BE PREPARED

Materials

Class materials:

• 300 ml vinegar
• 350 ml Karo syrup
• 250 ml water
• 1 empty 15 ml centrifuge (falcon) tube
• 5 100 ml beakers
• 10 100 ml graduated cylinders 2 100 ml beakers
• acrylic cylinder
• white bucket
• paper towels

Individual materials

• 1 Scientist Data Record

TEACHER PREPARATION

1. For each group, fill a 100 ml beaker to the 60 ml line with vinegar.

2. For each group, fill a 100 ml graduated cylinder to the 70 ml line with Karo syrup.

3. For each group, fill a 100 ml graduated cylinder to the 50 ml line with water.

4. Place the falcon tubes on students’ desks.

5. Organize the remaining materials at a distribution point.

6. Separate the class into five cooperative groups.

INSTRUCTION

Direct each student group to obtain the following necessary materials from the distribution point: one (1) empty 15 ml falcon tube, one (1) acrylic cylinder, one (1) white bucket, one (1) 100 ml graduated cylinder, and paper towels.

PROCEDURE

1. Briefly outline the goals of this project to the class. Read aloud the goals from the list on the Student Data Record:

“You work for a shipping company. One of your jobs is to make sure the boats at the dock can hold the correct amount of cargo before they sail. The captain of the boat Triple Crown is getting ready to load cargo. You need to tell him which cargo he can carry.”

a. Find the volume of the liquids and solids he has been asked to carry.

b. Compare the densities of the different solids and liquids.

c. Choose an object and change the buoyancy of that object.

d. Conclude which of the cargo choices the captain can carry.

2. With the students, walk through the next steps in the project described in Problems 2 through 7 of their Student Data Record. Encourage students to be creative and draw on their understanding of the properties of matter from the first five Investigations.

3. Allow students to complete their performance assessments. You may wish to informally or formally evaluate students as they work on their performance assessments. 

CLEAN UP

Let students know your expectations and instruct them to clean up their lab bench after the Performance Assessment.