Project 1: Can You Take Water Out of the Air?

Welcome to the first project of the Saturday/Sunday Science Project. The project that our readers chose was: Can You Take Water Out of the Air? As a family we performed the experiment this afternoon and this is what happened. 

Intro (from the book)

Putting water into the air is something you have done often. For example, when you wash your hair, the water doesn't stay on your hair. It evaporates. But have you ever taken the water out of the air? Water vapor is in the air. When water vapor is cooled, it collects into water droplets. Here is a way to change water vapor to liquid water.

Materials                                             

• Empty metal can
• Water
• Ice cubes
• Spoon
• Paper towel
• Food coloring

Procedure

1. Fill the can halfway with cold water. Put in 3 drops of food coloring and stir. 

2. Add the ice cubes. Wipe the outside of the can with the paper towel. Make sure the can is dry. Wait a few minutes. 

Drawing conclusions (our answers are in green)

1. What forms on the outside of the can? Water droplets. What color are the drops? Clear.

2. Did they come from inside the can? How do you know? Previously speculated they had, but ultimately determined that they couldn't have possibly come from the can as the water in the can was blue and the water droplets were clear.

3. Where else have you seen water droplets collect? Lots of places, windows, soda cans, glasses, bathroom mirrors.

Two terms that the kids learned today, evaporation and condensation. 

Don't bother me, I'm hypothesizing!

 The kids had a great time doing this experiment, and we all learned about condensation. When I say we all learned, I include myself, as you can see if you watch the video we posted, I make a big mistake about where the water vapor came from. I have since corrected myself and informed Darren that he was right, that the water vapor was already in the air. As someone who loves science, it's embarrassing to admit that I missed something so basic, but now we know, and knowing is half the battle! 

Before our experiments this week, I found these great science experiment notebooks at the Learning Store we frequent, I figured they'd be a great way for the boys to document their experiments.