February 13-17, 2017
Orange
You Glad I Didn't Say "Banana"?
We put on our scientist hats this week in Nutrition Expedition by experimenting with the buoyancy of an orange (and we learned a new word 😀)!
I brought with me two pitchers filled with water, and two oranges (one with the peel on, and one with the peel removed). I started off by asking the children if they thought the orange with the peel would stay floating at the top when placed in the water, or if it would sink to the bottom. Most of them said it would sink. Low and behold, it floated! We then tried the orange without the peel. This time, the children had caught on, and said that it would sink. Sure enough, it sank to the bottom!
We talked about what buoyancy means. To put it simply, it is an object's ability to float in water, air, or another type of liquid. We found, through our experiment, that the orange was more buoyant when the peel was on. This is because there are tiny air pockets within the peel that cause it to be less dense than the water, and the peel also helps displace enough water so that the orange becomes buoyant. When you remove the peel, you also remove the air pockets and the ability to displace the water, causing it to sink. Interesting stuff!
This is the same concept as wearing a life jacket in the pool; the foam is made up of tiny air pockets that cause your body to become less dense than the water! We came up with a few other ideas of things we can do to help us float: wear swimmies, an inner tube, sit on a surfboard, or hold your breath!
If you would like to read a more in-depth explanation of this experiment, or instructions on how to try this at home, check out this blog.
This is the same concept as wearing a life jacket in the pool; the foam is made up of tiny air pockets that cause your body to become less dense than the water! We came up with a few other ideas of things we can do to help us float: wear swimmies, an inner tube, sit on a surfboard, or hold your breath!
If you would like to read a more in-depth explanation of this experiment, or instructions on how to try this at home, check out this blog.
Super Sleuth Questions
1. What does it mean when something is buoyant? (answer: that it floats)
2. What happened to the orange that had a peel? (answer: it floated)
3. What happened to the orange that had no peel? (answer: it sunk)
4. Can you think of some other things that are buoyant, or that float? (answer: boats, surfboards, ducks, etc.)
