Sink or Float: Liquidized!

As we have been experimenting with matter and which solids can sink or float within a liquid, we used our data to ask more questions that we could investigate. We were wondering: can other liquids also sink or float in water?

We created an experiment to test our question. We tested 5 liquids along with water and predicted what would happen when they were poured into the same container. The first liquid we added was honey, followed by karo syrup (which we dyed red). At each of our tables, we poured about 5 ml of each liquid into a graduated cylinder. 

After adding the honey and the karo syrup, we added in some dish soap followed by water, which we dyed green. 

After the dish soap and water were added, we also added canola oil and some rubbing alcohol (which was dyed purple). 

Everyone's cylinders looked a bit different, but we definitely noticed liquids like the honey and the karo syrup stayed below the water and other liquids like the oil and rubbing alcohol stayed on top! We talked about why we thought certain liquids sank or floated, and we noticed the liquids that sank were much harder to pour than the liquids that floated. We also noticed that some of the liquids mixed together, like the water and the dish soap! It was great to be able to take our sinking and floating experiment to the next level, and now we are wondering which other liquids we could test. The possibilities are endless!

Writing Like Scientists

This week, we began our newest writing unit where we get to write like scientists! All week long, we've been learning, experimenting, and writing about the states of matter. We learned that matter is any physical substance, and it can either be a solid, a liquid, or a gas. Matter can change its state through heating or cooling!

 We talked about how scientists ask questions and come up with experiments to test those questions. On Tuesday, we explored the question "Which solids can float?" and we came up with an experiment to test 5 different objects in water. We stuck to our procedure and recorded our results and conclusions. 

On Wednesday, we learned that scientists often do the same experiment several times and change parts of their experiment (variables) to collect more data. Instead of testing objects as a class, we tested objects as table groups and recorded our results.

After we finished testing our new objects, we talked about what questions we were still wondering about our experiment:

• Could more objects float if we added soap to the water?
• Would our results change if we changed the liquid we tested them in?
• Can liquids float in liquids?
• Why do certain objects float?
• Why can certain objects sink and float?

We also talked about what the particles look like in a solid, liquid, and a gas, and how those particles move. 

We loved demonstrating what these particles look like as a class, especially the solids! 

Next week, we will continue to test and experiment with matter and continue writing like scientists!