Experiments: Liquids

These are some fun ways to explore liquids. Liquids are a fun, and messy, way to explore states of matter.

What liquid is this? Try putting sugar water, plain water and white vinegar into small jars or bottles that can be capped. Can you look at the liquids and tell what they are? If you shake them, are they different? If you open them, can you tell what they are?  What senses did you use?

Compare and contrast different juice. Pour orange juice, tomato or V8 juice, and apple juice into clear glasses. What do you notice about them? How are they different. If you close your eyes, can you use your sense of touch to figure out which juice is which?

Solid versus liquid. What would happen if you put an ice cube in a container? Does it take the shape of the container or stay as a cube? What happens if you let it melt – does it take the shape of the container now?

Play with volume. Grab some containers and head to the tub. How many of the smallest containers of water does it take to fill the largest container? If you pour the water out of a container, does it have a shape? Are bubbles liquid? Do they act like water?

Books:

Solid, liquid or gas? By Sally Hewett

Solids, liquids, and gases by Carol Lindeen

Solids, liquids, and gases by John Farden

Liquids by Jim Mezzanote

Book Review: Sid the Science Kid: Why Did My Ice Pop Melt?

Sid the Science Kid: Why did my Ice Pop Melt?

This is a simple retelling of a time when Sid had his ice pop melt and how he figured out that sometimes solids can change state in become liquids again. Along with his friends and family, he also discovers that this is a reversible change and he makes ice pops again.

I always like Sid the Science Kid shows - they reinforce real science at a preschooler's level without babying them. If you like the show, this book will appeal to you. It looks just like the show but without the singing and silly jokes.

4.5/5 

Tools: droppers

Using a dropper can be quite tricky at first but, once master, will lead to lots of fun science. Using a dropper requires not just finger strength and dexterity. It also requires a certain amount of patience - not something most preschoolers are known for.

Scientists use droppers but call them pipettes. Pipettes come in many different sizes and styles but they all do the exact same thing: suck up a liquid and release it on command.

To use a dropper you have to pinch the bulb, put the tip in the liquid, release the bulb so it can draw in the fluid and then remove the tip and squeeze the bulb again. That is a lot of steps. With practice kids can get pretty good at it.

So now your child has mastered the dropper. What can they do now?
Try dropping paint from different heights to see the splatter pattern
Try dropping water with food coloring into a clear cup of oil (from above and below the surface)
Try putting different drops of colored water into a single cup to see them mix
Try putting chocolate syrup into your milk (this might need to be thinned a bit, test first)
Try putting syrup into squares on your waffles

Share your experiences with droppers below!

Solids

Solids, strangely, are sometime difficult to describe without comparing them to some other state of matter. Essentially solids hold their shape regardless of what sort of container they are in. Their molecules are tightly packed so they don't really move around a whole lot.

Talking about solids with a preschooler is really kind of boring - they get it. Totally and intuitively understand that the block, ball, or lego just isn't going to flow into the container no matter what container you put it into.

That's were oobleck comes in. And this is where the mess comes in.

Oobleck is a substance that isn't really a liquid and isn't always a solid. It is called a Non-Newtonian Substance. And if you want to really get your geek on, check this out. It is a good explanation of how this sometimes fluid works and does so in an accessible way.

But, wait, there's more!

This is the COOLEST THING EVER - and I don't say that lightly. I am so jaded when it comes to cool science tricks and this one totally rocks. The fact that I love the blog and kids do the experiment doesn't hurt. What they did was put oobleck over a subwoofer and watched it dance.

Why is this cool?
This was a great demo of the fluid characteristics of oobleck.
You can visualize the sound waves.
And they mixed color.

Coolest thing ever.

Try This TODAY

We decided to see if we could replicate the video of the woman in Canada who threw a cup of hot water into the air and watched it turn to snow.

It worked!! While our temperatures were not the -45' temps seen in the video, it is certainly cold enough to see this sudden change in water - turning from liquid to solid nearly instantly.

Here is a nice article with a link to the original YouTube video.

Today is a one day serious cold snap in New England - so today is the day!

Liquids and solids

Last week we explored Liquids at the library. It was a great time to discuss what are some of the characterists of liquids and solids.

One of the easiest to understand differences between solids and liquids is that solids retain their shape and liquids will take on the shape of the container they are in. If you put a liquid in a round container, they will be round; in a square container they are square.

You can check out what did in this blog here. I would HIGHLY recommend everyone taking the time to make Oobleck with your kids. It is a messy project - one of the messiest (and consider the source!). It is a great way to talk about solids and liquids.

I will post later on what the science plans are in our house on Wednesday. Many schools have a half day of school and for others like us who are not traveling, it is a gift of some extra science time!

Liquids

Our group at the library had a terrific time getting exceptionally messy while exploring Liquids. Each parent/child pair were given three mystery liquids, a dropper, and wax paper. We took a drop of each liquid and put it on the wax paper to see what it would do. One liquid made a high dome, one was flat, and one spread out only a little. Then came the magic. We put each of the three liquids in a jar together. They magically separated in to three layers yo can see above.

We then tried dropping things in to the liquids to see what would happen. We tried buttons, glitter, and cork. The cork floated at the top, the buttons dropped so they floated on the bottom layer and the glitter seems to float on top of each of the three layers!


Our mystery liquids were: water with a bit of red food coloring, corn syrup, and vegetable oil.



Then we got really messy by making something called Goop or Oobleck depending on your recipe. I call it a non-Newtonian fluid. This substance is neither a liquid or a solid but takes on characteristics of both. Liquids will conform to the shape of the container they are in and solids stay in their own shape. Here's the secret recipe: 1 box of corn starch and 1.5 cups of water.



We all touched the corn starch and some water before mixing. When we first put the water in, the corn starch was HARD to stir. The slower you stirred the easier it was. Once it was all mixed, we played in it. If you slap or squeeze the mixture, it will act like a solid. If you move slowly with it, it acts like a liquid.

These area great experiments that you can do with your whole family. If you want to play with liquids even more, here are some other ideas to inspire you.

Science words: hard, smooth, slimy, slippery, density

What liquid is this? Try putting sugar water, plain water and white vinegar into small jars or bottles that can be capped. Can you look at the liquids and tell what they are? If you shake them, are they different? If you open them, can you tell what they are? What senses did you use?

Compare and contrast different juice. Pour orange juice, tomato or V8 juice, and apple juice into clear glasses. What do you notice about them? How are they different. If you close your eyes, can you use your sense of touch to figure out which juice is which?

Solid versus liquid. What would happen if you put an ice cube in a container? Does it take the shape of the container or stay as a cube? What happens if you let it melt – does it take the shape of the container now?

Play with volume. Grab some containers and head to the tub. How many of the smallest containers of water does it take to fill the largest container? If you pour the water out of a container, does it have a shape? Are bubbles liquid? Do they act like water?

Books:

(Note: there are dozens of books with the title: Solid, liquid and gas. Most are pretty good and available at the library.)
Solid, liquid or gas? By Sally Hewett
Solids, liquids, and gases by Carol Lindeen
Solids, liquids, and gases by John Farden
Liquids by Jim Mezzanote