Thursday, February 4, 2010

Super Simple Science

When I finished pumping gas this morning Ryan asked me how much gas I had put in the car. I told him 12 gallons. Of course, on the way home the wheels started turning- what would be the best way to demonstrate how much 12 gallons actually is?

So when we got home we each drank a glass of milk, to finish the jug ;) I showed Ryan the gallon jug and told him that it was one gallon, and if we filled it up twelve times that would be how much gas we put in the car. I asked him if he thought twelve gallons would fit in our sink. His response was, 'let's see'. So we filled the container and dumped it in twelve times. As you can see it nearly filled both sides of our sink!

I was surprised how much gas it actually is! The gas tank is a lot larger than I had imagined. About half way through our experiment, I started feeling bad about wasting water (even though it was in the name of science ;) I would recommend using the bathtub and using the water afterward.

Remember, run with your kids' curiosity and ask lots of questions along the way!

1 comment:

  1. great idea - now I will get him to estimate how much the fountain needs...

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