We went to the library last week and found this neat book of experiments called Big Book of Play and Find Out Science Projects Easy Activities for Young Children by Janice VanCleave. I was browsing through it when we got home and saw an experiment called ‘Why do Boats Float?’ in the Forces section and thought Cutie Pie seemed to be in a good mood, so why not try an experiment with him?! The funny thing is, we tried this experiment last week as described below and in the pics and since then have seen something similar on No Time for Flashcards as an idea.
It was rainy and on our way in from the library the boys splashed in THE PUDDLE that always seems to form between the car and the house. When I glanced through the Big Book this idea caught my eye simply because we had talked about how we sink whenever we splash in that puddle. I waited until after lunchtime, and then got out the bowls, playdough (we didn’t have modeling clay) and gathered some items to see if they could float. This, of course, caught the boys’ attention.
After talking about why the ball of playdough sank and the boat shape we made out of the same ball of playdough floated, Cutie Pie helped plunge items into the water to see if they would float. I figured a cotton ball would float, but would get water-logged and end up sinking and quickly looked around to see what we could place it in to keep it dry. I saw the plastic Easter eggs and decided to put tape over the holes and place the cotton ball in one. This was great because it reinforced the idea of the boat floating. After seeing that it floated, Cutie Pie directly took the cotton ball out and plunked it in the water and helped it sink! Then we decided to test some slightly heavier objects to see if they would float in the egg, but sink on their own.
As a final step we took two bowls of the same amount of water. To one we added about 8 tbs of salt, the other was left alone. We took an egg and placed it in the first and it sunk (in the pic above he has 2 eggs – he had to have one of his own!) We placed it in the saltwater and it floated. We then talked about how the salt helped the egg float. I think this was a bit over Cutie Pie’s head, but he was right there trying it with me and I think he was trying to follow it all! He definitely had a good time, and both he and Sweet Pea ended up with wet sleeves, but it was worth it!
I discovered Cutie Pie does like hands-on learning, but more from an experimental aspect than just doing. Maybe I will try to revisit some hands-on things we’ve tried in the past and concentrate more on talking about what we’re discovering rather than the process of discovering it.
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