We don’t know about you, but our Halloween spirit is growing and growing the closer we get to the big day! Let’s keep that energy going with another Halloween-themed science experiment. Your little mad scientist will have a ball learning about density while creating a Halloween density jar!
Here are all the ingredients you need to observe the magic of density:
- A Large Jar
- Water
- Vegetable Oil
- Syrup
- Orange Food Coloring
- Halloween Toys (various sizes and weights)
Before we get started making our density jars, what is density? Even though different items might take up the same amount of space, they may have a different mass (or weight). This depends on how tightly the molecules in an object are packed together. Today, you and your child will be using 3 different liquids of varying densities. The one with the highest density will sink to the bottom of the jar, the one with the lowest density will float to the top, and the third will be in the middle. The Halloween toys you have assembled should also sink to different areas of your density jar, depending on their mass.
Now, let’s put this science into action! First, pour your syrup – the liquid with the highest density – into the bottom of the jar. Then, dye your water orange and pour it on top of the syrup. The water is less dense than the syrup, but more dense than the oil, so it should stay in the middle of your density jar. Next, pour your oil on the top. Your jar should look a little bit like a candy corn now!
Gather your Halloween toys. Have your child guess what will happen with each toy as it gets dropped into the density jar. Will it float to the top, sink to the middle, or tumble all the way to the bottom? You can even have them write down their predictions. Drop in each toy, one at a time. What happens? Did their predictions come true, or did something different happen? If something different happened, why do they think it did?
You can even shake up your density jar. First, ask your child what they think will happen – will the liquids mix together, or will they separate again?
This is a spook-tacular science experiment that your kid will absolutely love! You’ll even come away with some new Halloween décor that you can display in your home. Happy Halloween, everyone!
Check out the full experiment from STEAMSational HERE.
As always, get as creative as you want, and above all, have lots of fun learning together!
We’ll see you right back here next Saturday for another STEAM Saturday activity! Scroll through the rest of our website to learn how Critchlow Adkins is Building Brighter Futures for the children and families we serve!