For today’s lesson, my class wanted to know, “How would the land affect the water?” To find this out, my class had our 10th experiment. In this lesson, my classmate made a slope out of dirt. In addition, my other classmates and I added 3 rocks and 1 to 2 hills. The hills were made out more dirt. By doing this, it represented how the land (the rocks and hills) changes the way the water flowed.

          1) How did the hills and rocks affect the direction and flow of water?

         The rocks and hills held  the water. The hills and rocks also redirected it around them. After the experiment, my table’s stream table had different paths in the slope as the river reached the middle of it.

          2) How was the path of the stream in this lesson different from the stream in lesson 6 and lesson 9?

         I think this lesson’s stream table was different from previous experiments because, in this lesson we had a smaller delta. In addition, this lesson had rocks and hills, unlike other lessons.

          3) Did the water affect the hills? If so, how?

         The water did not affect the hills. Instead, the water found its way around them.

          4) What human-made features on land, other than rocks and hills, might slow down or change the direction and flow of water? Describe possible negative and positive effects of these features.

         Some human-made features such as buildings and houses, can change the direction of the flow of water. Unfortunately, if the water overflows, these buildings or houses will be on the floodplain and experience a flood.

 

           To start off lesson 9, part 2, my table got back our results from lesson 6’s and lesson 9’s sediment (run-off water). With the two sediment results, my table discussed what was different and similar with the two sediments, and the water and soil in the sediments. With what my table discussed, we went onto a 3rd page of a science packet, that my class was working on. On the 3rd page, there was a picture of a graduated cylinder. With the graduated cylinder, my class had to color in the graduated cylinder to match where the water level was, now that the water sat for a weekend, and where the soil was at in the real graduated cylinder that held the sediment. We measured the water and soil in milliliters.

 

Questions:

 

1) What effects does a large amount of rapidly flowing water have on the amounts of soil that is eroded? What evidence in you stream table supports your conclusions?

I think that the more rapidly flowing water you have will cause more erosion, and you will have bigger canyons and valleys. I can support my conclusion because when I look back to lesson 6 and lesson 9, I can see that in lesson 9 there are bigger canyons.

2) Using you record sheet, compare the deltas formed in lesson 6 and 9. How are they different? How are they alike?

In lesson 9, the delta was smaller and of to the side as opposed to lesson 6, where the delta was bigger and was more centered. For how the lesson 6 and 9 delta’s are the same, I think that they are alike because they are both like a triangle shape.

 

3) How can rushing water alter land?

Rushing water can alter land by eroding the land.

 

This afternoon, my class had our 9th lesson in science. Today, my class used a second cup, the red cup. The red cup had a bigger hole in the bottom, compared to lesson 6. Nash was the water pourer, and I was the bucket holder. I had to kneel under the hole in the bottom of the stream table, while Nash poured the water into the red cup. Once Nash poured the last drop of the water into the cup, Helen squatted down to the hole in the stream table to catch 50 ml of run off water in a graduated cylinder. Lastly, my group got our packets back. In our packets we had to color what we saw in the stream table, and what we saw in the graduated cylinder.

Blog Questions

 

• How did the water in today’s stream table change the land. Why do you think this happened?

 

The water made canyons in the land. I think this happened because the water eroded the land.

 

• How were the changes in the land in today’s stream table different from those in lesson 6?

 

The cup we used in this lesson had a bigger hole in it as opposed to lesson 6. This made bigger canyons in this lesson compared to lesson 6.

 

• How were the  changes in the land the same as in lesson 6?

 

In lesson 9 and lesson 6, you could see many parts of the river (delta, mouth, head, floodplain, etc.)

 

 

Today was the 7th Time doing a science experiment. In this experiment, we wanted to model what a river is, and rivers’s parts. To do this we used our materials from previous experiments. I was the bulldozer. I had to bulldoze the soil from last experiment. Then, my friend Luke poured in the water through a cup with a hole in it. It flowed down the soil like a real river would. My group got to observe the different parts of a river. We noticed the head, mouth, delta, canyon, and stream channel. Lastly, our aide Ms. T helped my group put on a plastic wrap. My group got dry erase markers to draw what we see in the river model on top of the plastic wrap.

