You may have tried the can crushing pressure demo, you may have even tried it with a 55 gallon drum, but have you tried an entire tanker car? In the December CoolStuff Newsletter, Bridgette Sparks of Saline High School in Michigan talks about the high pressure environment she has created in her classroom! Well, at least with the subject matter!
I, too, start my gas unit by having the class participate in a discovery based lab exercise very similar to the "Gas Laws Smorgasboard" mentioned in a previous Cool Stuff newsletter. Towards the end of class, I start playing David Bowie's Under Pressure or Billy Joel's Pressure since most of the lab stations are explained using pressure differences. When the students enter the classroom the next day, we discuss pressure differences by observing the can crusher demo as a whole class. This time I use a larger paint thinner can and have the class explain using scientific principles. This is followed up with the next two questions and videos: