Science Fair

Grown-ups

Does a pinecone close when it gets wet?

1st–5th grade · 2 days of testing · free · ages 6 to 11 · 75 minutes a sitting

  • 🌳 Outside
  • 🧼 Wash your hands after
What you need for the pinecones wet and dry project: pinecones picked up outside, all from one tree, a baking tray or big plate, small plates or saucers, all the same, a big bowl, water from the tap

My hypothesis

If I change how wet the pinecone gets, then how wide the pinecone is across after one hour will ______, because ______.

You fill in the blanks. Think about what happens to wood when it soaks up water, and why a tree might want its seeds to fall out on a dry day. A guess is a good because: the test finds out.

Change, measure, keep the same

CHANGE

how wet the pinecone gets: Left dry, Damp: dipped and shaken off, Soaked in water

MEASURE

how wide the pinecone is across after one hour, in cm

KEEP THE SAME

  • pinecones from the same tree, about the same size
  • every pinecone wide open at the start
  • measuring across the widest part each time
  • waiting the same one hour

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

  • Pinecones picked up outside, all from one tree: 9 open ones, about the same size
  • A baking tray or big plate: to dry them on
  • Small plates or saucers, all the same: 2
  • A big bowl
  • Water from the tap
  • Masking tape, to mark lines
  • Crayons or markers
  • A stopwatch or a kitchen timer
  • 📏 A ruler

Steps

  1. With a grown-up, pick up nine open pinecones from under one tree, all about the same size.
  2. Let them dry on a tray indoors overnight, until their scales are wide open.
  3. Next day, measure across the widest part of each pinecone and write it down as its starting width.
  4. Write dry on a bit of tape on a plate, and put three pinecones on it.
  5. Write damp on a plate, dip three pinecones in a bowl of water, shake them off, and put them on it.
  6. Put the last three pinecones in the bowl of water and roll them so every scale gets wet.
  7. Start the timer for one hour, and turn the soaked pinecones over after half an hour.
  8. After one hour, measure across the widest part of every pinecone again.
  9. Write each width in your results table.
  10. Find the middle number for each group and draw a bar graph.
  11. Wash your hands after touching the pinecones.

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: Does a pinecone close when it gets wet?

I changed: How wet   I measured: how wide the pinecone is across after one hour (cm)

How wetTry 1 (cm)Try 2 (cm)Try 3 (cm)Mean
Left dry
Damp: dipped and shaken off
Soaked in water

MY GRAPH (a bar graph: how wet along the bottom, cm 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

A pinecone's scales are made of wood that bends when it takes in water. When the scales get wet they usually curl in and the cone closes, and as they dry out they bend back and open again. Opening on dry days lets the seeds fall out and blow away, while closing in wet weather keeps them safe.

Going further (7th and up): Change a second thing: soak the pinecones for 15, 30 and 60 minutes, and graph how wide they are after each time.

Board layout

MY BOARD · 36 × 48 in tri-foldPeabody 🦉 peabody.kids/science-fair
  1. ❓ Question (10 × 8 in): Does a pinecone close when it gets wet?
  2. 💭 Hypothesis (10 × 9 in): If I change how wet the pinecone gets, then how wide the pinecone is across after one hour will ______, because ______.
  3. 🧺 Materials (10 × 12 in): 8 things: see your list.
  4. 🪜 Steps (22 × 9 in): 11 steps, three tries at each level.
  5. 📊 Results (22 × 16 in): Your table (How wet 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: Pinecones picked up outside, all from one tree; A baking tray or big plate; Small plates or saucers, all the same; A big bowl; Water from the tap; Masking tape, to mark lines; Crayons or markers; A stopwatch or a kitchen timer.

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 1st grade, or print a blank results table.

What a judge will ask

  • What did you change, and what did you measure? I changed how wet the pinecone gets and measured how wide the pinecone is across after one hour, in cm.
  • What did you keep the same, and why does that matter? I kept pinecones from the same tree, about the same size and every pinecone wide open at the start the same, so the only difference was how wet the pinecone gets.
  • 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 soak the pinecones for 15, 30 and 60 minutes, and graph how wide they are after each time.

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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