Science Fair

Grown-ups

Which ice cube melts first: in the sun, in the shade or inside?

kindergarten · 1 day of testing · free · ages 5 to 6 · 60 minutes a sitting

  • 😎 Never look at the sun
  • 💧 Water
What you need for the melting ice cubes project: ice cubes, all from the same tray, small plates or saucers, all the same, a stopwatch or a kitchen timer, crayons or markers

My hypothesis

If I change where the ice cube sits, then how many checks until it's all gone will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about where you feel warmest when you stand outside, and where you feel coolest. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

where the ice cube sits: In the sun, In the shade, Inside on a table

MEASURE

how many checks until it's all gone, in checks

KEEP THE SAME

  • ice cubes from the same tray
  • the same kind of plate
  • checking every 10 minutes

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

  • Ice cubes, all from the same tray: 9 cubes, from the same tray
  • Small plates or saucers, all the same: 3, all the same
  • A stopwatch or a kitchen timer
  • Crayons or markers

Steps

  1. Grown-up: Your grown-up puts one ice cube on each of the three plates.
  2. Carry one plate to the sun, one to the shade, and leave one inside on a table.
  3. Set the timer for 10 minutes. When it rings, go and look at every plate.
  4. Make a tick for each plate that still has some left. Then set the timer again.
  5. Grown-up: When a plate has only a puddle left, your grown-up writes down its ticks.
  6. Grown-up: On two more days, your grown-up sets out new ice and you test it again.
  7. Colour a box for every tick. Which place took the most checks?

3 steps are a grown-up's, marked above. 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: Which ice cube melts first: in the sun, in the shade or inside?

I changed: Place   I measured: how many checks until it's all gone (checks)

PlaceTry 1 (checks)Try 2 (checks)Try 3 (checks)
In the sun
In the shade
Inside on a table

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: place along the bottom, checks up the side)

What I noticed: ______________________________________________

Write each try's number in its box. Then draw a bar graph, one bar for each thing you tried.

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

Why it works

Ice melts when it gets warm. The sun warms the plate and the ice the most, so that cube goes first, and the shade and the room warm it more slowly.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: test a big cube and a crushed cube in each place.

My picture board

A kindergarten board is one page: the question, a guess to tick, a drawing of the test, a box coloured for each count, and what your child found out, in their words. Glue it to a folded card, or the middle of a tri-fold.

MY PICTURE BOARDPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair

Which ice cube melts first: in the sun, in the shade or inside?

I think… tick one:

  • ☐ In the sun
  • ☐ In the shade
  • ☐ Inside on a table

This is my test: draw it.

I counted: colour one box for each check, for my first try.

In the sun
In the shade
Inside on a table

I found out:

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Which ice cube melts first: in the sun, in the shade or inside?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change where the ice cube sits, then how many checks until it's all gone will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 4 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 7 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (Place 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: Ice cubes, all from the same tray; Small plates or saucers, all the same; A stopwatch or a kitchen timer; Crayons or markers.

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

This project at your grade

KindergartenTries: 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.

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

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed where the ice cube sits and measured how many checks until it's all gone, in checks.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept ice cubes from the same tray and the same kind of plate the same, so the only difference was where the ice cube sits.
  • 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 test a big cube and a crushed cube in each place.

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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