{"id":279,"date":"2016-06-13T15:43:08","date_gmt":"2016-06-13T19:43:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/horizon-research.com\/wp-test\/?page_id=279"},"modified":"2025-10-29T16:51:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T20:51:36","slug":"student-experience-1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.horizon-research.com\/ASSET\/matter\/driving-questions\/salt-stirred-into-water\/student-experience-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Experience 1: Stirring Salt into Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"salt<\/a>Print<\/a>\n

Purpose<\/h3>\n

To help the teacher and students become aware of their initial thinking about what happens to salt when it is stirred into water.<\/p>\n

Description<\/h3>\n

Students are shown a cup of water (at least 12 ounces) and asked to draw pictures of what they would see in the cup of water if they had super strong glasses<\/a>, more powerful than the most powerful microscope. \u00a0Students can make their drawings using the “Before” cup on this task sheet<\/a>. \u00a0The students can save these drawings in their science notebooks or they can be collected by the teacher. [Task instructions for pilot teachers.<\/a>]\n

\"dissolving<\/a><\/p>\n

Next, the teacher and\/or students weigh the water (using a sensitive scale<\/a>) and record the results. The teacher and\/or students also weigh a small cup holding a tablespoon of salt (both with and without the salt in the cup, to determine the weight of the salt alone) and record those results. The teacher then pours the salt into the water, stirs the salt until it is no longer visible, and then asks students to make predictions about the current weight of the water. Ask for a sample of students with differing opinions to share their thinking with the class.<\/p>\n

Finally, weigh the glass of saltwater and compare the weight to the separate weights of the water and salt.<\/p>\n

\"dissolving-set-up\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Safety Tip<\/h3>\n

Do not let students eat the salt or drink the saltwater. \u00a0As a rule, students should not eat or drink in a science activity.<\/p>\n

Questions to Ask Students<\/h3>\n