physics experiment (kindergarten style)

The kids came to me with a proposal for an experiment. "What's the difference between a bread ball and a bread slice?" J asked. Huh? "The shape?" I guessed lamely. He laughed. "NO!" He went on to explain that on The Magic Schoolbus (an educational show they've seen on occasion), they did an experiment and found that a slice of bread floats while a bread ball sinks. He looked at me expectantly. I feigned idiocy (not much of a stretch). "If we had a piece of bread and something to put water in....." he hinted. Oh. Slow Mom finally got it, and we headed out to the kitchen to set up the experiment.

I filled a large bowl with water, and Zoo Boy set the first piece of bread afloat.

J made a bread ball and dropped it in.










Then they reversed roles and J floated a piece of bread, and Zoo Boy dropped in a bread ball. Then they watched their results.





Yup, sure enough, the bread balls sank like little pastry rocks, while the slices floated.






Of course, the best part of the experiment was sampling the objects under study. Yup, it's bread.

We floated and sank other objects for awhile, then tossed the soggy bread outside for the birds to feast on.