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Knowledge and Skills Statement

Matter and energy. The student knows that matter is made of atoms, can be classified according to its properties, and can undergo changes.

A density chart like the one below could be used to help students understand the relationship between mass and volume and whether an object sinks and floats without using a calculation. If an object has a density that is less than the substance it will be placed in, it will float. If the object has a density that is more than the substance it will be placed in, it will sink.

Substance Density
Ethyl Alcohol
0.79 g/mL
Vegetable Oil 0.91 g/mL
Water 1.0 g/mL

An object with a density of 0.8 g/mL will sink in ethyl alcohol, but float in vegetable oil. 

the smallest particle of matter that has distinct physical and chemical properties; consists of a nucleus which contains protons and neutrons and an electron cloud which contains electrons

a physical property that measures how tightly packed the particles of a substance are compared to the volume of the substance; the relationship between mass and volume

substance that occupies space, has mass, and is composed of microscopic particles

characteristic of matter that can be used to identify particular materials

a particular kind of matter with uniform properties; can be seen, touched, and/or measured

Research

Benedis-Grab, Gregory. “Sinking & Floating: A Graphical Representation of the Concept Density.” Science Scope 30, no. 2 (October 2006): 18–21. https://www.proquest.com/docview/225971253?sourcetype=Scholarly%20Journals.

Summary: A classroom of students predicts and tests whether various objects will sink or float.  After recording their data, they measure the mass and volume of the objects and graph their density. Students develop an understanding of the density of water and an object's relative density compared to it.  Students further investigate the relative density of the same objects with various other liquids.