Wonderful Water July Day 5

We began the morning with a game of Predator vs. Prey. Then we hiked to the schoolhouse and did gratitude circle. After that, we checked our water pollution experiment. We recorded the results by drawing our observations in our journals. We noted that the celery with soap in the water only traveled 1 inch while the celery with no soap in the water traveled 7 inches. We recorded our data on a bar graph and concluded that water pollution (the soapy water) slows the capillary uptake of water in plants. Then we went outside to check the results of our Solar Still. We could see some of the water condensing on the plastic wrap before we opened it. We had a good inch or so of clean fresh water and those of us who wanted to tasted it....me included! Then we talked about why oceans are saltier than rivers and lakes. We also talked about why some saltwater fish will die in freshwater and vice versa. During this discussion we talked about osmosis and how nature is always trying to create an equilibrium. Then we played The Osmosis Game. The kids were salt molecules and the balloons were water molecules. Only the water molecules could pass over the black membrane to try and create an equilibrium (equal amount of water and salt on both sides). Then I would randomly call "Freeze" and we would see if we reached equilibrium or not. We also played a few rounds of Scientists Observe and Animal Party. Then we made cards using our Suminagashi prints from yesterday. Afterwards, we looked at different bridge designs around the world and had an engineering challenge called "The Bridge Challenge". In groups or on their own, they had to create a bridge from straws and tape that could withstand the weight of 100 pennies for 10 seconds on its own. Most were successful! Then we ate lunch and went to the creek.