Science Experiment
We have lots of play ball in our garage. There are real golf balls, plastic golf balls, ball leftover from having a ball pit, rubber bouncy balls, and a small rubber basketball leftover from a baby game of JDaniel’s. I quickly went inside and grabbed a few of them.
I asked JDaniel to drop all of them at the same time to see what would happen. He announced that they would all be pulled down by gravity. ( My husband has done several gravity activities with him.) “Beyond being pulled down,” I asked him.
We both watched as the balls make big and small splashes into the puddle. The heavier balls like the golf ball made a large splash. The lighter ball like the ball pit ball barely made a splash. “Well, they made a splash!” he announced.
“Beyond a splash,” I asked him. We kept our eyes on the balls and noticed that the golf ball was slightly submerged. Several of the others stayed afloat and started to float away from the landing spot.
“Can you keep them moving by jumping near them?” I asked JDaniel. “Let’s see!” he said. Sure enough, they all moved little and some moved a lot.
Can you keep them moving by running through the puddle?” I asked JDaniel. “Wow! I made a big current!” he announced.
We didn’t look at what would make the ball sink or push them under the water. We did talk about the weight of each ball and whether it was solid or air filled. I love talking science with JDaniel.
This science experiment looking at keeping balls afloat wasn’t planned. It was just a learning moment that came to mind as I watched JDaniel stomping through our wet yard. Sometimes unplanned lessons turn out to be really fun and filled with teachable moments.
WOW! That is a great way to combat all the rain (we have had our fair share of it, too!)…my girls would love that! :)-Ashley
This looks very fun. Especially with the variety of balls.
This is the kind of activity my 5 year old would love. He loves to learn and is very interested on how things work (specially how the body works).
Sofia
From PDX with Love
we just bought a science experiment book for broxton
We’re not learning anything like that this week, although it’s very fun. We’re learning to ride bikes. And not just tricycles – big kid bikes.
Yes, I think the unplanned lessons are often the very best of all.
As for me, I am learning patience this week. So far, it’s not going as well as I’d like.
😉
Very funny your experiment! Wonderful!
What a fun experiment – planned or not! Love the picture of him and the balls just after he dropped them. It looks like he’s magically keeping them afloat (in the air)!
I’ll be featuring this on The Sunday Showcase this weekend. Thanks for linking up!
You always come up with such kool ways of explaining things…
I bet he had a killer time doing this!
Sending a kiss your way for such a great post for the letter “K”.
Thanks for linking.
A+
Thanks for linking-up at the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop!
What a wonderful way to add science to playing in the puddles! Thanks for sharing this at the After School Linky!