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Archive : 2002 : July : 29

Water
By Myra C

The book "A River Runs Wild" by Lynne Cherry is excellent! I use it and then follow up with an experiment on acid rain.

We make three solutions. A = plain water
B = 1/2 C vinegar/ 3/4 C water for a mild acid
C =
100% vinegar
I have found it very effective to use cotton batting in clear plastic cups for any plant experiments. It's easy to see what's going on. Or, a paper towel dampened with the appropriate solution and put into a zip lock bag.
However you do it, put a T or so of radish or lettuce seeds in each container. Label to match the solution being used. Water. Check in 1 week. There

should be good results by then. Another check 7 days later is very interesting!

Also, I do the demonstration John mentioned with a gallon milk jug. Fill almost full to represent salt water (97%), add 4 T (3%) to represent polar ice caps, then 1 T (actually represents less than 1%) for usable water. That's eye opening.

Also, check with your conservation department. Ours has wonderful materials for working with water. You might even be able to go to a stream and do experiments to see how healthy it is (like looking for tiny fish and critters). Kids love it and it's an excellent way for them to see that clean water is important to everyone.

Good luck!