This week, Year 5 were investigate the following enquiry question:
Which substances dissolve in water?
In science, we follow a three-step process: to plan; to do (and observe); and to evaluate.
In our planning process, we had to thing about which variables are going to stay the same (controlled) and which variables are going to change (independent).
Controlled variables (stay the same):
- amount of water
- amount of substance in each cup
- amount of stirs per substance
- temperature of water
- time limit
Independent variables (change)
- type of substance
Once we were all prepared, we made some predictions. The substances being tested were: salt, sugar, sand, rice, coffee, flour.
I don’t think rice will dissolve because we cook rice with hot water and it doesn’t disappear – Ethan
I think sugar is soluble because people drink tea which can have sugar in – Isla
Coffee is soluble because loads of adults drink it – Vinnie
Then it was time to conduct our experiment. The children worked really well in small groups and stayed safe throughout. Once finished, we discussed our findings and evaluated our results. Here is an example of our class evaluation:
Help at home
Maybe investigate one of our further suggestions at home?