Water Activity Instructions. 
Use your notebook for recording data, answering questions, etc.  You will use this information when you do your lab write-up using the hand-out I gave you earlier.

1.  Write a Guiding Question such as “What type of container, when filled with water will hold the most pennies before overflowing?”

2.  Sketch each container on paper and label them A, B, C, D and E (this is part of your data)

3.  Choose a partner and get a glass of water from me.  Use your senses of touch and sight to make as many observations as you can in 3 minutes.  You should have at least five observations (more data)

4.  Create a hypothesis based on your sketches as to which container you think will hold the most pennies. (This will be part of the hypothesis portion)

5.  With a penny, pipette, and a paper towel, see how many drops you can fit on a penny before it over flows.  You should do three trials and find the average drops. Each student must write a procedure for the test before performing the task.  It must be a step by step procedure that includes all materials you will be listing.  The teacher must check your procedure before you can conduct the tests.  All data must be written down so you can use it later in the lab write up.  You will have 10 minutes, so you cannot waste time.  You should make some observations that describe what you see or observe as the water piles on the penny (data).

6.  Post your average.  Compare your average with other groups.  Answer the questions “Why do we have different results if we all have the same materials to work with?” and “How could we do this and have a control to insure that the results are consistent?”  (You will use these ideas in your lab conclusion write-up at the end of the activity)

7.  Get a nickel and make a prediction on how many drops it will hold based on your results with the penny.  Follow the same procedure you did with the penny.  Record all results (data,)

8.  Compare your results between the penny and the nickel.  Are the results the same?  Why or why not.  Write down all factors you can think of that caused your penny to be different from your nickel.  Make a generalization about the number of drops that would fit on a quarter if we were to follow the same procedure.  If you don’t remember what a generalization is, look it up in your book.  Be sure to defend your generalization using data collected during our experimentation.

9.  Do you need to change your original hypothesis?  Explain why you changed it or why you stayed with your original hypothesis.  This information will also be part of your write-up conclusion.

10.  Observe as we put pennies into the containers until they overflow.  Record your data.

11.  Is there anything that you could do to the water that would change the amount of pennies that could fit into the container?  What are your ideas?  This will also go into your conclusion.

Susan Augustyn  Room 31