Science Investigation

I presented the kids with this question, "What item will hold the most water - a sponge, cloth, or paper towel?" I gave each team of scientists a small piece of sponge, cloth, paper towel, two cups, a graduated cylinder, and a stopwatch. Together we created procedures for our investigation, and our teams set out to find their results. I was very impressed with how our students designed the experiment. They did an incredible job keeping constants the same: we filled each cup half way with water, held each item under water for 30 seconds, squeezed each item as hard as we could. The kids really thought through each aspect of the investigation. As we hypothesized, the sponge ended up holding the most water. We inferred that it's shape, size, and spongy quality all helped it retain the most water. This was a wonderful way for kids to be introduced to the scientific process. Here are some photos of our scientists as work...