Here are some creative explanations of how the launcher worked based on our observations and reading about how air pressure works.
Reta: You know how there's water in it? There's not room for much air to get in. When you pump in more air there's no room for all that air and it tries to escape. The water started to squirt a little on the sides and then it just burst off!
Beckett: When you push the air in with the pumper all the air gets cramped inside of it. So if the bottle is holding on hard and the pressure starts pulling it up off the connection and then it goes up in the air.
JJ: So once you pump it the air pushes it up. When you pump it again it just wants to go up so it blasts off.
Bella K: So when the air is pushing on it, it's like force. And there's gravity pushing on it too. It's like a battle between gravity and friction and the air pressure and it eventually the air pressure wins out and it blasts off and then gravity wins and pulls it back down and then they're all getting along and it rests on the ground.
Logan: Gravity is pushing the bottle down like the magnets that D brought in. Gravity is like a magnet, it's pulling everything down to the center of the earth. The air pressure makes it want to up and its more than the pull of the gravity for a minute.
Sophia: It's like the water is in the cup and the pump makes it fill up with air. Air passes through the water and it pushes the bottle off of the launcher. Once it's off gravity pulls it back down.
Some of these explanations are kids' approximations of the scientific information we've studied. But overall they have such a knack for turning complex ideas about matter and forces into related concepts that are easier to old on to. This kind of metaphorical talk is key for owning new learning.
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