Materials
- Clear plastic glasses
- Items that sink and float such as cotton balls, marbles, small piece of paper, paper clips, plastic
- block pieces, etc.
- Sugar or other dissolvable powder, optional
- Spoons
What to do
1. Collect rainwater in one glass and fill the other glass with water from the faucet.
2. Put both glasses on a table. Ask the children: Do they look alike? Do they smell alike? Why can we drink the water from our faucet but not from outside?
3. Have the children drop small items into the glasses. Ask the children: Does the same item float or sink in both faucet water and rainwater? Why or why not?
4. If desired, put a spoonful of sugar, or another powder that will dissolve in water, in both glasses. What happens? Does the sugar dissolve in both or in one and not the other? Why?
More to do
Language: Put on a recording of rain sounds. Ask the children to close their eyes and listen to the recording. When it is finished, talk about the sound of the rain. Tell the children to pretend that they are outside walking in the rain. What do they hear? Do cars sound different in the rain? Can they hear the splashing when they walk in the puddles? Can they hear birds chirping in the rain? Ask the children to tell about an experience they had in the rain.
-Cynthia A. Maloof, S. Easton, MA
