Huygens spacecraft landed on Saturn's moon Titan in 2005, making it the farthest landing from Earth ever made by a spacecraft. In this hands-on activity, the 12th installment of 22, groups explore how density affects speed. To do this, pupils model various atmospheres using liquids with different densities. They finish by dropping spacecrafts into the liquids, then record and discuss their times.

 

Concepts

density, the atmosphere, space exploration

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Additional Tags

science

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Instructional Ideas

• Have groups complete three to five trials using each substance and graph their data using speed versus density

Classroom Considerations

• Assumes scholars understand density and friction
• Teachers may want to have graduated cylinders set up with water and glycerol, allowing groups to drop their spacecraft and leave them at the bottom; cleaning up glycerol after every trial will be sticky and messy

Pros

• Provides brief background information and teacher notes
• Activity includes list of questions and things to think about as they complete the lesson

Cons

• None

Common Core

RST.6-8.3