Our little scientists discovered what happens when when you try to mix oil and water. Using scientific predictions, the boys and girls made a tally chart of who thought the two would mix, and who thought it wouldn’t mix. We first poured in our water, ten food coloring, glitter and oil. While the children were shaking the bottles, they thought it was mixing, but found that once it settled, they separated. To best describe how oil and water separate, we used magnets and their poles (ie, north repels north, south repels south). Feeling the force field between the two poles gave a more hands on, concrete explanation as to why oil and water don’t mix. We then went back to our predictions and found that most of the children predicted that the oil and water would not mix.
