Water Balloon Fight

Yesterday we had a water balloon fight!

This year, I had plenty of help filling up balloons! We had an assembly line, so it went a lot faster. One person got the balloon from the package and pulling it in order to stretch it out, one person filling up the balloon with water, one tying it, and Max would then put it in the bin.

We found that balloons have elasticity, which was improved by stretching it first. Otherwise, the balloon might not stretch enough to let the water in.

Filling up the balloons showed that water has mass (it takes up space)

The neighbors started throwing balloons over the fence...

I

Good times.



Moving Water

This experiment had 2 parts

1. Testing materials that soak up "all the water", "some of the water" or "none of the water. We tested a sponge, newspaper, a magazine cover, diaper, plastic bag, and a paper towel.

We looked at the materials with the magnifying glass to see the little holes in the material that soaks up the water. Then we walked around the house and talked about why certain materials were used for certain functions.

For example: Max's crib mattress is plastic instead of cloth.....why?
Toilet paper, mop, umbrella, and fish tank were some examples.

2) We saw ways we can make water move. First, I filled up one glass with water and put a strip of material's end in the water and the other end in an empty glass. We are observing how the water is moving from one glass to another.

We siphoned dish water from one sink to the other

Finally, we talked about how plants are watered by water traveling up from the roots to the plants.

I was so excited to find a 4 pack of white Gerber daisies at the store.
Each girl picked their own color. We started with them looking like this.....

I put one celery stalk in the colored water as well. The water had completed it's route up the celery overnight,

But the daisies were looking pretty sad and not yet colored. So, I cup the stems much shorter and observed that the colored water had only made it half way up the stem.

However, after cutting the stems, the color was showing within an hour!

I can't wait to see them tomorrow!

Boat Making

Our experiment today included boat making.


First we talked about cargo ships and submarines.

The girls liked this experiment:

Fill a can up with water to show how a submarine sinks

Then blow air in it with a straw to make it come up again.

Then I asked them to make their own boats and fill out a page that has a picture of their boat, and answer the questions:

1. Does it float?

2. Does it move?

3. If it moves, how?

4. Does it carry cargo?

The picture that Ellie drew looked NOTHING like this! It did look like a ship, though! She told me that she had a horn and a telescope. It didn't float. I don't think it even stayed together, but she did use a TON of creativity! I love to see what is going on in their minds.....

None of them worked. Not even mine. I put a motor on it but we couldn't get the wires to stay on the battery to get it to move.

It's okay, though because there was a lot of problem solving going on.

And we got to play in water some more!

Then we saw pictures of this ship from a Yahoo story. It is nice to have an Internet story that goes along with your experiments!

Water Trips

I've resolved to quit complaining about how I never get to go on a long vacation since my husband is self-employed, so I'm going to start planning mini-vacations and drives for family time.

Since we are studying water, we are going around and looking at different types of water- rivers, ponds, creeks.

On Saturday we went to Parkville park to look at the Missouri river.

Savannah played some Solitaire

Brookie lips.

"It's too hot to move."

And here we are at the river. They were unimpressed...probably because it was soooooo hot!

Now off to Sonic for ice cream!

So then for school we looked at the map to find different rivers and lakes we had been to. We cross the Kansas river each time we go to the YMCA. Marion Lake is by Grandma and Grandpa's... and so on.

We won't be having long vacations, but we will be getting to know Kansas/Missouri better!

School At the Pool

We are studying water during the month of August. Therefore, it is necessary to go to the pool as much as possible to experiment with what we've learned.

Most of my ideas came from these 2 books:
So far, we have:
poured water in different containers to see how it forms the different shapes of vases, bottles, and tubes.

played with water balloons to see how the water is shaped like the balloon until it pops, and then it falls on the ground

studied density and floating by weighing yogurt cups filled water first, and then other items, making a hypothesis of whether it will float or sink, then testing it in water.

shaped clay to make it sink or float.

studied buoyancy, upthrust of water, and how water levels change when something is placed in the water.

What will float?

Buoyancy....picking Brookie up in air and then in water

Pulling a bucket full of water like a tug boat...

Watching water levels rise when we all jump in the baby pool

Curling up in a ball vs. floating on her back

....and just playing around.....

"I'm going to surf on my board!"

"Why is the baby pool hotter than the big pool?"

"Look at my cannon ball!"

"I can see you under water!"

"Can I float in this big bucket?"

"Swimming is my favorite thing EVER!!!"