READER'S THEATER

Aria, Eduardo, and Myla are sharing a piece of cake in the park after sports practice on a Saturday afternoon.

Aria: So why do they call it angel’s food cake?

Eduardo: Maybe it flies like an angel? (He tosses a piece up and catches it in his mouth.)

Aria: Nice! I'm always afraid I'm going to choke myself when I do that.

Myla: Hmmm... Angel food... maybe they are trying to say this kind of cake is really light… different from something like a brownie.

Aria: Wait, but brownies are tiny… Do you think this big slice of angel food cake could weigh less than a little brownie?

Eduardo: Maybe it did before we ate half of it.

Myla: It WAS a big piece... I bet it weighs more than a brownie.

Eduardo: I totally think a brownie would weigh more. They’re not fluffy like this angel food stuff … and way better too.

Aria: Wouldn’t it depend on how big the brownie was? I mean I’ve seen some BIG brownies at the bakery in the grocery store.

Eduardo: Let’s just say we were comparing a normal brownie and a normal slice of cake…

Myla: Normal? My normal is BIG!

Eduardo: Not your normal. I guess I mean an average size…

Aria: Let’s go to that market over by your house and check out the bakery. Maybe they’ll tell us why it’s called “angel”…

Later at store:

Baker: May I help you?

Aria: Well, this is a little weird, but we were wondering if you’d weigh some stuff for us.

Baker: Not weird at all! I weigh things for customers all the time.

Myla: We’re interested which is heavier: a brownie or a slice of angel food cake?

Baker: Well that’s a little tough… I actually don’t sell angel food cake by the slice. But I do know for sure that brownies are a denser product that angel food. Does that tell you what you need to know?

The three students knew the word dense from science class at school, but they couldn't quite remember what it meant. And they weren’t sure why the baker was bringing up density.

Myla: Well, I guess so… Thanks…

Outside the store:

Aria: I have to admit something. I still kinda don’t get it. Did he answer our question?

Eduardo: Maybe… He said that a brownie is denser. That tells us something at least. If we had a brownie that was the exact same size as a slice of the cake we’d know it would be heavier.

Myla: Well I think everybody knows that… There’s gotta be a way to figure this out. Let’s go buy one of the cakes and a few brownies and try to figure this out.

 

Focus words

submerge

displace

density

volume

mass

buoyant

ratio

fluid

sublimation

evaporation

condensation

expand

collision