Lab Stations to Demonstrate the Properties of Water
Station 1 Water on a Coin
Materials:
You should find a coin, some water, and a medicine dropper at this station.
Basic Procedure:
Use the dropper to put drops of water onto the surface of the coin. Count
how many drops you can fit onto the surface before it spills off the sides.
Further Tests:
What tests of your own would you be interested in doing at this station to
further explore the way the water behaves on the coin? Try this out and
record all your observations in your lab journal.
Question:
What property of water does this demonstrate?
Station 2 Water in a Glass
Materials:
You should find a glass or other small container, water, and a medicine
dropper at this station.
Basic Procedure:
Fill the glass/container with water and then use the dropper to add more and
more drops to the surface. What do you observe?
Further Tests:
What is one thing you could change about the set-up to change the way
water behaves in this experiment? Try this out and record all relevant
observations and results in your lab journal.
Question:
What property of water does this demonstrate?
Station 3 Pepper Scatter
Materials:
You should find a small dish of water, pepper and some soap.
Basic Procedure:
Dip the tip of your finger in the soap and then dip it in the water. What
happens? Why?
Further Tests:
Are there any other cool effects you can create using the property of water
(and soap) that made it act the way it did?
Question:
What property of water does this demonstrate?
Station 4 Solvent Properties of Water
Materials:
You should find several different liquids labeled with “solvent” and their
names. One of them should be water. You should also find several different
solids or powders.
Basic Procedure:
Measure out equal amounts of the solids and try dissolving them in each of
the solvents provided. Record relevant observations.
Further Tests:
What would be the best way to record your observations?
Question:
What property of water does this demonstrate?
Station 5 Ice and Water
Materials:
At this station you should find a container with water and ice in it.
Basic Procedure:
Record what you observe. Why is the ice, a solid, floating on the liquid
water’s surface?
Further Tests:
What would happen if water did not have this property and ice could not
float on the surface of water? Think about the ice in the world around us…
Test your writing skills by writing a brief paragraph in which you take on
the role of either a reporter or scientists from a future world in which water
suddenly (mysteriously) loses this property and all the ice in the world
begins to sink!
Question:
What property of water does this demonstrate?
Station 6 Paperclip Science
Materials:
At this station you should have a paper clip and a beaker of water.
Basic procedure:
Try to carefully place the paper clip on the surface of the water. Observe.
Question:
How is this related to insects that live on water, such as a water strider?
What property of water does this demonstrate?