Density Science Experiments With Water

We have done science experiments throughout the year and while I can't get to everything I thought I would once again share a couple of the year's highlights. 

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While I would say I'm pretty consistent with most of our schoolwork I'm a little more hit and miss with science experiments. The kids naturally enjoy them and Jackson especially likes to participate in these types of school activities. It's nice to know we'll be doing science experiments consistently next year through the Classical Conversations Co-op. Having said that, it is an area I want to improve on going forward.

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 In January we spent several days exploring the concept of density. Sure wish I could remember the book we used from the library because I would highly recommend it (that's why it's important to stay on top of my blogging! My memory just can't keep up with the details after 3 months! lol :)The first experiment we tried tested cold and hot water. We began by freezing ice cubes of different colors. We then dropped the ice cubes in the hot water to see which water rose to the top.

 Another day we tested the density of different types of liquid. We put syrup, oil and water in a container and learned they do not mix.

No  matter how much we stirred, the liquids would not mix and would completely separate as soon as we stopped stirring.

Next, we experimented with different items to see what would sink or float based on their density. This was pretty cool as we learned some objects float in all three liquids, some things sink thru all three liquids, and what was the most interesting (and entertaining) were the objects that sank through one or two liquids but floated on the other(s) giving the illusion of suspension. I think this experiment was the one that most clearly demonstrated density and the girls really understood what we were discussing and learning about after this experiment. 

Another day we did an experiment involving eggs floating in water. We used salt water, sugar water and just water to learn what the eggs would float in.

After discovering the egg floated the best in salt water and not at all in plain water, the kids insisted on trying out the water. I told them the salt water would not tasted good but as I said they were determined to try it out. Here's Jackson as he discovers listening to Mom sometimes has its' merits...

Our homeschooling friend, Ms. Mo'mina, both encouraged and inspired us to really begin utilizing our local libraries. I'm not sure what took us so long to take advantage of the libraries, but we've been using them for less than a year and a half and I can't imagine how we ever survived without them! These experiments were all in a book one of the girls wanted to check out as well as all of the books in my previous post. Sure wish I had been more on top of blogging so I had recorded what book all these experiments came from! Bummer!