Friday, March 29, 2013

// // 15 comments

Floating Egg Science Experiment

Use this floating egg science experiment for preschool (and older kids!) themes with birds, eggs, Easter, nature, and more!  Science projects with children are so much fun!



Simple Supplies:
  • cup or beaker
  • raw, uncooked egg
  • water
  • salt

Easy How-To:

1- Ask your child if an egg will float or sink.  Carefully set the egg in a cup full of water.  What happened?  (It should sink!  Eggs do have an air space inside that grows as the egg ages.  A particularly old egg may actually float, but this is rare.)


2- Can you make it float?  Add a tablespoon of salt and stir until it is dissolved.  Try the experiment again.  Continue adding a tablespoon of salt until your egg actually floats.  The egg in the picture above only took two tablespoons.

What Happened? and Variations:

Adding salt changes the density of the water.  The egg's density does not change.  When the water is more dense than the egg, the egg will float.

Try the science experiment with a boiled egg and/or other solutes (instead of salt).  Do you see the same results if you use two eggs instead of one?  What about brown eggs compared to white eggs?  What else does your child want to test with this science project?

You can also display two cups, one with a floating egg and one with a sunken egg, and see if your children can spot the differences.  Then see what they would like to experiment with!



Happy Educating, Carla
I may share at any of these parties!

15 comments:

AH said...

What a fun way to use eggs for science!

Sha said...

I love this experiment, and can't wait to do it with my pre-k and kindergarten boys!

Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said...

Thanks Andrea! It was a ton of fun!

Shauna, I bet they'll love it!!

Anonymous said...

Super Cool Experiment!
Hopping in from Share it Saturdays.
Renee @ Great Peace Academy

Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said...

Hi Renee! Thanks for stopping by!!

Savannah McQueen said...

This is a great experiment. I hope you'll consider sharing it at Look What We Did. You know I moved it to HammockTracks, right? I look forward to you linking more of your posts. Plus I am offering free advertising to the blog with the most clicks and referrals. -Savannah www.hammocktracks.com

Diana of Diana Rambles said...

Great activity!

Anonymous said...

I love this experiment. That is a really fun and memorable lesson. Thanks for sharing on Artsy Play Wednesday. Pinned it!
: 0 ) Theresa (Capri + 3)

Unknown said...

What a COOL experiment! I need to do this one with my girls! Thank you so much for sharing at We Made That!

Anonymous said...

Very fun science experiment! Thank you for linking up this week to the Hearts for Home Blog Hop!

Ashley said...

Great experiment! We will have to try it sometime! Thanks for sharing at Mom's Library!

Ashley said...

Featuring you this week on Mom's Library!

Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said...

Yaaaay!! Thanks, Ashley!!

Lucinda said...

This is brilliantly simple! I'm going to give it to my 8 and 10 year olds as a puzzle. We've been doing a few density experiments recently so I wonder if they can figure it out!

Carla at Preschool Powol Packets said...

Hi Lucinda! That sounds like a great puzzle! I'd love to hear how it goes!