Unit 1: Density and Buoyancy: An Inquiry Cycle

OUSD/Calif. Science Content Standards
1. Investigation and Experimentation (equivalent to Calif. State standards 8.9a, 8.9b, 8.9e and 8.9f.)
Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this concept, students should develop their own questions and perform investigations. Students will:
a. plan and conduct a scientific investigation to test a hypothesis.
b. evaluate the accuracy and reproducibility of data.
e. construct appropriate graphs from data and develop qualitative statements about the relationships between variables.
f. apply simple mathematical relationships to determine one quantity given the other two (including speed = distance/time, density = mass/volume, force = pressure x area, volume = area x height).

5. Density and Buoyancy (equivalent to Calif. State standards 8.8a to 8.8d.)
All objects experience a buoyant force when immersed in a fluid. As a basis for understanding this concept, students know:
a. density is mass per unit volume.
b. how to calculate the density of substances (regular and irregular solids, and liquids) from measurements of mass and volume.
c. the buoyant force on an object in a fluid is an upward force equal to the weight of the fluid it has displaced.
d. how to predict whether an object will float or sink.