         1. Describe your group’s drawing. What does it look like? What does it look like? What parts of the river were you able to identify and label?

In my group’s drawing, we labeled and drew the stream channel, mouth, head and delta. It was hard to draw the canyon.

           2. What strategies did your group use to make the drawing easier to understand?

The strategy my group used was to look inside the model river and trace what we saw.

           3. How does this activity help you to understand the parts of a river?

It is a model of a real river (only not with every part of a real river).

          4. Compare and contrast your groups drawing to another group’s drawing.

I think other group’s drawings were more complex. They had lines everywhere in their drawing.

 

Today my class did our 6th experiment. First, we got our jobs like last experiment. This time my job was to be material manager and water pourer. Next, after Luke and I bulldozed the soil from last experiment (because our other team member Nash was not here), Luke kneeled under the hole with the bucket, while I poured the water into a cup, that had a hole in it. That cup was hanging over the stream table, so the water went down the hill.

 

Questions:

 

1. How did the water from the stream source change the land?

The water from the stream source eroded the land.

 

2. How were these changes in the land different from or similar to the changes cause by the rain in Lesson 5? Why? What did you predict would happen?

These changes were similar to the changes cause by the rain in Lesson 5. Just like in the last lesson, the land got eroded, just this time the water eroded the land more. The soil in our stream tables couldn’t hold anymore water (because of Lesson 5), so the water tried soaking into the ground, but it flowed on top of the land. I predicted that the water would run-off.

 

3. What did you observe about the particles of sand and gravel in the stream table? What did you observe about other soil components?

I observed that the soil components (not including gravel) absorbed the water, which made the water full of groundwater.  

 

4. What does this experiment tell you about where water goes when it meets land?

This experiment shows that the water can go 2 places. 1: soak up into the ground becoming groundwater, and 2: run-off. The water will run-off into lower places or bodies of water (such as in this experiment, the bucket.

Today, my class did a new project. In this project, we were asked to see what would happen when “rain” meets soil. First, each team member got assigned a job. My job was to be the stream table manager and bucket holder. Next, the bulldozer made a hill. The bulldozer is the person who gets to mix the soil and make a hill with the soil. Finally, the bucket holder (me), the water sprinkler, and the stopper manager will do their jobs. The stopper manager will take out the stopper that stops the dirty stuff from coming out, and the water sprinkler will pour the water from the water bottle once the bucket holder is in place. The water sprinkler has a water bottle with a mushroom looking gadget that has holes in it. Once the water sprinkler turns over the bottle, the water will come down like rain. Our end result was a tiny amount of dirty water.

 

Questions:

      1. Describe what happened in your model when you made it rain.

When the water rained from the water bottle, most of it was absorbed by the soil.

 

  2. What happened to the land as it rained? Why?

As it rained, the soil became damp because it absorbed the water.

 

 3. What happened to the rain water as it hit the land?

As the rain water hit the land, I observed that most of the water seeped into the land.

 

     4. Where did the water go?

I think the water was absorbed by the soil, and only a small amount of water landed in the bucket.

 

    5. Compare the water in the bucket with the water you rained on the land. How are they different? Can you explain why?

The water in the bucket was different from the rain water. The first difference was the water we poured in was, clear. The water we got in the bucket was dirty from the soil. The second difference was that the water we put in was a greater amount than the water we got in the bucket. This was because most of the water was absorbed by the land.

 

    6. In what ways might heavy or light rain affect land differently?

I think that light water would affect the land differently because, the land may need more rain than the light rain gives.

   

     7. Think about what you observed today. What did you learn about the relationship between rain flowing on land and how streams form?

From what I observed today, the relationship between rain flowing and how streams form can cause erosion. The rain can flow into the land and over time move the land. (Look at the picture below)

 

Today, my class finished lesson #4.

 

For Day 2 (today), my class finished our experiment from day 1. First, We use our soil components from yesterday, and colored it in the paper graduated cylinder to look like the clay, gravel, humus, or sand. Next, I poured in 30 ml of water. My group took our predictions from day 1, and compared it to our results.

