Grade level
Planning and carrying out investigations
Engaging in argument from evidence
Cause and Effect
ESS2.C: The Roles of Water in Earth’s Surface Processes
The investigation had students place water drops on flat and curved surfaces, in order to observe how water behaves and moves.
Students were able to predict how the drops would behave, based on what they already knew about how water moves. For example, drops placed on the elevated sides would slide down (Samples A & B). Some predicted the grooves on the tray would carry water across the plate, which they did not end up observing, because the number of drops did not result in a pool of water that moved, but one that cohered in large drops (Sample A). Students did notice the difference between how drops formed if they were placed initially in a high, slanted location versus being placed on the flat middle of the plate (Sample B).
