Air pressure changes with heat. Hot air expands. Cold air contracts. These are things we teach our students but how do we show them this concretely? This is a simple activity that demonstrates this phenomenon. Materials are cheap, simple and readily available. Student sheets for capturing lab notes are included and Teacher Notes discuss great background info so you'll fell totally prepared to teach.
Use this to learn and reinforce answers to questions such as:
❑ How much pressure does air exert?
❑ How can we show air's pressure?
❑ How does temperature affect air?
Once students work through the activity, they can capture their observations using the included Lab Notes or probing questions included in the instructions.
Concepts Addressed
♦ Heat causes air to expand which results either in lower density OR higher pressure, ♦ Air's pressure pushes it into every conceivable space
♦ Air (gas) cannot pull, it can only push"
Answer Keys and Teacher Notes address most questions and issues that might arise in this study—you shouldn’t have to do any outside research unless you want to.
Materials Needed Source of hot water, empty plastic bottles with lids (milk jugs preferred)
Prep Time Collect empty bottles and other equipment
Teaching Time About 20 mins depending on accompanying writing assignment.
Student Sheets Scaffolded writing prompts & lab reporting
