Since I have had so much fun in the Everglades, I thought we would do a related experiment this week. One of the most important things in the Everglades is water. There is a very delicate balance here, since the Everglades rely on the same water sources used by Miami and other cities, area farmers and industry. That makes it very important for people in this area to conserve water, but water conservation is important everywhere. Most people have no idea of how much water they waste every day. To give you an idea, we are going make a few tests. You will need:

- water
- measuring cups

Even little things can make a big difference in conserving water. You would be amazed how much water goes down the drain for something as simple as a dripping faucet. To see how much water this can waste, turn on the water faucet just enough to get a steady drip, drip, drip of water. Place the measuring cup under the faucet. Now wait for 15 minutes. Turn off the water and look to see how much water you collected. Multiply this by 4 and you will see how much drips away in an hour. Multiply that by 24 and you have how much drips in a day. Multiply that by 365 and you have a year's worth of drips, which is a lot of water.

Next its time to brush your teeth. Do you leave the water running while you brush? If you do, place a large bowl under the faucet when you brush your teeth. When you finish, use the measuring cups to see how much water ran down the drain while you were brushing. Multiply that by the number of times a day you brush your teeth. Then multiply that by 365 for a year's worth of tooth brushing. Again, over a year it is amazing how much water is wasted this way. Place the empty pan back under the faucet. This time, turn the water on long enough to wet the toothbrush and then turn it off. Turn it on only when you are using it. Measure to see how much you saved. Over a year, that could be a lot of water, especially if you have several people in your family.

There are many things that you can do to use water more wisely. For example, instead of pouring the water you use in these experiments down the drain, pour it on potted plants or flower beds that need water anyway. Every little bit helps. Look around your house to find all the ways that you use water. Can you figure how many gallons your family uses each day? If you look at your utility bill, you should be able to get an idea of how many gallons you use each month. Multiply that by 12 and you get an idea of how much you use each year.

Here is a math problem for you. Yes, I know that this is supposed to be science, but math plays a very large role in the world of science. Find out the population of your city. If each person in the city saved one cup of water each day, how much water would they save after one year? Yes, even small savings can add up.

Did you know that your television can show you how much smoke, dust and other pollution you have in the air of your home?

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This project has science fair potential.

How do plants move water and food without a heart for a pump?

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How do plants spread their seeds to new areas?

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This week's experiment comes from a conversation with an artist/friend. She wanted to incorporate some copper strips into her work, and was going to use some green paint to make it look old. I suggested that she would get a much more realistic look by doing it chemically, which led to an interesting experiment for us to try.

You will need:
- several pennies or pieces of copper
- vinegar
- salt
- a small bowl, jar, or drinking glass
- paper towels

Pour about an inch of vinegar into the bowl. Add about a tablespoon of salt, and give it a good stir. Then add the pennies. You should quickly notice that they become very clean and shiny as the chemical reaction dissolves any tarnish. Let the pennies sit there for about five minutes.

Remove the pennies from the bowl. Place half of them on a folded paper towel. Rinse the other half very well with water, and place them on another folded paper towel. Put them in a place where they will not be disturbed, and check on them in about an hour.

You should find that the pennies that you rinsed are still a nice, copper color, while the pennies that you did not rinse are starting to turn green. That green color is a chemical called copper acetate, the result of a chemical reaction between the copper, salt, and vinegar.

Copper acetate is one of several green chemicals that form when copper, brass, or bronze is exposed to the weather for long periods of time. The others include copper carbonate and copper chloride. Together, they are commonly called verdigris.

Verdigris has a long history of use as a green pigment for paint, but over time, it changes from green to brown, which is why very old paintings often have trees and grass that are brown. It is also used as a fungicide, as a dye for cloth, and as the main ingredient in some shark repellants.

After your copper is nice and green, you can rinse it to stop the reaction, and then rub it gently with a paper towel, until it has the appearance of a very old piece of copper. Many sculptors use a similar technique to produce the green patina on bronze statues.

Have a wonder-filled week.

Thoughts on Trees

This is another post that comes from the Science Photo of the Day. It worked well there, but has great potential for a full blown Experiment of the Week activity. To try this, you will need:

- a plant or some seeds
- a pot to grow the plant in
- potting soil
- a scale to weigh the plant, pot, and soil

We will explore how plants grow, by growing a potted plant. You can use a plant from your local garden shop, or you can plant seeds from your favorite plant.

Start by weighing the pot. Then put the soil into the pot and weigh it again. Finally, add the plant or seeds to the pot, and weigh it one more time. This will let us calculate the weight of the plant (weight of everything minus weight of the pot and soil) as well as the weight of the soil (weight of the pot and soil minus weight of the pot.) Be sure to write everything down, as we will need that information later.

Then all you have to do is get the plant to grow. Give it water, and plenty of sunlight, but don't add anything else. As the plant gets larger, weigh it again. You should find that it has gained weight, even though you have not added any soil. Where did that extra weight come from?

To find out, start by looking at trees. Don't just think about trees. Look out the window, or even better, go outside. Notice how big trees are. Wrap your arms around the trunk, and get a feel for how strong it is. Think about how much wood is in that tree. Think about all the leaves that it produces and drops on your lawn. Think about how heavy those leaves are when you rake them up and haul them away.

Where does all that stuff come from? Your first thought is probably that it comes from the soil. After all, our bodies build up their mass from the food that we eat, and plants eat by taking in nutrients from their roots, don't they? Think about that for a minute. Look at the ground around the tree. If the tree had removed enough matter from the soil to build its trunk and branches, there would be a huge hole around the tree. Then think about your potted plant. It gained weight, which did not come from the soil in the pot.

Plants are not like us. They don't take in food. Instead, they make their own food, through the process of photosynthesis. To do that, they need energy, which they get from sunlight. They also need hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon as the chemical building blocks to make their food. They get those chemicals from water (hydrogen and oxygen) and carbon dioxide (carbon and oxygen.) During photosynthesis, these chemicals are recombined to form sugar. That sugar can be used as it is to provide energy for the plant, or it can be converted into other substances such as starch and cellulose, which make up the trunk, branches, roots, and leaves of the tree. Almost the entire tree is made of the chemicals from rain water and carbon dioxide from the air, and the same is true for your potted plant. It is also true for apples, peaches, strawberries, etc. When you think about it, even chocolate is made from plants. The sugar from plants, and so is the cocoa. That means that chocolate is mostly made up of sunlight, water, and air! Sounds yummy to me!

Have a wonder-filled week.