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Will It Float?

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  • DOMAIN(S)
    Cognitive Development and General Knowledge (CD)
  • INDICATOR(S)
    CD-CP1.4c, CD-CP1.4c
  • AGE GROUP(S)
    48-60 months

After the children have had some experience with sink and float activities, set up the following experiment. Fill a clear container halfway with water, another with vegetable oil and a third with corn syrup. Plastic test tubes are ideal for this purpose. Provide a variety of items to test: paper clips, small rocks, pieces of craft foam and pennies are good choices. The children drop the same item in each of the three test tubes and describe what happens. Why does one item sink in the water but float on the corn syrup? Do any items sink in all three? This can be done in small group.  

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