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Science Sunday: rain and puddles

July 4, 2010 Ticia 7 Comments

 

So, this is an automated post.  I’m trying this idea, of when I do more than one experiment in a week to write the post and put it up as a draft to post sometime when I haven’t done something…….   Here goes,
As we were driving home in the rain Superman asked me, “Mommy why are there puddles?”
Ding!  Experiment here.  So I did a quick explanation of why, and then we got home and it wasn’t raining we did the experiment to see why.  (I needed it to not be raining so I could gather dry versions of our supplies).

Question:  Why do we get puddles when it rains?
Theory: The ground gets too full of water, so it comes out on top of the ground as puddles.
Supplies needed: clear glass jar (I used baby food jars), dirt, something to pour water with

002
1.  Pour dirt into the jar until it is about half full.  Make observations about the dirt.
With some gentle prodding they noticed there were empty spots in the dirt.

004

2.  Pour in water.  Of course because a lot of what I was using was potting soil it didn’t mix super well.  But it achieved the goal.  They were able to see that a puddle formed on top after the ground ran out of space for the water.

Success!

And, now that I’m getting ready to publish this, I want to wish everyone: Happy 4th of July!

I can’t guarantee I’ll get to all of your posts this week, but I’ll try my best to come back later on and read them.  In theory at this point we’re looking at the Grand Canyon!

STEM Science Sunday

Comments

  1. Raising a Happy Child says

    July 4, 2010 at 12:57 pm

    Interesting experiment, and judging from your West Texas pictures you could expand on it on the road. Anna didn't ask me this question yet – I guess it doesn't rain enough here.

    Reply
  2. An Almost Unschooling Mom says

    July 4, 2010 at 1:44 pm

    Our ground is very dry, so we don't see many puddles on the dirt – but I love this experiment!

    Happy Independence Day, I hope you're having a great trip 🙂

    Reply
  3. Christy says

    July 4, 2010 at 2:43 pm

    Great experiment!

    Happy Independence Day!

    I hope you are having a great trip!

    Reply
  4. Discovering Montessori says

    July 4, 2010 at 5:01 pm

    Great experiment. I am always waiting to read about your impromptu science activities.
    Happy 4th Of July!

    Reply
  5. Joyful Learner says

    July 4, 2010 at 11:38 pm

    I love how you take things they are naturally curious about and turn it into an experiment. And I love the ding! 🙂

    JC has asked me numerous occasions about the cracks in the pavement. Do you think you can come up with an experiment to explain this? I tried to explain it in words but it didn't do justice…thus, she repeatedly asks me the SAME question! I need to find things that will expand and contract…that's as far as I know.

    Reply
  6. Pathfinder Mom says

    July 5, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    Great idea – I hadn't though about this.

    Reply
  7. 2 Pequeños Traviesos says

    July 7, 2010 at 1:55 am

    Awesome experiment!!! I made an entry on your carnival AND finally got the blog-hop thing right, yay!
    Big hugs

    Reply

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Ticia Adventures in Mommydom Hi, I'm Ticia! This is the adventures of my family in life and learning. Follow along with us as we share our adventures. We're having a lot of fun and learning as we go.

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