Science Fair

Grown-ups

Where does a puddle dry fastest: sun, shade or wind?

2nd–6th grade · 2 days of testing · free · ages 7 to 12 · 20 minutes a sitting

  • 🌳 Outside
What you need for the sun, shade, wind and drying water project: clear plastic cups, all the same size, water from the tap, a measuring cup, masking tape, to mark lines, a pencil

My hypothesis

If I change where the water is left, then how far the water level drops in two days will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about what the sun gives the water, and what the wind takes away from just above it. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

where the water is left: In the sun, In the shade, In a breezy spot

MEASURE

how far the water level drops in two days, in mm

KEEP THE SAME

  • the same amount of water in each cup
  • the same kind of cup
  • starting them all at the same time

Scientists call the thing you change the independent variable and the thing you measure the dependent variable. The things you keep the same are the controls: if one of them changed too, you wouldn't know which change made the difference. Try each of the 3 levels 3 times.

What you need

  • Clear plastic cups, all the same size: 9, the same size
  • Water from the tap
  • A measuring cup
  • Masking tape, to mark lines
  • A pencil
  • 📏 A ruler

Steps

  1. Stick a strip of masking tape down the side of each of nine clear cups.
  2. Pour half a cup of water into each and mark the water line on the tape.
  3. Put three cups in the sun, three in the shade and three in a breezy spot.
  4. After one day, mark the new water line on every cup.
  5. Measure from the first line to the new one in millimetres.
  6. Do the same again at the end of day two.
  7. If it rains, bring the cups in and start again on a dry day.
  8. Find the mean drop for each spot and draw a bar graph.

Every step is one you can do yourself, with a grown-up nearby. Write each number down straight away, in the table below, so nothing is lost.

Your results table

MY RESULTSPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair

Name ______________________ Fair day ____________

Question: Where does a puddle dry fastest: sun, shade or wind?

I changed: Where the cup sits   I measured: how far the water level drops in two days (mm)

Where the cup sitsTry 1 (mm)Try 2 (mm)Try 3 (mm)Mean
In the sun
In the shade
In a breezy spot

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: where the cup sits along the bottom, mm up the side)

What I noticed: ______________________________________________

From 4th grade, add the tries for each level and divide by how many there were: that's the mean, and it goes in the last column. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.

📊 Make my graph🖨 Print the whole packet (9 pages)

Why it works

Water dries up when its tiny bits get enough energy to leap into the air as water vapour. Sunshine gives them energy, and wind carries the damp air away so more can leave. In still shade the air just above the cup stays damp, so the water goes slower.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: in each spot, set a wide bowl beside a narrow cup with the same water, and work out how the opening's size matters.

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Where does a puddle dry fastest: sun, shade or wind?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change where the water is left, then how far the water level drops in two days will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 5 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 8 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Where the cup sits down the side, tries across) and your bar graph.
  6. ✅ Conclusion (10 × 14 in): My hypothesis was right / partly right / not right. I know because…

Materials to list: Clear plastic cups, all the same size; Water from the tap; A measuring cup; Masking tape, to mark lines; A pencil.

Bring photos or drawings of your test. Nothing wet, hot, powered or alive on the table.

This project at your grade

1st–3rd gradeTries: three at each level (one is fine at a first fair). The table: levels and tries, numbers or pictures. The graph: a picture, or a simple bar graph. The conclusion: what happened, in their words.
4th–6th gradeTries: three at each level. The table: units in the header and a mean column. The graph: a bar graph, or a line for a number that grows. The conclusion: right, partly or not, and the numbers that show it.

From 4th grade up, the table gets a mean column. See every project for 2nd grade, or print a blank results table.

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed where the water is left and measured how far the water level drops in two days, in mm.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept the same amount of water in each cup and the same kind of cup the same, so the only difference was where the water is left.
  • How many times did you test it? 3 times at each of my 3 levels.
  • If you did it again, what would you change or test next? I'd in each spot, set a wide bowl beside a narrow cup with the same water, and work out how the opening's size matters.

Make it yours

Keep this project on this device and Peabody counts down to your fair day, with a plan for each day. Nothing is sent anywhere.

Try next

👨‍👩‍👧 For grown-ups and teachers: how much to help, the safety rules, and running a school fair. Science fair v0.16.1 · Checked .

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