Seven O'Clock Science: Oil and Water

Have you noticed that we really love science around here? I imagine that a day does not go by when we do not talk about science at least a little bit. This week's scientific discussions included why raindrops fall down, what worms eat, what different kinds of clouds tell us about the weather, and why we eat animals and plants (this is proving to be a tough one). We looked closely at anthills, pollen, hatched bird's eggs, and even a severed bird's wing.

We also love our science experiments. In case you did not notice, I have changed my tabs at the top of the page a bit, adding one linking specifically to posts about science. (There are also new tabs for our sewing projects, kitchen goodness, and one with a collection of games, crafts and other fun.) Hope you enjoy a little bit of extra browsing ease!

Anyway, this week, I hit the jackpot. I came across the website for the PBS Kids' show Zoom. I have never seen the show. Have you? We really watch so little television in our house, especially since the cord to our antenna went missing last year and we have not gotten around to replacing it. We now have no cable and no local programming. So, on the Zoom website, there is a giant list of science activities for kids that will surely keep us busy for a long, long time.

Here is one we tried out today.

1. Fill three see-through glasses - one with water, one with oil, and the third with water and a thin layer of oil on top.

2. Squeeze a few drops of different colored food coloring into each, trying to place the drops in different areas of the liquid.

 3. Watch what happens!

4. As a final step, poke the bubbles of food coloring in the third glass - the one with water and oil. We used the end of a beater and a straw because they happened to be laying within reach. I will leave this one a surprise for you. The result was quite different than I, at least, had imagined.