5R were lucky enough to have staff from Royal Liberty
School
To do this, the
children worked in groups of 3 or 4. The investigation was described to them
and they had to make predictions or hypothesise what they thought would happen
and record this.
First, they had to weigh the mass of a spatula of salt.
Next, they were given a beaker containing 100cm³ of boiling water The
investigators had to add a spatula (spoon) at a time of solute (a salt;
ammonium chloride) to the beaker and stir until no more of the solute would dissolve. They then
recorded their results. The whole process was repeated using tap water and iced
water.
When they had completed the above, the children had to look
at their results and form a conclusion which explained how the temperature of
the water affected the solubility of the salt. Use of scientific terms were
discussed and the children were encouraged to include scientific vocabulary in
their recording.
The class then discussed their results to arrive at a
general statement that the temperature of the water did affect how much of the
salt was dissolved or the temperature of the water affected the solubility of the
solute!
It was agreed that more of the salt dissolved in the hotter
water. The colder the water, the less salt dissolved.