Density Curriculum

Section 2—Lesson 3: What Patterns Can Be Found Between Mass, Volume, and Density?

Understanding Goals

Subject Matter

• Density can be inferred by knowing the relationship between mass and volume.
• For any given substance, there is a linear relationship between its mass and its volume: when one variable increases, the other variable increases, and vice versa. This consistent relationship between mass and volume constitutes a pattern, and we can use this pattern to make predictions about the mass of a substance based on its volume, or the volume of the substance based on its mass.

Causality

• Density is a relational concept. It requires that we hold two variables—mass and volume—in our heads and reason about their relationship, rather than focusing on a single variable.