7. Experiments with Water
Class 5 · Environmental Studies
3 ideas in Class 5 Environmental Studies, explained in plain words, with games and quizzes to practise.
Why Some Objects Float
Part of: Properties and Changes of Water
The chapter compares a wooden boat and iron ship that float with a needle that sinks. A puri first sinks in hot oil, then floats when it puffs up. A soap case continues floating even with a soap cake inside. The experiments invite children to compare shapes and conditions rather than judge by weight alone.
Why it matters. Children can use observations to explain why objects made of different materials may behave differently in water.
Try it in two minutes
- Compare a ship with a nail or needle.
- Notice how the puri changes before it floats.
- Ask how an object's shape or air inside may matter.
Try at home. With an adult, test safe household objects in a basin of water and record what floats or sinks. Keep water away from electrical items.
Dissolving and Mixtures
Part of: Properties and Changes of Water
The chapter tests salt, soil, chalk powder, milk and oil in water. Salt can dissolve and become hard to see, but it remains in the water. Chalk powder stays visible and can be separated by straining; oil remains as visible drops after stirring and waiting.
Why it matters. Understanding mixtures helps children explain why clear water may still contain something dissolved in it.
Try it in two minutes
- Compare salt water with water containing chalk powder.
- Wait after stirring oil and water and look for visible drops.
- Discuss which mixture a cloth can separate.
Try at home. With an adult, dissolve a small amount of sugar in water and observe what changes. Do not drink experiment mixtures.
Evaporation and Drying
Part of: Properties and Changes of Water
The chapter describes water disappearing from a pan left boiling, mango jelly drying in the sun, and sea water drying in shallow beds so salt remains. These examples show that water can leave a mixture while a dissolved solid is left behind.
Why it matters. This helps children understand drying as a way to remove water and, in some cases, collect a solid that was dissolved in it.
Try it in two minutes
- Compare a pan losing water with sea water drying in shallow beds.
- Identify what remains after the water dries.
- Discuss why spreading wet cloth or food out helps it dry.
Try at home. With an adult, notice which dries faster: a wet cloth folded or spread out in a safe sunny place.
What your child will practise
- Dissolving and Mixtures: Space Puzzle (Clue Puzzle)
- Dissolving and Mixtures: Space Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Evaporation and Drying: Lab Explorer Quest (Collect the Answer)
- Evaporation and Drying: Ocean Quick Fire (Quick Fire)
- Why Some Objects Float: Ocean Sort (Sort It Out)
- Quiz: Dissolving and Mixtures (8 questions)
- Quiz: Evaporation and Drying (8 questions)
- Quiz: Why Some Objects Float (8 questions)