Science Magic- Exploring Soil with Ms. Arnold

For this week's Science Magic experiment, we headed over to 2AA to explore soil with Ms. Arnold! During our science talk, Ms. Arnold asked us which material would hold water the longest-sand, soil, or rocks? Many of us hypothesized that soil would hold water the longest, so we put our theory to the test.

To test our hypothesis, we took turns pouring water through sand, soil, and rocks that were sitting on coffee filters above a cup and we timed how long it took for the water to run through it. We stopped timing after the last drip on each material we tested.

After testing each material, we discovered that rocks held onto water for the longest amount of time! According to Science Clarified, soil is made up of about 50% solid material and 50% space, with 90% of that solid material being rocks and minerals. Many of us thought it would be interesting to test these materials again to see which one would hold the most water. Perhaps you could try it at home! 

Drops on a Penny with Mrs. Leonard

On Thursday, we finished our first rotation of Science Magic when we traveled to Mrs. Leonard's room and experimented with dropping water on pennies. We had no idea how much water the surface of the penny could hold!

Many of us got over 40 drops to fit on our penny before it finally spilled over. This site has ideas for how to extend the experiment at home: Steve Spangler Science. They suggest testing using other liquids or even other pennies to see if the results are different!

We are going to begin a second rotation of Science Magic in a few weeks, and this time our experiments will center around earth science! We can't wait :)