Fun with water drops!

Playing with water drops is always fun (for kids anyway.) With this experiment, you not only get to play with water, you also get to try a great science fair project that could possibly be your ticket to a blue ribbon. So...

Let's have some fun with water drops!

Time - Give yourself about two or three days to do this one. A weekend would be a good choice.

Stuff List

You'll need...

1. Eye-dropper
2. Water (of course)
3. Spray bottle
4. Wax paper
5. Bowl
6. Table or counter
7. Camera
8. Cardboard for display (three sided) and other supplies
9. Paper and markers
10. Computer (optional)

Preparation

It's always important to ask questions. In science it's even more important. So...

...let's ask some questions about water.

Here are some important questions to get you started. These aren't the most important question, though. We'll ask that one later.

See if you can add to this list for this water drop experiment...

What is rain made of?
Can you think of other places you can find water drops?
Do you think they all have the same kind of water?
Do you think they're all the same size?

Try to answer these as best you can.

Now...

We ask the most important question...

What shape are water drops?

This is a good question because we can try it out at home. But don't try it yet. We need to answer our most important question first!

Let's do that now.

What do you think will happen?

Write it down on a piece of paper or draw a picture of what you think will happen. Don't change it until you see what the water does first.

Now it's time to get your stuff from the list above. Let's move to the next step.

Project

We need to place a large piece of wax paper on our work space first. Now, let's put water in our bowl and squirt bottle. Be careful! Don't spill it!

Next, take your eye-dropper and put water on the wax paper. Make sure to pay attention to what shape the water drops are. This is also a great time to take photos of what you're doing.

When you're finished, it should look something like this...

Now, take your squirt bottle and spray the wax paper with it. Once again, make sure to keep your eye on those little drops. You want to make sure you remember what the look like. Here's a picture to help you...

And don't forget to take lots of pictures of this part. Pictures show you did your own work.

Repeat each of these steps several times to make sure the water drops do the same thing every time. Repeating the project is very important. So don't forget this step!

Paper

It's time to make a chart. Charts aren't hard we have more information for you on this page. Just click here.

Take your paper and markers and write "Shape of water drops" at the top. Under that write two headings, "eye-dropper" and "spray", both on the same line.

Next, on the next line down, label on the left hand side of the paper "Guess." Under that on the next several lines going down the page, write "1st try," "2nd try," "3rd try," and so forth until you have the right number of left hand labels for the number of times you did the project. Here's what it should look like...

If you'd like more information about making charts click here to go through our tutorial page on making charts and graphs.


Now it's time to tell what you saw. Draw a picture of what you saw the drops do. Also, write a report about what you saw.

You should include...

1. What you guessed about the water drops.
2. What you did with the water.
3. What shape were the water drops
4. If your guess was correct about the water drops.

Be careful to obey all the school rules for your science fair report. Three or four sentences will do if you weren't given how long it should be.

Presentation

Now you get to make the display!

Carefully put three pieces of cardboard together so it looks like this...

If you want more information about putting together science fair project displays click here.


You can also buy displays at many retail stores as well. However you do it, make sure you follow science fair rules!

Now, on a piece of paper neatly write your important question and your guess. If you would like, type it. You might get style points!

Now, just like you did your important question, write (or type) your supply list on a separate piece of paper.

Paste your guess, supply list and report onto your display board along with any pictures you might have taken. Make sure you label each so the judges know what is what. Making sure everything looks good is important!

If you want to get some ideas for your display we have some examples for you. Just click here for ideas about science fair project displays and other tips and hints.


Try playing with some of the display ideas you see. You should be able to find something that will fit your water drop science fair project. You don't have to use the exact ones we use. Adapt them. Make them fun! Be creative!

And don't forget to name your project at the top of the display board. You may want to use your important question as the title. You may want to purchase stencils to make cutouts of letters. Or you may purchase already made letters at many retail stores.

Whatever you do, have fun! It's not every day that your parents let you play with water so much!

Click here if you're finished experimenting
with water drops to see more great projects.

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