We have put on our lab coats and "carved" our way into our Science Pumpkin Unit! Yesterday we observed a pumpkin and drew and labeled what we saw. Today we created a KWL Chart (What we know about pumpkins, what we want to know, and what we learned). We contributed many facts on pumpkins already, using our prior knowledge, and generated some great questions! Once we have finished this unit, we will be able to fill in the "Learned" portion on the chart.
We conducted an experiment today asking the question, "Does a pumpkin sink or float?". The students made a prediction whether the pumpkin would sink or float when dropped in a container of water. They arrived at the conclusion that a pumpkin will sink.
As you may know, pumpkins are supposed to float due to their hollow middle. So what happened with our pumpkin? We took a closer look and attempted the experiment again with a smaller pumpkin (ours was medium sized), which did float (they are supposed to regardless of size due to it being hollow). So why did ours sink? According to our research, if there are any holes in a pumpkin (we have used them in other activities prior to this experiment, so it is possible), water is able to get into the hollow cavity, which would flood it causing it to sink. Pumpkins are less dense than the water. An object floats if its mass is less than the mass of the water it displaces when it is placed on the surface.
I love to see these young scientists at work! Can't wait to hear whether their prediction was correct.
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