Dancing Raisins

Science was tons of fun this morning! Students explored the concept of buoyancy by working with these crazy little dancing raisins.  Every child was given a clear cup of seltzer water and a dixie cup of raisins.  Students determined that we were working with the THREE states of matter today:  the raisins - SOLID, the seltzer water - LIQUID, and the bubbles in the seltzer water - GAS.

ESSENTIAL QUESTION: 

Can air bubbles cause something that is NOT buoyant to become buoyant?

We learned that raisins will normally sink to the bottom of a liquid, but once the raisins were covered in gas bubbles, they became buoyant and were able to float to the surface of the cup.  As the bubbles popped, the raisins would again sink.

Standards: SL.3.1 Comprehension and Collaboration

SL.3.4 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

 Alex was ready and waiting for his raisins to float.  His were some of the more active today.

 Campbell happily waited for her raisins to "dance."

 Poor Charlie!  Not many of his raisins felt like "dancing" today, but he was able to see activity in the cups of his classmates.  

 Hmmmm, what's going on over there???

Not enough carbonation in Natasha's cup, but she got to look on with Alex.