Sink or Float

We have finally been getting hot summer weather! That means we’ve finally been able to pull out our kiddie pool and enjoy it! Both girls love to splash around in their pool, pouring water, shooting water guns and throwing things into the pool to make them swim.

It was precisely the girls’ excitement at throwing things into the pool that sparked a question. What sinks and what floats? So, we set out to do an experiment and see!

We gathered a bunch of things from the house and the yard. They were things that I didn’t mind getting wet. And I made a point of adding a few items that I thought would be interesting, like a metal bottle.

Then, we headed out to the pool. We introduced Alexie to the idea of a “hypothesis”, making an educated guess. Before throwing each item into the pool, she had to guess if it would sink or float. Once the item met the water and we had the result, we sorted them by category (sink, float and later both).

This experiment was so much fun and was a great way to mix summer play and fun with math and science. If we got a little wet along the way, it was just a bonus!