Please read the letter below; it explains your challenge!
LETTER 1
Friendly Aquarium
14250 Boggs Drive
Miami, Fla. 33176
Dear Team,
We are learning about the needs of living things and how pollution can affect living things. Our class has decided to create an aquarium that would allow fish and other sea life to live in a safe habitat, free from the harmful effects of pollution. However, we need your help to guide us in picking the water to help set up this friendly aquarium. Please be sure to write back to tell us your process for deciding which water would be best for our aquarium.
Sincerely, Friendly Aquarium
YOU HAVE HEARD BACK FROM THE FRIENDLY AQUARIUM WITH A NEW SET OF DATA
LETTER 2
Friendly Aquarium,
1450 Boggs Drive
Miami, FL 33176
Dear Team,
Thank you for proving information on the water supply needed for the aquarium. As we have been researching aquariums, we have learned that the water supply is the main factor for the upkeep of an aquarium. So, we would like to consider the factors that will help to pick the kind of water for the aquarium that is the easiest to use. Please look at the new data table and vote on the water conditions that would be less of a problem for the class. Vote by drawing a big happy fish (3 points) to a small happy fish (1point). Please write back and explain the reason for deciding which water you have selected.
Sincerely, Friendly Aquarium
Salt Water Density Experiment from The Science Kiddo
This super easy salt water experiment is the perfect kitchen science experiment to learn about the density of salt versus fresh water. With summer approaching and beach trips planned it’s a great time to learn about how salty ocean water is different from fresh spring water.
Head into the kitchen to gather the following items:
- Small plastic jewels (We purchased ours at the dollar store. If you don’t have these exact jewels, don’t worry. You can use raw eggs or small grapes instead.
- Several clear cups full of water
- Salt
- Sugar
- Baking Soda *
*Feel free to test other substances like washing soda, baking powder, sand, cornstarch, etc. It’s always fun to experiment to see what happens!
Once supplies are gathered, follow these instructions to do the salt water experiment:
- Label each cup CONTROL (just water), SALT, SUGAR, and BAKING SODA.
- Dissolve 2 tablespoons of salt in one cup, 2 tablespoons of sugar in another cup, and 2 tablespoons of baking soda in a third cup. Be sure to leave one cup as plain, fresh water as the control group.
- Predict what might happen when you drop the jewels (or raw eggs, grapes, etc.) into each cup. Will the jewels sink or float? *Hint: You may need to add more salt/sugar/baking soda to the water, depending on what kind of jewels or food you are using in this experiment.
- Drop the jewels into each cup to find if your predictions were correct!
The Science Behind the Salt Water Experiment
When you add salt to water it makes the water more dense. This means it gets heavier. Many objects that sink in fresh water will float in salt water!
Objects float in baking soda water because baking soda is a kind of salt. It dissolves in water to make the water more dense, just like table salt does. However, baking soda has another property that gave us a little bit of a surprise!
When baking soda dissolves in water some of it reacts to form carbon dioxide gas. If you look carefully you will see tiny bubbles rising from the bottom of the cup.
Adding just the right amount of baking soda to the water will allow the jewels in the cup to hover near the middle.
Source: The Science Kiddo