Navigation
Discovering liquids and how they like to move and flow.
Have you ever tried to hold a handful of water? It slips right through your fingers like magic! Why does water move while your toy blocks stay still?
A liquid is a special type of matter. Unlike a solid toy or a rock, a liquid does not stay in one piece when you move it. Instead, it flows! This means it can move smoothly from one place to another. When you tip a bottle of juice, the juice pours out. This ability to flow and pour is what makes something a liquid. Most of the liquids we see every day feel wet to the touch.
Quick Check
If you tip a cup of water, does it stay in the cup or does it pour out?
Answer
It pours out because water is a liquid.
Liquids are like tiny superheroes that can change their shape! A liquid does not have its own shape. If you put water in a round bowl, it looks like a circle. If you pour that same water into a square box, it turns into a square! It always takes the shape of the container it is in. If you pour it on the floor, it spreads out into a flat puddle because there is no container to hold it.
Let's look at how water changes: 1. Start with cup of water in a tall, skinny glass. 2. Pour that cup into a wide, flat pan. 3. The amount of water is the same (), but the shape changed from tall to flat!
Quick Check
If you pour milk into a star-shaped bowl, what shape will the milk be?
Answer
The milk will be star-shaped.
Water is the most common liquid we know. We see it in the ocean, in rain, and in our bathtubs. But there are many other liquids too! Milk, orange juice, maple syrup, and even the oil used for cooking are all liquids. Some liquids flow very fast, like water, and some flow slowly, like thick honey. But they all share the same rule: they flow and they change shape.
Imagine a race between two liquids: 1. You tip a spoon of water and a spoon of honey at the same time. 2. The water flows off the spoon in second. 3. The honey takes seconds to flow off. Even though one is slower, both are still liquids because they both pour!
Imagine you have a liquid in a bottle. If the bottle breaks, what happens to the shape of the liquid? 1. The liquid no longer has a container to hold it. 2. It will flow across the floor. 3. It will become a flat, thin puddle because gravity pulls it down as far as it can go.
What is one thing all liquids can do?
Which of these is the most common liquid on Earth?
A liquid has its own special shape that never changes.
Review Tomorrow
Tomorrow morning, look at your drink. Ask yourself: 'What shape is my drink right now? What shape would it be if I poured it into a bowl?'
Practice Activity
Find three different shaped containers (like a cup, a bowl, and a plastic tub). Pour water into each one and watch how the water changes its shape to fit!