Gases Lighter and Heavier than Air

Scholars participate in two design challenges concerning flight in the second lesson of the series. They design balloon crafts that have neutral buoyancy and forward motion.

Students make an anemometer, barometer, and wind catcher to see how wind and air pressure are related. In this wind lesson plan, students use these tools to measure the wind speed.

In one of the more memorable Spangler episodes, Spangler has a large terrarium filled with sulfur-hexafluoride gas, which is six times heavier than the air we breathe! It has some amazing properties, one of which it doesn't allow...

The rate at which an object falls to Earth is not completely based upon gravitational pull, but rather the air. This is the focus of a video that explains how air resistance and gravity work together.

Students study how hot air balloons were created and the different types there are.  In this density and lift lesson students build their own hot air balloon.

Students conduct an experiment to discover what happens to air when it is heated or cooled, discover that wind moves from a high-pressure area (an area of sinking air) to a low pressure area (an area of rising air).

Students observe several rocks and try to tell by looking and feeling, which rock is the heaviest, and which is the lightest. They take turns putting two rocks at a time in the balance scale to see which rock is the heaviest, then they...

Students investigate what allows air plane to fly, why birds can fly and why people can't. They construct a giant hot air balloon that can be launched using only a hair dryer.

Students compare the relative densities of different liquids, first by layering them on top of each other, and then by weighing equal amounts of the liquids. They explore the density of air versus the density of water.

In one of the more memorable Spangler episodes, Spangler has a large terrarium filled with sulfur-hexafluoride gas, which is six times heavier than the air we breathe! It has some amazing properties, one of which it doesn't allow...