Color Mixing Science Investigation
Question: What happens when colors are mixed together?
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to find out what happens when we mix different
colors together.
Hypothesis: I think red and yellow make orange, blue and yellow make green, and red and blue
make purple because it says so on http://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/Colormixing.shtml .
Procedures
Materials
1. Red, yellow, and blue paint
2. Clear plastic cups
3. Small Paintbrushes
4. Water
Variables:
What did you change on purpose?
(Independent/ Manipulated)
Colors that were mixed
What changes by itself?
(Dependant/ Responding)
The colors that change
What did you keep the same every time?
(Controlled/Constant)
Amount of paint, amount of water, method of mixing
Step by Step Directions:
1. Gather materials.
2. Mix red and yellow into a cup of water
3. Mix red and yellow into a cup of water
4. Mix blue and yellow into a cup of water
Data Collection
Color mixture
Red and blue
Red and yellow
Blue and yellow
New color
purple
orange
green
Conclusion:
I was correct. I knew the colors that the paint would make if I mixed them. I learned something
new too, if you mix all of them it turns brown.
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Ice Cold Water
Question: Will adding more ice to a glass of ice water make water colder?
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to find out if adding more ice to a glass of ice water
will make the water colder.
Hypothesis: I think that once the water reaches 32F (0C), the water will not get any colder even
if I add more ice. I think this because I read my science textbook and looked on
http://www.scientificamerican.com that ice is frozen water. At a temperature of 32F (0C), water
changes from a liquid state to a solid state. I also read that coldness doesn’t exist on its own.
Coldness is scientifically defined as the absence of heat. This means that ice cools a drink by
transferring the heat of the drink into the ice. Cold things absorb the heat around them. As ice
pulls in the heat from the drink, the ice warms up past 32F and begins to melt.
The movement of heat is called heat transfer or conduction. Heat moves from areas that
have more heat to areas that have less heat. The universe wants to be all one temperature. It
doesn’t like when some things are hot and some things are cold. Heat is always moving to places
or other objects without heat. If you take a bunch of things that are different temperatures and put
them in a box, after a while all the objects will become the same temperature as long as the items
don’t make any new heat. So, the heat of the water goes into the ice, the melts and the water gets
cooler. The water that is liquid cannot get colder than the ice or the liquid water would freeze.
This would happen if the air was colder than 32F (0C). If the air is warmer than the cold water,
the heat from the air will go to the water until the water is as warm as the air if you leave it
sitting long enough.
Procedures
Materials for each trial:
1. Glass or cup large enough to hold at least 500ml of water
2. 250 ml of crushed ice
3. 250 ml of room temperature water
4. Thermometer
Variables:
What did I change on purpose? The amount of ice in the glass.
What changes by itself? The temperature of the water.
What did I keep the same every time? Glass, amount of water, thermometer
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Step by Step Directions:
1. Gather materials.
2. Pour 250 ml of water into glass
3. Measure and record the water temperature
4. Add 100ml of ice and stir for 2 minutes
5. Measure and record the temperature.
6. Add 50 ml of ice and stir for 30 seconds.
7. Measure and record the temperature
8. Repeat steps 6 and 7 two more times.
9. Repeat all of the steps four more times for a total of 5 trials.
Data Collection – in degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius
Trial
No ice
100ml ice
150ml ice
1
60F/ 15C
0C/32F
0 C/32F
2
60F/ 15C
0C/32F
0 C/32F
3
60F/ 15C
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
4
60F/ 15C
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
5
60F/ 15C
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
200ml ice
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
250ml ice
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
0 C/32F
Graph of Water temperature as Ice was Added
Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct. Once water reaches 0C/32F it cannot get any colder without
freezing.
I had a problem with my thermometers and had to start over I used two different
thermometers at first and found that they did not both say the same temperature. I learned that
one of them was not working properly and I started the whole experiment over to make sure I
had a thermometer that was measuring correctly every time.
I have a lot more questions about water. Is it true that hot water freezes faster than cold
water? How does the air temperature affect how fast water cools or freezes? Are the ice caps
melting because of water temperature or air temperature or both? Is the ice in the polar regions
ever warmer than the air?
I think when I grow up I will study the weather and help stop global warming. I will use
what I learn about water and heat.
3
Sink or Float?
Question: Will putting marbles in a plastic egg make the egg sink?
