Hydraulic Lift as a Teaching Tool in Physics Education

In this work we propose the use of a teaching module as a pedagogical tool for abstracting the concepts of fluid statics with an emphasis on Pascal's principle for secondary school students. The teaching module consists of eight lessons including investigative theoretical and experimental lessons. In addition an experimental apparatus (hydraulic lift) related to Pascal's principle was developed and manufactured to highlight the great benefits that result from this principle. The lessons with experimental activities included discussions on physical concepts related to the phenomenon studied which were made possible in the short time available for the lessons thanks to the ease with which the experiment is performed. Finally a questionnaire was administered to verify whether the lessons with experimental activities applied to the students had positive effects on physics learning.