Experiment Idea - Water Weight II

I was watching a show tonight where a person was standing on ice that started to crack. They were told to lay down to spread out their weight more evenly and to start moving back to shore this way.

That got me thinking about the water experiment I posted the other day and I thought you could add a different question into the mix.

Does the shape of a container affect the weight of the liquid in it? So if I pour water into a cup and weigh it would it weigh the same as if I poured that same amount of liquid in a cookie sheet?

It would be fun to see children discuss it and then test it (recording results in their notebook). All you would need is three different size containers one that would spread out the water in a normal way, one that would condensed the water into a tight space, and then one that spread it out. You would also need a scale that could zero out the container weight prior to adding the water.

This is a simple, relatively inexpensive (I hope) experiment that could be done as part of any inquiry unit where you are introducing the scientific method to students.

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Notebooking, Teaching, and Technology

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