Mr Archimedes' bath by Pamela Allen

Grab a bucket, grab a ruler, fill your bucket with water to about half way. Measure the depth of the water carefully and write down the number.  Now add something heavy to your bucket like a brick or a toy truck.  What will happen to the water?  Why did this happen?  Who is to blame?

This simple science principal of displacement is at the heart of Mr Archimedes bath but you do not need to know this.  It is just good fun to watch Mr Archimedes as he struggles to discover who is causing the water to go up and down.  First he blames kangaroo, then goat and finally he yells at wombat convinced the poor fellow is the real culprit.  Finally Mr Archimedes has his eureka moment.  He sees that the water goes up with every one in the bath and down when they all climb out.  All is forgiven and the four friends spend a joyous evening climbing in and out of the bath watching the water go up and down.  I wonder if they thought to add a little more hot water as they played I am sure this bath water must have been quite cold!

Pamela Allen wrote this classic picture book in 1980 and the story and pictures are still delightful today over thirty years later.  After you  read Mr Archimedes' bath try to read Who Sank the boat? also by Pamela Allen.