Compared to our predictions, We predicted the sand with water would be a total of 30 ml, but the sand and water totaled up to 41 ml. With clay, we predicted that it would also be a total of 30 ml, but it was a total of 47 ml. The predictions for gravel with water and humus with water were, 35 ml and 42 ml. Both of our predictions were also off.  The total for the gravel and water was 41 ml, and the water and humus was a total of 48 ml.

 

Questions:

 

1. What did you observe when you poured water in each of the cylinders?

All of the soil components did different things with the water. I noticed that the sand absorbed most of the water. On the other hand, the clay and humus didn’t take in much water, it bubbled! With the gravel, I noticed that the water seeped into the spaces in between.

 

2.   Where did the water go? Why did it go there?

I observed that the water didn’t add up perfectly with the soil to make 50 ml. Instead of the 20 ml of soil and 30 ml of water adding up, some of the soil absorbed the water. It went into the spaces in between the soil, or even floated on the soil. For some soil components, it is harder to absorb because of the substance, but I noticed that over time the soil will absorb some of the water. I think the water went there because of the substance of the soil.

 

3.  What does the investigation tell you about one place water goes when it meets land?

When I poured the water in the test tubes, I observed that water will spread across land, and seep into the ground becoming groundwater.

 

4.   Think about the water in your cylinders. On the basis of your observations, what do you think the words “groundwater”, and “runoff” mean? Write your own definition for both words.

After observing my graduated cylinders, my own definition of “groundwater” is the water that has been absorbed by different soil components. This water is absorbed into the ground. My definition of “runoff” is, the water that has not seeped into the ground, and flows into lower areas or other bodies of water.

 

5.  Where might runoff and groundwater go after they move over and through the land.

The runoff and groundwater will evaporate over time.

These are the picture of me and my group. Today, we did our 4th science lesson/experiment.

First, we got our tray full of four different types of soil. One cup of gravel, sand, clay, and humus. Along with all of these types of soil, my group got a marker and a graduated cylinder. A graduated cylinder is one of the tubes that a scientist uses to measure volume or capacity.

Next, all of the members of my group, (me, Alyson, Dylan, Luke) had a turn to put in 20 ml of a different soil. With the marker, we packed down each soil component with the back of it, to make sure that the soil exactly 20 ml.

After that, we colored in the paper graduated cylinder to the 20 ml line with crayons.

Finally, my group discussed different predictions. The predictions that we talked about were about “How many ml will the total amount of the 20 ml of soil and 30 ml of water be?”

            With my group, we wrote 4 different predictions for each soil component. For the sand, I predicted 30 ml in total. I think this because at the beach, when you pick up wet sand, most of the water will sink into the sand. For the clay, I also think that the total will be 30 ml . I predict this because I think the clay will suck up most of the water. For the gravel, I wrote down 35 ml. I think this because the gravel is almost the size as pebbles. Since the gravel isn’t so big, there won’t be many cracks, but just enough for some of the water to seep into them. For the humus, my group thought the total ml would be 42. We thought this because, in our previous experiment, the humus didn’t mix with the water that much. We thought most of the water would stay on top of the humus.

 



Today my class completed a new science project.

          As groups, we were to examine each of the four soil components and to see what would happen if we dropped them in water. The four soil components were sand, gravel, clay, and humus. Since two of the kids in my group were on vacation, it was just me and Luke. Ms. Papantoniou handed out a packet for us to write down our observations. The first questions were about the appearance and texture. The bottom ones were about when we put it in the water. My favorite soil to put in the water was the humus because some of it floated, and some fell to the bottom of the cup like snow. When Luke stirred the humus, it looked like black ink.

          With experimenting each of the four soil components I learned something new. With the gravel, I learned that it was the first one of the soil components to drop because it was heavy. With the clay, I learned that it can be both big and small, some of it can dissolve into the water, and it can clump together. With sand, I learned that it turns the water cloudy, when you drop it in the water. And for the humus, I learned that it floats on water, it falls down from the top of the water like snow, some of it can dissolve into the water, it clumps together, and it turns the water black like ink.

Do you like science? Do you know anything about soil?