Developing Year 5 Students ’ Understanding of Density: Implications for Mathematics Teaching

Promoting the concept of density is regarded typically as the domain of science teachers. However, density as the relationship between an object’s mass and volume highlights the importance of foundational measurement concepts located in the mathematics curriculum. In this study, an integrated mathematics and science unit on density was developed for students in the middle years of schooling (Years 4-9) by the research team. Implementation of this unit in Year 5 classrooms is reported here. The lesson sequence appeared to support students ’ capacity to use the language of density in meaningful contexts. Implications for teaching are drawn from the data. Density as a Special Ratio In research about proportional reasoning, the difference between extensive and intensive quantities has been highlighted. Extensive quantities, according to Singer, Kohn and Resnick (1997) quantify how much, or how many. Mass, volume and heat are examples of extensive quantities (Fassoulopoulos & Koumaras, 2003) and are additive in nature (a mass of 17 kg and 22 kg will combine to a total mass of 39 kg). Intensive quantities are two extensive quantities that are combined to form a special ratio and they do not behave additively (Singer, Kohn and Resnick, 1997). Nunes, Desli and Bell (2003