Science With Children: Two Experiments With One Perrier Bottle (Air, Weather & Water)
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon
We were interested in trying the Jumping Coin Experiment from the The Usborne Book of Science Activities
Scroll down for our video of the Jumping Coin Experiment – it really works.
Jumping Coin Experiment
From the The Usborne Book of Science Activities
You Will Need
- Tall glass bottle
- Deep bowl
- Quarter
- Hot water from tap in containers
- Science Journal (a notebook of any kind, optional)
What To Do
- Fill containers – small enough for your children to lift easily – with hot tap water (not hot enough to burn).
- Place empty glass bottle in bowl and wet the rim.
- Cover the opening with the quarter.
- Fill the bowl with the hot water while holding the bottle (you may want to let your child fill the bowl while you hold the bottle firmly).
- Watch the quarter jump on the bottle’s rim, and listen to it clink!
- Record your hypothesis, experiment, observations, and conclusion in your Science Journal (optional).
Why It Works
Air expands when it gets warmer, so as the air inside the bottle warms from the water in the bowl, it expands, pushing the coin up.
This experiment worked for us three out of five times; below is a video where you can see our coin jumping and hear it clinking against the bottle. My preschooler was suitably impressed! If it doesn’t work right for you, try putting the bottle in the refrigerator in between tries.
Sink or Float Experiment
This idea is from kidsactivitiesblog.com, although I modified it for us a bit. Visit their post for more Sink or Float experiment ideas.
What You Need
- Two clear glasses or jars
- Sparkling or soda water
- Tap water
- Raisins
- Science Journal (a notebook of any kind, optional)
What To Do
- Fill two clear glasses about half-way: one with plain tap water, and one with the sparkling water.
- Toss several raisins into each glass and observe.
- Talk about what is happening in each glass. (Raisins can dance! Who knew?)
- Record your hypothesis, experiment, observations, and conclusion in your Science Journal (optional).
Why It Works
My layman’s explanation, based on observation: the air bubbles in the sparkling water attach to the raisins and carry them up, since the air in the bubbles is lighter than water. As the bubbles pop, there is not enough air to hold the raisins up, so they sink. They go up and down as more air bubbles attach to them and then pop, repeatedly. The raisins are too heavy to float in plain tap water.
This is a fun and simple experiment, the kind you can whip out when you and your kids are in the mood for science! (And you can eat the leftover raisins for a snack!)
Please let me know: have you found interesting experiments with sparkling water?
Copyright 2014 Kathryn Depew
Disclosure: I was not compensated for this post. I am an affiliate of Amazon
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