This week, we decided to add a little science into our after school activities. I have read before that pumpkins float (on a sign at Pumpkins and More A-maiz-ing Farm, in fact).
With that thought in mind, I developed a mini sink or float activity for the kids to complete. We used pumpkins and gourds that we already had around the house: a carving pumpkin, a white mini pumpkin, and a turban gourd.
I filled the bathtub with water and had the girls develop a hypothesis chart. They wanted to hand-draw it but the basic premise was like this: Pumpkin Science Chart. We talked about why they predicted that certain ones would sink and certain ones would float. Bah had already done a similar activity in Kindergarten after her pumpkin patch field trip, so she caught on a little quicker.
First, we tested the big pumpkin. We used three trials to increase our accuracy.
The results, everything floats! By this time, Boo and Bubs had lost interest, but Bah was really curious about why everything floated. We talked about density, water composition, and buoyancy. Basically, I just explained to her that even though a pumpkin may be heavy, weigh a lot, or have a large mass, it is filled with water which makes it float. We compared it to people - they have a large mass, but are also composed of water, so they float rather than sink. I told her that this property is called buoyancy and is also effected by air. This made her wonder about a few more objects, so we also tested the buoyancy of a toy tractor, hair brush, and rubber duck.
With that thought in mind, I developed a mini sink or float activity for the kids to complete. We used pumpkins and gourds that we already had around the house: a carving pumpkin, a white mini pumpkin, and a turban gourd.
I filled the bathtub with water and had the girls develop a hypothesis chart. They wanted to hand-draw it but the basic premise was like this: Pumpkin Science Chart. We talked about why they predicted that certain ones would sink and certain ones would float. Bah had already done a similar activity in Kindergarten after her pumpkin patch field trip, so she caught on a little quicker.
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| Our test subjects and chart |
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| Testing the pumpkin |
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| Excited she was right - it floated! |
First, we tested the big pumpkin. We used three trials to increase our accuracy.
Then, we tested the mini pumpkin.
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| Bubs enjoyed throwing in the mini pumpkin |
After that, we tested the turban gourd and a zucchini.
The next part was the fun part: we cut open a pumpkin and scooped out the insides.
We checked whether the seeds, guts, and finally the hollow pumpkin would sink or float.
The results, everything floats! By this time, Boo and Bubs had lost interest, but Bah was really curious about why everything floated. We talked about density, water composition, and buoyancy. Basically, I just explained to her that even though a pumpkin may be heavy, weigh a lot, or have a large mass, it is filled with water which makes it float. We compared it to people - they have a large mass, but are also composed of water, so they float rather than sink. I told her that this property is called buoyancy and is also effected by air. This made her wonder about a few more objects, so we also tested the buoyancy of a toy tractor, hair brush, and rubber duck.
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