Activity Overview
Create some family fun exploring the density of water with this Make Your Own Deep Sea Diver Experiment. Kids will marvel at how they can make their diver rise and fall. The air inside of the bent straw is less dense than the water around it. This makes the diver float. Squeezing the bottle forces water into the straw making it more dense inside, which makes the diver sink. When you stop squeezing the bottle, the water density in the bottle decreases and the diver floats to the top.
Materials Needed
- Large plastic bottle
- Water
- Thick tin foil
- Flexible drinking straw
- Reusable adhesive
- A drinking glass
- Paper clip
- Scissors
- Pen
How To Do It
- Draw a diver like the one pictured.
- Carefully cut around the outline of the diver.
- Cut out the flexible section of the straw, leaving one inch of straw on either side.
- Bend the straw, and push each end onto the paper clip.
- Carefully slide the straw onto the diver as shown in the photo.
- Stick a small amount of reusable adhesive onto the diver's feet.
- Place the diver in a glass of water to make sure that the diver floats.
- Fill the bottle with water right to the very top. Put the diver into the bottle and screw the lid on tightly.
- Squeeze the bottle. Watch the the diver dive up and down in the bottle.
