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}?

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.

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

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!!!!

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.

The topic this week at the Homeschool Village is science. Truthfully, this is an area that until recently I wouldn’t have recommended much of anything ~ because we were inconsistent and hadn’t found anything that worked and was enjoyed by all of us.

Until this year that is.

What made the difference? I’ll give you a little teaser and tell you that Nancy Larson Homeschool Science has been pivotal in changing our minds. Both the kids and I are excited about the Science 1 program that we’ve been using this year…and I’ll be sharing more about it next Tuesday with you all!

In addition to our new science program, we’ve started doing simple {but fun} experiments using the book How to Do Science Experiments with Children. 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. Here are a few of the fun experiments we’ve done using this book:

• Ping Pongs and Air Pressure
• Penny Baths
• Cohesion and Surface Tension
• Making Raisins Dance
• Making Water Spill
• House of Cards

Don’t forget to visit Homeschool Village and see what other moms are sharing about this topic!

This week we did a pretty simple experiment, but one that ALL of the kids enjoyed being a part of {even Kaleb}.

It involved two of their favorite things: money and water. What’s not to like about that, eh?

Question of the Week…

How many pennies would it take to make the water spill over the top of the bowl?

Items we used for this experiment:

~ a bowl

~ water

~ lots of pennies

Predictions and Experiment…

Each of the kids made a prediction that underestimated what actually took place. :) They had to guess how many pennies we would be able to drop in an already full bowl of water. Each of them figured under 10…when in reality it was almost 40 pennies!

We divided out a pile of pennies and the kids each took a turn dropping a penny into the bowl of water.

and dropping…

Can you see the water bulging over the top? Ours bulged even more than this before it started spilling.

The Nutshell Reason…

The water molecules are attracted to each other {cohesion}. Cohesion keeps liquids from spreading out {gas will spread, liquids stick together}. A dome will form on the top of the water as the water rises higher because the water molecules are pulled inward {toward the center} of the water mass.

As pennies are added the water starts to rise due to cohesion. The water will eventually spill when gravity kicks in.

After the Experiment…

While we talked about the ‘why’ behind the experiment that we did, the kids illustrated their version of the experiment on the back side of their experiment sheets. Later we answered a few questions together about the experiment.

And then fought about who got to keep the pennies…{sigh}.

Resource: 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.

Apparently, I’m picking some real winners of experiments to try with the kids. I figured building a house of cards wouldn’t be that difficult.

I was wrong.

We were able to make a few ‘teepees’ out of the cards, but before we could get much farther, they would all collapse…however, it drove home the entire point of the experiment overall, so in that sense it worked out perfectly!

Question of the Week… What will happen if a key card is removed from the card house?

Items we used for this experiment:

~ deck of cards

~ brainpower and patience {the latter sadly lacking in our house}

Predictions and Experiment…

Each of the kids made a prediction about what would happen…which wasn’t too difficult, considering we couldn’t even get a card house built! Their prediction was that it would fall ~ and that it did!

Before we started the experiment, we talked about force {pushing or pulling on an object}. We tried putting our fists together in front of us and seeing what would happen when the force from one arm was more than the force from the other. I also demonstrated force by having Zachary try to stand up from his chair while I pushed down on his shoulder.

The kids each took about 7-10 cards and tried to build a card house with it {two teepees on the bottom, a card laying on top of them and another teepee on top}.

Mommy tried rather unsuccessfully to build just one. Every time I tried to build the second part of the house, the first one would fall. Zachary was the only one who managed to get two standing up together.

Eventually we tried creating different styles of card houses and Laurianna was able to make one that was a little more square in style {notice the tongue concentration with both her and Zachary ~ grins}.

The Nutshell Reason…

Force {push or a pull} can put an object in motion or change speed or direction of a moving objects. Objects also put force against each other and can balance if the forces are equal. Obviously the stronger force wins and will push the other object in the direction that it is going.

After the Experiment…

Once we finished our experiment and talking about why things were happening the way they were {force, balance, etc…} the kids answered a few questions on their observation sheet from the book and illustrated what happened during our experiment.

Resource: 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.