Apologia General Science ROCKS!

I mentioned that we've started our new school year, which simply means we're using new materials since we homeschool year round. We opted to use a few new things this year and one was Apologia science. I've wanted to use Apologia for a couple of years, but had science curriculum that was given to me, so I felt inclined to use it. Since the age difference between the girls is little over four years, they are using different Apologia science subjects. Logan is using General Science. So far, we are enjoying it! We're halfway through the first chapter and have already completed two experiments! This is progress for us! We have been studying atoms and the purpose of the first experiment was to prove the existence of atoms.

First, Logan filled a tall glass with some veggie oil.

Next, we added an equal amount of water to the glass.

Then, we added an equal amount of syrup to the glass.

The end result was the layering of the three substances. The picture isn't the greatest, so I apologize!

Why is this so cool? If you look back at the way we added the liquids to the glass, you'll notice the order was veggie oil first, then water, and lastly the syrup. However, if you look closely at the last picture, you'll notice the syrup is on the bottom, then the water (although it's hard to see), and the top layer is the veggie oil. How did the veggie oil get on top when it was poured in first? The veggie oil was on the bottom of the glass and then we started adding the water. As we did this, the oil started to come to the top and the water fell to the bottom. This happened because the atoms that make up the water are more closely packed than those in the veggie oil. The atoms in the water were able to squeeze through the the atoms in the veggie oil. This holds true for the syrup also. Because the atoms in the syrup were more tightly packed than the other liquids, it was able to squeeze through both the oil and water and make its home at the bottom of the glass.

We added a few items to the liquids to see which had the largest density (how tightly atoms are packed). We added a raisin, a piece of cork, a rock, and an ice cube. Which one do you think had the largest density? You guessed it, the rock. It sank to the bottom of the glass because it was able to squeeze through all the layers of liquid. The cork floated on top of the veggie oil because it could not squeeze through it. The raisin floated on top of the syrup and the ice cube floated on top of the water.

As you can see, we're busy learning around here and having a wonderful time doing so! Maybe next week Caroline will have a project to share with you from the Apologia Astronomy book she's using!