Water on a Slope

Water on a MountainsideWhat might happen to a raindrop that falls into a stream flowing down a

mountain side?

Equipment you need:TrayWax paperDropperPlain waterTextbooks – 3 per groupPaper towel

Slope Activity1. Create a slope by propping one end

of a tray on 2 books.2. Lay your waxed paper on the tray to

create a smooth surface.3. Use droppers to drop water on the

waxed paper. OBSERVE the behavior of the drops.

4. Return the water to your cup when it collects in the bottom of the tray.

Have you tried this?Drop drops on top of each other.

Drop drops from different heights.

Compare the speed of different sizes of beads on the slopes.

Find out if one bead can chase and catch another bead.

What did you observe?

Water-Dome Races

If you had a race between two water domes, which one would get to the bottom of the slope

first?

Dome Race Procedure1. Prop one end of the tray on a book.2. Hold up the other end of the tray so it is

level.3. Make several water domes of different

sizes across the book end of the level tray. The domes will contain, one drop, two drops, three drops, and so forth.

4. Lower the other end of the tray and observe.

What did you observe?Which domes were the slowest?Which domes were the fastest?

What will happen now?

What do you think would happen to the speed of the

water domes if you increased the slope of the tray?

Vocabulary to highlightA SLOPE is a slanted surface.FLOW describes the movement of

liquid over a surface.

What new properties of water did we identify?

Water flows down a slope.Bigger domes of water move

down a slope faster.Water flows faster down a

steeper slope.

Science Stories

Let’s read Which Way Does it Go?