Curated and Reviewed by
Lesson Planet
This Archimedes and the King's Crown activity also includes:
- Answer Key
- Worksheet
- Join to access all included materials
Learners will shout "Eureka!" in this quick but deep activity replicating the famous bathtub experiment of Archimedes. Given the scenario of a king with a suspected fake crown, young investigators develop formulas using density to determine crown composition. They then work to extend this formula to the more generic problem of mixed compositions.
39 Views
32 Downloads
CCSS:
Designed
Concepts
Additional Tags
Instructional Ideas
- Try linking with a science class experiment on density or a history lesson on ancient Greek science
Classroom Considerations
- Student worksheet not separated from teaching notes or solutions
- ESL considerations might come into play with high reading level of student instructions
- Some learners might benefit from concrete examples (real numbers) before tackling more abstract formula development
Pros
- Connections between modern math and ancient methods are quite elegant
- Learners get practice dealing with abstract trends and patterns, providing key skills for higher-level math
Cons
- Part c solution references that gold is twice the density of silver without introduction or justification