids, etc.
Tape, rubber bands, string, etc.
Student Activity Sheet

Keywords

Subjects

Physical Sciences
- Structure and Properties of Matter
  - Mass and Weight
  - Volume and Density
The Nature of Science
- The Scientific Process
  - Asking Questions
  - Conducting Investigations

Informal Categories

Food and Cooking

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

see
touch

Learning styles supported:

Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

Access Rights:

Free access

By:

Kessler, James H. ; Galvan, Patricia M.