Science – investigating first-hand observations
When making their own playdough, the children wondered “Why the oil floats on top?” and they asked “Why water and oil never mix?” Following the children’s common interests or thoughtful questions about the real world provides a natural starting point for an experiment to find out the answers to significant scientific questions.
The children’s experiment tested whether water and oil mixed. First, they added some water into a see-through cup and then added in some oil. They predicted that the oil would float on top of the water and they were right.
After appreciating that their prediction was correct, the children discussed why this happened. They used the word ‘molecules’ and understood that everything in the world is made up of lots of tiny molecules that cannot be seen. They also learnt that water molecules are very different to oil molecules, and these different molecules don’t mix.
Later, the children added different coloured food colouring to the mixture. They liked watching the coloured droplets slowly float to the bottom of the cup. Some of the children said they were interested in doing this experiment at home too.
