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Sink or Float? Grade 8 Students Are Put to the Test
  • Middle School
  • Science

Grade 8 students have been learning about the buoyant force in Science class. Teacher Alex Randhava explains that in order to grasp the buoyant force one must understand the volume/mass/density relationships, so in order to show off that understanding, he challenges them to build boats.  

In small groups students were tasked with building a craft that will sink with the application of 500 grams of additional cargo. Once built, they tested their boats by floating them in water with the salinity of the Dead Sea.  The salinity makes the problem more complex because buoyancy is produced by the mass of displacement, not volume, so students learned they needed to calculate for the high density of our fluid.

The competition was close! To medal, students had to be within five grams of the target, and to win, they had to come within two. Congrats to winners, Eli and Bayla!