Showers of Blessing

That feeling after drinking a glass of ice cold water on a hot day doesn’t just hit the spot but it also keeps you alive and allows your body to function regularly. With 70% of our body is made up of water, ensuring that one is hydrated all the time is important, especially in hot and humid countries. This fact is further emphasized by how a man can survive three weeks without food but only three days without water.

Much like us, plants need water to survive as well. But who gives them a drink? How do plants and crops which can grow in an area as big as twenty football fields acquire water without really moving? The answer to that is that it comes to them. 

When the sun warms up the waters from the lowliest puddles by the roadsides to the massive rivers, lakes, and oceans; it turns the water; which is in liquid form, into water vapor that rises into the air. That water vapour then forms clouds, which contain small drops of water or ice crystals. The clouds are formed way up in the sky which can stretch be as high as three thousand meters (which is the distance between KLCC and KL Tower) up to eighteen thousand meters.


As clouds rise higher and higher, the air gets colder and colder. This causes the water vapor to condense into liquid form. When the water in the cloud becomes too heavy, gravity causes it to fall back to the ground as rain or snow. This entire process is known as precipitation. Rain is important to keep our farmlands, jungles, and flora healthy and It also cleans the air of dust and keeps the air cool.

Experiment: 
See how precipitation forms.

Materials: 
funnel, plastic bag, glass jar or container, hot and cold water, ice cubes.

Steps: 
1. Pour one cup of hot water into the jar or container.
2. Place the funnel in the jar or container and make sure the contact point between the rim of the jar and the funnel is airtight. You can use tape or Plasticine for this.
3. Put the plastic bag into the funnel.
4. Pour the cold water into the plastic bag and add the ice cubes.

5. Observe what is happening in the jar.

Fact: 
The world’s water cycle is never ending. It travels on a journey from the sky to the land or sea and travels back up to the clouds again!

Glossary of terms:

Hydrate [hahy-dreyt] anything that is chemically combined with water

Crops [krop] products from the ground that is consumed by humans

Vapour [vey-per] gas that is suspended in the air

Liquid [lik-wid] molecules that move freely but are not separated

Precipitation [pri-sip-i-tey-shuhn] the process of water vapor condensing into liquid form and falling to Earth

Flora [flohr-uh] plant

Shared by Surain A. Victor

Guest Blogger

Creeping Water!

It’s a hot day, and you’re feeling thirsty. You poke a straw through a packet of iced lemon tea. As you suck the juice up the straw, it coolly flushes your throat and refreshes your body. Ever wondered how plants and trees drink?

In the stems of plants and the trunks of trees are specialized structures that are called the xylem. This structure acts like a straw in plants, whereby it sucks up the water in the soil and channels it upwards to the leaves where they are needed for food processing. Plants don’t take up water through their leaves, but through their roots which is in the ground. 

This action of water travelling upwards against gravity is called capillary action. Water molecules are sometimes attracted to molecules of other materials. This called adhesive forces. As they are attracted to other molecules, for example the molecules of a tissue paper, they will, at the same time, also pull the other water molecules along with them. This attraction of water molecules with themselves is called cohesive forces. Imagine that those water molecules are holding hands with each other. This combination of being attracted to other molecules as well as with themselves is what causes capillary action. 

Capillary action is also essential for the drainage of constantly produced tear fluid from the eye. There is a tiny duct at the inner corner of the eye that sucks up excess tear fluid; otherwise your eyes will be overflowing with tears. Another example is the kerosene lamp that we use for ‘Hari Raya’ celebrations. The kerosene in the container travels upwards in the wick to the top where the flame is. 

Experiment: To observe capillary action

Materials: 

bowl of water, food colouring, paper towel, coffee filter paper.

Steps:

1. Add 2-3 drops of food colouring into the bowl of water.

2. Cut the paper towel and coffee filter paper into strips of 3x15cm.

3. Place a mark on the strips of paper 2cm from the edge.

4. Dip each paper strip straight down into the bowl of water just to the mark.

5. Lift the paper strip and hang it to air dry. Do not let it come into contact with anything else.

6. Measure how far the water rises after 1 minute.

Glossary of terms:

Xylem [zahy-luhm] tissues in plants that conducts water and nutrients

Capillary [kap-uh-ler-ee] a fine tube with a bore

Adhesive  [ad-hee-siv] force between two unlike molecules

Cohesive [koh-hee-siv]force between two like molecules

Duct [duhkt] a tube, canal, or vessel that carries body fluid

Shared by Surain A. Victor
Guest Blogger

https://surainawesome.wordpress.com/

Disappearing As If by Magic

Why does salt disappear when you put it in a glass of water and stir it? Similarly, where does the sugar go to when you do the same? You can easily wipe off the writings and drawings that you made with a whiteboard marker using a cloth or duster, but when you accidentally use a permanent marker, oops! No matter how hard you scrub, it just would not rub off. Why is this so? 

Solvents are chemicals that will cause something to dissolve, disperse or separate into tinier particles. They will break the chemical bonds of the substance, for example salt, without altering its chemical properties. 

Water is considered a universal solvent because it is able to dissolve most compounds. When salt or sugar is stirred into a glass of water, the molecules that make up the salt or sugar is broken down into smaller units that are not visible with the unaided eye. 

Acetone is a solvent that is used to remove nail polish, whereas ethanol, which is a type of alcohol, is a solvent that is used to remove paint.

So, if you use a permanent marker on a whiteboard by mistake, run to the nearest pharmacy and get some alcohol swabs. These small square pieces of cotton soaked in ethanol will do the trick of wiping off the ink.

Experiment: Making an eggshell go soft

Materials: 
1 egg, drinking glass, vinegar

Steps:

1. Gently place the egg into the glass. 

2. Pour vinegar over the egg to completely cover it.

3. Wait 2 to 3 days. Take the egg out of the glass, and feel the shell.

Fact: 

The vinegar reacts with the calcium in the eggshell, dissolving it. This makes the shell feel soft and rubbery. This shows the importance of calcium to make the shell strong, just like the calcium in our bones.

Glossary:

Dissolve [dih-zolv] to break up or undo a tie or bond

Molecule [mol-uh-kyool] a quantity of a substance, whose weight is numerically equal to its molecular weight 

Compound [kom-pound] composed of two or more parts, elements, or ingredients

Acetone [as-i-tohn] a colourless, volatile, flammable liquid 

Shared by Surain A. Victor

Guest blogger