Convection Demonstration

Source Institutions

Twin Cities Public Television

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. Learners will fill a bottle with hot water colored red and another bottle with cold water colored blue, then lower both into a container of water and observe the interaction of liquids of different temperatures/densities. Relates to the linked video, DragonflyTV GPS: Balloon Fiesta.

Preparation Time:: 5 to 10 minutes
Learning Time:: 10 to 30 minutes
Estimated Materials Cost:: 1 cent - $1 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)

a clear tank or large pitcher
2 small glass bottles with narrow mouths
string and scissors
tap water, hot water, ice water, and ice
red and blue food coloring

Keywords

Subjects

Earth and Space Science
- Earth Structure
  - Atmosphere
Engineering and Technology
- Engineering
  - Transportation Engineering
- Technology
  - Transportation
Physical Sciences
- Heat and Thermodynamics
  - Heat and Temperature
- Motion and Forces
  - Gravity
- States of Matter
  - Liquids
- Structure and Properties of Matter
  - Volume and Density
The Nature of Science
- The Scientific Process
  - Conducting Investigations
  - Formulating Explanations

Informal Categories

Transportation

Audience

To use this activity, learners need to:

see
see color
touch

Learning styles supported:

Involves hands-on or lab activities

Other

Components that are part of this resource:

DragonflyTV GPS: Balloon Fiesta

This resource is part of:

DragonflyTV | PBS LearningMedia

Access Rights:

Free access

By:

Twin Cities Public Television, Inc.

Source Collection:

DragonflyTV

Rights:

Funding Source:

National Science Foundation, 610429