Density Curriculum

Section 1—Lesson 2: What Are Some Models That Help Us Think About Density?

Understanding Goals

Subject Matter

• We can come up with different models for visualizing density.
• There is no "right" model for density. Different models involve different trade-offs. Each model captures different aspects of the concept. Exploring a variety of models gives us a fuller, more flexible understanding of density.
• Many models use various illustrations of crowdedness (or more or less packed in) as a way of conveying density.

Causality

• Density is non-obvious, but models that control for either volume or mass can help us to consider it.
• If we vary both mass and volume at the same time (which often happens in the real world) density is difficult to notice.