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Water Experiments

Educational Resources and LinksMs Roughneen's RoomSchool Closure 2020SESE

Water Experiments

By March 20, 2020March 21st, 2020No Comments

Try out some of these experiments at home. Record your findings. Take a picture of your experiment and outcome and email it to glinskschool@gmail.com. Please use the equipment and materials you have. If you dont have the materials, there is no need to try and get them, especially as we are all trying to avoid the shops where possible.

Skittles Experiment

Materials needed: Skittles, water and a white plate.

Remember, part of this Skittles experiment to create art was being creative and imaginative! Prepare to do it a few times, creating new art each time.

  1. Set out the supplies You will need a large white plate, lots of Skittles (try not to eat the sweets), and water. Set up in an area where the plate will not be disturbed. Any vibration or movement could affect your results.
  2. Arrange your Skittles Arrange your Skittles in a pattern around the plate that you think will work best for your Skittles colorful art creation.
  3. Add the water Gently pour the water onto the plate, try not to disturb the skittles.
  4. Wait and watch Very quickly you will start to see the colors travel. Watch to see how they move about the plate and what happens when they meet up with other colors. Depending on the size of your creation this will take about 10 minutes. Try to take a picture of your results.
  5. Repeat! One of the best parts about this experiment is creating different images and pictures.

Find more details  about this experiment on Steam Powered Family Website

Chasing Hearts Experiment

This is a great experiment if you have a whiteboard marker. Any Colour will work, it doesn’t have to be red.

Materials needed: whiteboard markers in red, large white shallow sided dish or the bathroom sink , water, straw.

  1. Start by drawing hearts on the dish or in the dry sink. Dishes that have a high shine release the ink most effectively.
  2. Experiment with the amount of hearts you draw, where you draw them and try drawing with open hearts and colouring in the hearts to see how it changes the results.
  3. Carefully pour water into the dish over the hearts. Pour slowly but steadily near the hearts. The movement of the water pouring will help the magic happen.
  4. Experiment with various temperatures of water to see which works best.
  5. The hearts should start to lift and float around. Practice improves success rates. If they only partially lift you can gently try and work them until they release but they might break.
  6. Now use a straw to blow the hearts around. Rinse and repeat.
  7. Try the Chasing Hearts Challenge! See Steam Powered Family for details and for the science behind the experiment.

Rainbow Water Experiment

Can you make a rainbow? This is a very simple experiment. The sunnier the day, the more success you will have.

Materials needed: Glass of water,  piece of white paper, full sunlight

  1. Place a glass of water in direct sunlight. A window sill is good
  2. Hold the white paper below the glass.
  3. Look for the rainbow! What colours can  you see?

Rainbows are formed when light passes through water droplets.  As the light comes through, it is refracted; that is make (a ray of light) change direction when it enters at an angle. As a result, the light separates into its different colors, which forms the rainbow.

Oil and Water Experiment

What happens when oil and water are mixed?

Materials needed: glass, bottle or jar, water, vegetable oil or a similar cooking oil, washing-up liquid.

  1. Pour water into the glass.
  2. Pour vegetable oil into the glass.
  3. Observe what happens.  (The vegetable oil and water separate into layers.)
  4. Add washing-up liquid and stir.  Observe what happens.

Water and oil are both made up of molecules that are strongly attracted to each other.  Water molecules have a positive charge on one end and a negative charge on the other end.  Since the opposite ends of the molecule have different charges, it is called a polar molecule.  The molecules in the oil are more evenly spaced out, and therefore do not have charges on the opposite ends of the molecule.  These are called non-polar molecules.  Since the water and oil molecules are different types, they do not mix.  When the washing-up liquid is added, it causes the bonds between the molecules to change, and allows the liquids to mix.

Here are three other Experiments exploring water density, which you might try if you have the materials at hand.

[one_third_alpha] [btn_arrow_red url=”https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/activities/candy-stem-challenge/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Lollipop Layers [/btn_arrow_red] [/one_third_alpha]
[btn_arrow_yellow url=”https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/activities/do-soda-pop-cans-float/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Floating Soda Cans [/btn_arrow_yellow]
[one_third_omega] [btn_arrow_orange url=”https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/activities/density-marble-race/” target=”_blank” position=”left”] Marble Races [/btn_arrow_orange][/one_third_omega] [one_half_alpha] There are hundreds of great water experiments on the internet. Have a look and if you find an interesting one let us know in the comments box or better yet, try it out and record it. Don’t forget to send your experiment photos to the school email address as well. [/one_half_alpha] [one_half_omega] [/one_half_omega]

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