SCIENCE FUN: February 6

Today we explored absorption.  We began using sponges and to absorb and transfer water from one cup into an empty cup.  Cameron called this "soaking" up the water with the sponge.  This gave the children some understanding about how water can be transferred  from one place to another.  It was now time for us try our "walking water" experiment.  How can we make water walk and why is this important?

When the two primary colours yellow and blue combine, it makes green, so we predicted that we will see green in the bottom cup.  

The paper towels absorb the water and the water travels down, combines, and forms a new colour in the bottom cup.

This process took almost 1 hour

Francine and Ryleigh were so excited to share what they learned about colour combining- they both drew pictures combining yellow and blue to make green.

The plot thickens ….over the long weekend, the green water travelled back UP the paper towels.  Cameron wanted to know why that happened.  He thought that the water walked downstairs, but that it couldn't walk back upstairs.  I told him that water and the paper towel have a very strong partnership and it's so strong that the water can travel up or down.  I drew a plant with roots, stem and flower to illustrate that this is how water travels from roots of the plant to the rest of the plant (it is worth noting that I did not use the phrase "capillary action").