Experiement 1: The Orange
Materials:
- glass
- orange
- salt
Action!
We first started off with a simple orange and a simple question - would the orange float or sink in a glass of water?Kids think - it will sink!
Experiement says - it floats!
The Science:
The orange peel acts like a life jacket - it has a bunch of tiny air pockets in the peel that give the orange buoyancy in water.
Next Step
Peel the orange and ask the kids now what they think will happen - will the orange float or sink?
Kids think - Sink!
Experiement says - Sink!
The Science:
This one is somewhat obvious. If we took the life jacket off the orange - then it will sink to the bottom of the glass.A Twist
Add a few tablespoons of salt to the glass and stir. Ask again - will the orange sink or float in salt water?
Kids think - Sink!
Experiement says - Float!
The Science:
The salt changes the density of the water; making the water and salt mix more dense and allowing the orange to float. This can be "kid" explained by saying that the salt mixes with the water to create a salt-water that has more in it to hold up the orange!Experiement 2 - COLORS!
In this experiement we will be making fireworks while exploring how oil and water do not mix.Materials:
- yogurt cup (or other small container)
- food coloring
- oil
- spoon
- jar with water in it
Step 1
Put a few tablespoons of oil in the cup and let the kids squirt a few drops of food coloring in it.
Step 2
Stir it up! If you skip this step - the colors will not look as pretty.
Step 3
Carefully pour the oil into the jar so that the oil stays on top.
While you watch the colors will fall through the oil and into the water where they will mix with the water and look like fireworks!
The Science:
The oil is less dense than the water - so it stays at the top of the jar. The food color is not so it slips down and then mixes with the water to create the fireworks!!Enjoy!
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