Water Density Lab

This lab consits of three parts. Part one demonstrates to students that as temperature of a substance increases, so does volume. They will practice graphing skills as they graph the change in volume as a function of temperature. Part two is desgined to show students that colder water is more dense and therefore sinks relative to warmer water. They should already make this connection after part 1, but part two will solidify this concept and get them thinking about water systems as opposed to just random molecules of H2O. The questions that go with each section are designed to get students thinking about the “why” as opposed to just memorizing the idea. Part 3 exemplifies that saltier water is more dense than hyposaline in a similar way as part 2. In part 3 students will use a TSD (Temperature/Salinity/Density) chart to not only link the connection between the three variables but to also practice with use of charts. They will record data in a table and analyze the data found. You could also have them mark the points on the chart for additional visualization.

The materials needed are generally found in most classrooms or can be easily acquired. The excel spreadsheet is ready to be printed as is for the lab. Sheets 2 and 3 are tables and charts that should be included for data collection and analysis. Density Lab writeup