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to find out how many marbles it takes to make the
plastic egg sink.
Hypothesis:
I think that if I add enough marbles to the plastic egg the density will increase enough to
cause the egg to sink. I learned about density from
http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/120Adensity.html and http://www.green-planetsolar-energy.com/definition-of-density.html . I also watch a Bill Nye video about density on You
Tube. I learned that Density is the difference between weights of two objects of the same size. A
liter of water has a density of 1. Basically, a liter of anything lighter than water will float on
water and a liter of anything heavier than water will sink. Air is much lighter than water so a liter
of air will definitely float. It has something to do with how tightly packed together molecules are
in the matter. In something very dense like metal the molecules are packed very tight together. In
something light like air or Styrofoam the molecules are far apart. The marbles will act like the
molecules. When there are only a few they will be far apart in the plastic egg and it will float.
When they are packed together the egg will be heavier and more dense and it will sink.
Procedures
Materials
1. A plastic egg
2. 5 Marbles
3. A tank or clear container large enough to place water and a plastic egg inside of.
4. Enough water to fill the container most of the way.
Variables:
What I changed on purpose: The number of marbles in the egg.
What changed and I measured: Whether the egg sank or floated.
What I kept the same every time: The egg, marbles, tank, water, temperature of water, the
depth of the water, the way the egg was placed in the water
Step by Step Directions:
10. Gather materials.
11. Place the empty egg in the water.
12. Record whether it sinks or floats.
13. Repeat steps 2 and three with 1, 2, 3, and 4 marbles in the egg.
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Data Collection
Number of % submerged
marbles
1
2 3 4
Trial
Trial
Trial
Trial
Trial
5
10 10 10 10 10
Floating on the water.
Only a little bit of the
egg is under the water.
25 25 25 25 25
Did not change very
much with one marble
inside.
35 35 35 40 35
Less than half of the
egg is under water.
60 60 60 60 60
More than half of the
egg is under water.
100
100
100
100
100
Egg is completely
submerged but not resting
on the bottom.
100
100
100
100
100
Egg is completely
submerged and resting on
the bottom.
5
How much marbles sank or floated When Marbles were added
6
Title : The Hole and the Hill
Question: Which will erode more quickly outside over time, a hole in the ground or hill of dirt?
Purpose: The purpose of this investigation is to find out what happens to a hole in the ground and
a hill of dirt outside over time.
Hypothesis: I think the hill will erode faster than the hole because according to
http://www.geography4kids.com/files/land_erosion.html gravity helps move dirt, or cause
erosion. It seems like the dirt on a hill would be being pulled down by gravity and move faster.
Procedures
Materials
1. A protected area outdoors to dig a hole in and a small fence to keep people from stepping
on or in the hole and the hill.
2. A shovel to dig the hole
3. Measuring tape
4. Paper and pencil to record data
Variables:
What did you change on purpose?
The dirt is dug out as a hole or piled into a hill. I dug a hole 100cm (1 meter) deep. I piled the
dirt up and made a hill that was 100cm (1 meter) high.
What changes by itself?
The size of the hole and the hill.
What did you keep the same every time?
The location, the same exposure to weather, same amount of time
Step by Step Directions:
14. Gather materials.
15. On Monday at 8am Dig a hole 100cm deep.
16. Pile the dirt from the hole near the hole. Make a pile 100cm tall.
17. Measure and record the circumference of the hole and the hill.
18. Measure the height and circumference of the hill and the depth and circumference of the
hole every Monday at 8am.
19. Record measurements on data chart
Data Table
Depth of hole
Hole
Circumference
Height of hill
Hill
Circumference
start
100cm
276
cm
100cm
218cm
Week 2
98cm
278cm
Week 3
98cm
281cm
Week 4
76cm
320cm
Week 5
74cm
320cm
92cm
221cm
90cm
222cm
67cm
243cm
64cm
243c
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Conclusion:
I thought that the hill would erode much faster than it did. I was correct that it eroded
faster than the hole. It was hard to measure the circumference because I had to use two tape
measures and pin them to the dirt to keep them in place. It rained on day four and there was a
whole lot more erosion that day. I think if it rained more there would be more erosion. I could do
another experiment to see if there is a way to make the erosion slower by adding rocks.
People need to make sure that the soil in their yards and farms is not taken away by
erosion. It is important for people to know what causes erosion and how to prevent it.
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