Floating Orange Science

How are you doing going on week 2 of the COVID-19 break? It has been challenging for us but we have stayed busy reconnecting as a family, reorganizing our house, and rediscovering our creativity. This science activity was born after snack time when big sister decided to design and race boats made out of orange peels. Of course then I had to explain the science behind it. 😉  

What you need: oranges and a glass of water

What you do: 

1. Ask if an orange will sink or float in water
2. Try it out
3. Then peel the orange and test it again

What’s the science: An orange rind is full of air pockets and acts as a life jacket to keep the orange buoyant. In other words, the rind helps the orange be less dense than water. At first we thought this only happened because of the size of an orange but try dropping a watermelon or pumpkin in water, they also float because their density is less than water!  

Add some creativity: Then we made orange peel boats to race. Who knew that orange rinds could be so beautiful? I know I’ve seen beauty in things that I would haven’t given a second glance to before. 

Little sister’s boat ended up “winning” because it wasn’t loaded down with flower petals and a leaf rudder 😉 Redesigning the boats ensued until it started to rain! 

If you would like more science ideas during the next few weeks check out my Pinterest board where I have been pinning activities that can be done with simple materials you can find at home.

We’re here. We’re in the same “boat”. We are so thankful for you. We’ll get through this together and who knows, maybe we’re raising the next generation that will discover the next vaccine and find the cure. Stay hopeful.