Measuring Volume
Est. Class Sessions: 3–4Extensions
- Have students graph the volume of three times the number of each group of objects generated in Question 11.
Ask:
- Students may mistakenly think that water is displaced due to an object's weight rather than its volume. Have students pass a golf ball and a ping pong ball to each other until all have had a chance to compare the relative weight of each. Have them predict how the volume of the two will compare. Some may suggest that the golf ball will make water in a container rise more than the ping pong ball due to its weight. Mark the water level on a transparent jar or plastic cup and carefully place one of the balls into it. Mark and label the water level of the ball. Remove the first ball and add water as needed to the starting level. Repeat the procedure with the second ball. Students may be surprised to find that the slightly larger ping pong ball displaces more water than the heavier golf ball. Discuss how this illustrates that volume is a measure of the amount of space an object occupies and water displacement is not due to the weight of the object.
