THE BIG MELTDOWN

Language with science

salt, solution, temperature, freeze, melt, melt more, faster, color, blue, red

Things you will need

1. 1 paper cup per child
2. food coloring (red and blue)
3. very cold water salt
4. ice on the sidewalk or ground.
5. This activity is best on a sunny day after a snow or ice storm.

What to do

1. Let children work in pairs. (Give each child one paper cup.)
2. Have them prepare a salt water solution in one cup - 2 tablespoons of salt to 1 cup. Then fill with water and stir. Add one drop of red food coloring to designate that this cup contains the saltsolution.
3. Now fill the second cup with water. Add one drop of blue food coloring.
4. Have children dress warmly, then go outside with one child carrying the salt (red) solution and the other carrying the plain (blue) water.
5. Now they pour their cups onto the ice. We want to find out which one melts the most ice. Which one do you think will make the biggest hole? They can now return to the room and go back to check onthis experiment later during the day.
6. After returning to their designated spot, they will observe that the salt solution has melted the ice. This is because salt water freezes at a lower temperature than ordinary water. In otherwords, it has to get colder than 32° F (O° C) before salt water will freeze.