Homeschool Creations

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Density of Water Experiment {Science Sunday}

Not all science experiments go according to plan, which means although it was a bust, we still had the opportunity to talk about what should have happened and how the experiment went wrong. Or better yet, if at first you don’t succeed, Mommy will try, try again until it works the way it was supposed to {‘cause she’s a little crazy like that}.

Question of the Week…what would happen when a bottle of warm water {red} was place upside down over a bottle of cold water {blue}?

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Items we used for this experiment:

~ two glass jars

~ hot and cold water

~ blue and red food coloring

~ piece of cardboard

Predictions and Experiment…

Each of the kids made a prediction about what would happen to the waters when the piece of cardboard was removed from between the two jars…would the colors mix, stay the same?

We put the cardboard on top of the warm water, inverted it and then pulled it out from between the jars.

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This is what happened {and what wasn’t supposed to happen}. The colors mixed.

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Obviously the water spilled too, but there was just too much of a ‘drop’ when the cardboard was removed and it just plopped into the container below.

The Nutshell Reason…

The warm water is {supposed to be} less dense than the cold water and liquids of different density will {usually} not mix. The warm water SHOULD have stayed above the cold water ~ floating above the cold water.

After the Experiment…

We recorded our results on our experiment sheets, telling what happened and also what should have happened. I couldn’t leave well enough alone and decided to take matters into my own hands and try to get the experiment right {I know…my brain drives me nuts like that!}.

In an attempt to get the experiment right, I filled each of the jars up to the very top. I also used a thinner piece of cardboard because the ‘drop’ of the water when the cardboard needed to be pulled out was too much.

The result?  SUCCESS!!!!

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How to Do Science Experiments with Children Resource for this experiment: How to Do Science Experiments with Children is available from Amazon and you can also check it out {and do some of the experiments} using Google Docs! The experiments use easy-to-find objects and also include record sheets for kids to fill out with their predictions and experiment results. Each experiment also includes teaching tips and explanations…which are rather handy! :) Don't forget to check out some other great science ideas at Science Sunday hosted by Ticia at Adventures in Mommydom.

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16 Comments:

  • Very interesting post! I love how you handled the failed experiment in their journals and I love the fact that you tried it again and succeeded! This process is the BEST way to learn science. Bravo!

    By Blogger Phyllis, At October 10, 2010 at 9:41 AM  

  • Awesome experiment! Thank you for sharing it. I am glad it finally worked in the end. Very cool.

    By Blogger Unknown, At October 10, 2010 at 11:11 AM  

  • I did an experiment similar to /this with a clear cassarole pan on the stove to show how hot and cold currents move. It turned out pretty coll.

    ? Where did you get your connect buttons for gmail, etc at the top and the post share buttons?

    By Blogger Mrs. Mandy, At October 10, 2010 at 11:19 AM  

  • I love that you kept trying! Some of ours when they didn't work I tried again, and some (ice cream) I haven't yet.

    By Blogger Ticia, At October 10, 2010 at 9:30 PM  

  • My son and I did this two weeks ago and couldn't get it to work like they said either. So you know what I did? I got myself a cup of hot tea and with him watching put my creamer in. Creamer goes to the bottom all the time! And I got a cup of tea LOL!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At October 10, 2010 at 10:06 PM  

  • Interesting experiment. As much as we dislike failed experiments I think they have value in learning. I'm impressed you tried again!

    By Anonymous Anonymous, At October 10, 2010 at 10:13 PM  

  • It's a pretty neat experiment, and it's good to know how to make it work. I like how you handled failure. I think for older kids it would be interesting to start with a failed version and brainstorm the ways to make it work.

    By Blogger Natalie PlanetSmarty, At October 10, 2010 at 10:20 PM  

  • love it! will do it with my little tykes tomorrow, can't wait to see their reaction, they LOVE Science and you always have such simple yet fabulous ideas:) Thanks!

    By Blogger Danit, At October 11, 2010 at 2:05 AM  

  • The kids would love this! We have had plenty of failed experiments ~ it doesn't bother the kids but it drives me crazy! Glad you got it to work!

    By Blogger Cindy, At October 11, 2010 at 9:28 AM  

  • What a cool experiment! Not only does it teach basic science principles, but also perseverance! :)

    By Anonymous Winny, At October 11, 2010 at 6:22 PM  

  • Very cool, I did need to try this.

    By Blogger Marisa, At October 11, 2010 at 11:29 PM  

  • Thank you so much for sharing photos of the failure and the success! I think the initial failure probably taught a bit more science in the sense that it didn't work due to the force of the water dropping.
    One of our math professors fully believes that the only way to learn is to fail and how well you fail is very important. You handled this really well! Took a step back, figured out what went wrong, corrected it and SUCCESS! Awesome!

    By Anonymous AprilS, At October 12, 2010 at 5:25 PM  

  • Thank you so much for sharing photos of the failure and the success! I think the initial failure probably taught a bit more science in the sense that it didn't work due to the force of the water dropping.
    One of our math professors fully believes that the only way to learn is to fail and how well you fail is very important. You handled this really well! Took a step back, figured out what went wrong, corrected it and SUCCESS! Awesome!

    By Anonymous AprilS, At December 15, 2010 at 12:55 PM  

  • Very cool, I did need to try this.

    By Anonymous Marisa, At December 15, 2010 at 12:55 PM  

  • What a cool experiment! Not only does it teach basic science principles, but also perseverance! :)

    By Anonymous Winny, At December 15, 2010 at 12:55 PM  

  • Very interesting post! I love how you handled the failed experiment in their journals and I love the fact that you tried it again and succeeded! This process is the BEST way to learn science. Bravo!

    By Anonymous Phyllis, At December 15, 2010 at 12:55 PM  

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