Grade 8 Density lesson:
Obtaining different materials that are cut into different volume cylinders.
Determine the density by:
- weighing the blocks
- placing blocks in graduated cylinders
- measuring volume of cylinders by the change in water level
- calculating the density
- graphing the relationship between mass and volume
If students have different types of materials then they can work together to understand the concept and obtain their own unique data to plot.
Practical application of Density: Gold Panning
One practical use of density is panning for gold. Gold has a density that is higher than that of water, dirt and rocks. This means that we you swish the water and dirt around, the dense gold will all to the bottom of the pan. Then you can sift off the dirt and rocks to collect gold.
We were able to get sets of dirt and pans from Barkerville, and practice gold panning. What I really enjoyed about this activity is that it provided a real life and engaging use of science. In addition, there is a lot of room interdisciplinary learning by including the history of gold panning in BC and connecting to place.