Fit Kids Clubhouse: Clubhouse Question: Sink or Float?

Today's adventures were simple.

A couple of water filled containers, and one Clubhouse question.

Will it sink, or float?

I could have simply put out a bunch of objects in front of them with water and let them explore, and in the past, I have.

Today I wanted them to question, predict, hypothesize. Did you know Preschoolers could do all that?!? They absolutely can, and they love it!

I had the paper and markers out to take note. Then I asked the question, "Will it sink, or float?"

(Clearly, I'm still speaking in Seuss over here.)

First, the kids wanted to write down/draw what they thought would float.

"Things with holes will float."

"Air will float."

...and on and on they "wrote" their lists.

Then we collected items from around the Clubhouse Classroom and put them into our sink or float categories.

Occasionally after careful evaluation, someone would change their mind and switch something from one pile to another.

"Hmmm, this is not very heavy.. so it will float."

Once we felt we had collected enough, we were ready to test all of our theories.

This is the part the kids were really looking forward to.

Dropping things in water to see what happens next. Seems so simple, right? Yet they were truly thrilled to get

started. Dropping things into the jug, and waiting for the results. I stood by with marker in hand, noting everything.

For the record, most children love having their words documented.

It validates their ideas.

It's concrete evidence that we are listening.

It means they really did say something that matters.

"Did you see that? I said the blue ball would float and it did... write that down!!!"

During our daily activities I often write down their answers to questions, note how they describe something, make lists of their ideas. They always take the time to really answer, explain, and thoughtfully provide insight when they know I'm writing it down. Plus, I get great material ;)

They continued to select different items from around the room, make a sink or float prediction, and then test their ideas.

Finally, once they had had enough (and our jug had no more space), it was time for the soap test.

I had two bars, two different brands, that looked exactly the same.

"Mine will sink, and his will sink... they're the same."

Ready... Set...

Go...

As you can see, the bar on the left sank straight to the bottom. The other bar floated straight to the top. This actually frustrated the kids, who thought they had this whole prediction thing down... so they decided to get their soap bars out and try again.

Ready. Set. Go...

Same results. This is when a very valid conclusion was reached by an almost 3 year old,

"My soap sinked because it doesn't
have enough treasure air."

There you have it, Science at it's absolute finest.

The truth is the Ivory soap floats because it has air whipped into it. Stories say that it happened quite by accident when an employee left the machine running and went on break. All of the air whipped into the soap made Ivory, "The Soap that Floats", famous. I often wonder if that guy got a raise.

As for us, all of our water and everything in it made it's way outside to the sensory table so the kids could continue their experiments outside.

Enter rocks, leaves, and whatever else they felt like testing...

everything went into the table.

"Some seashells sink, some seashells float!"

"Poof balls float, but then they sink."

"Rocks always sink!"

"Crayons always float!"

I told you a little of everything went in there.

The sensory table was the highlight of outdoor activities. They kept returning to the table as they found new things they could test. They kept checking on objects after realizing that some objects start off floating and then eventually sink to the bottom.

Not the Ivory though, that soap truly does float.

As for this discovery...