Are all liquids the same?
		This lesson developed by Reach Out!
		Recommended Age: Preschool and Early Elementary

Questions

What You Need

• 2 glass jars with lids (baby food jars work great!)
• Measuring cup
• 2 bowls
• Spoon
• Water
• Cooking Oil
• Vinegar
• Store-bought vinegar-and-oil type of salad dressing (Italian dressing is okay, too)
• Seasonings and spices
• Crayons
• Few pieces of white paper to draw on
• Permanent felt pen (black or dark blue)

Experiment #1

What You Do

1. With the permanent marker, write "A" on one glass jar and "B" on the other one.

2. Put 1/2 cup of water into one of the bowls. Add a few drops of red food coloring into the water and using a spoon stir it up.

3. Put 1/2 cup of water into the other bowl. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to that water and stir it up with the spoon.

4. Measure and put 1/4 cup of red water from the bowl into the measuring cup. Pour this red water into Jar A.

5. Measure and put 1/4 cup of blue water from the bowl into the measuring cup. Pour this blue water into Jar A.

6. Put the lid on the jar. Shake it up a few times to mix the blue and red water.

7. Set the jar down on a table for 5 or 10 minutes. What do you think will happen? Why?

8. Fold your drawing or white paper in half. Write "before" on the top of one side and "after" on the top of the other side.

Draw and color what the water looked like after you shook it all up. After 5 or 10 minutes, look at the water and draw what it looks like now on the "after" side of the paper.

Experiment #2

What You Do

1. Measure and put 1/4 cup of the red water from the bowl into the measuring cup. Pour the red water into Jar B.

2. Measure and put 1/4 cup of cooking oil into the measuring cup. Pour the oil into Jar B.

3. Put the lid on the jar. Shake it up a few times to try to mix the red water and the oil together.

4. Set the jar down on a table for 5 or 10 minutes. What do you think will happen? Why?

5. Fold another piece of your drawing or white paper in half. Write "before" on the top of one side and "after" on the top of the other side.

6. Draw and color what the water and oil looked like after you shook it all up. After 5 or 10 minutes, look at the water and oil and draw what it looks like now on the "after" side of the paper.

What Is Happening

Take a look at your two drawings and think about what you saw going on. Why did the liquids in Jar B seem to be different from those in Jar A?

Even though water, food coloring, and oil are all liquids, they are not the same! Each liquid has weight—and some liquids are heavier or lighter than others. The oil is lighter (less dense) than water, so when it gets the chance, it will tend to float up toward the top of the jar. Sometimes two liquids will totally mix up with each other to become a new liquid (a solution) together. Sometimes, they tug and fight and they just won't join together.

Experiment #3

What You Do

Make a simple salad dressing

1. Mix 1/4 cup of vinegar and 1/4 cup of vegetable oil into a jar.

2. Shake the jar a few times.

3. Set the jar down for 5 or 10 minutes. What do you think will happen? Watch what happens.

4. What can you guess about the difference between the weight of cooking oil and the weight of vinegar?

If you want to, add some spices and seasonings to your mixture and you will have a great salad dressing for your next tossed salad! Look at the ingredients of a store-bought salad dressing to get an idea of what you might put into your recipe! If you want to remember how to make your salad dressing, write down how much of each spice or seasoning you put into the oil and vinegar mixture!

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