Practical: Preventing Evaporation Template

Name:

INTRODUCTION
Explain the water cycle.
The water cycle is the path that all water follows as it moves around Earth in different states. Liquid water is found
in oceans, rivers, lakes and even underground. Solid ice is found in glaciers, snow, and at the North and South
Poles. Water vapor, a gas, is found in Earth's atmosphere. A part of the water cycle is evaporation; where water
has been exposed to the sun for a while and evaporates. Another bit of the water cycle in condensation.
Condensation is the process by which water vapor in the air is changed into liquid water. Condensation is crucial
to the water cycle because it is responsible for the formation of clouds.
There is also one more part of the water cycle, which is precipitation. Precipitation is water released from clouds
in the form of rain, freezing rain, sleet, snow, or hail. It is the connection in the water cycle that provides for the
delivery of water to the Earth. Most precipitation falls as rain.

Covering water surfaces is the most effective way to reduce evaporation. Research two different products
that are available to help prevent evaporation. Write a brief description of how they work and comment
on their effect to the environment and the water cycle.

Hexadecanol or Cetyl alcohol and Octadecanol or stearyl alcohol or a mixture of these two chemicals is commonly
used for stopping evaporation from lakes and reservoirs. These substances can be used for other science-related
products too.

VARIABLES

Independent variable What was changed? (the cause)

Dependent variable What was measured as a result of the cause? (the effect)

Variables that must be How this variable Why the factor must be held constant
held constant will be held constant (what effect will this variable have on
data if uncontrolled?)

Amount of water By putting the same amount of water It must be held constant or it will
into each beaker. result in a unfair test.
Amount of beakers By Grabbing the same amount of It must be held constant or it will
beakers. result in a unfair test.
 Size of beakers By getting the same size beakers. It must be held constant or it will
result in a unfair test.

AIM

The aim is to figure out what will stop the water from evaporating.

HYPOTHESIS

My Hypothesis is that the Styrofoam will stop evaporation the most because it is way more thick than
the others. The Cling wrap with stop evaporation a little bit (About maybe 5g). And finally the beaker
the no protection will evaporate the fastest.

METHOD

Step 1. Three 250mL beakers were filled with 100mL of water.

Step 2. Styrofoam was crumbled and placed in beaker 1 and cling wrap was placed on the surface of
beaker 2.
Step 3. Each beaker was weighed, and the data was recorded.

DIAGRAM OF EXPERIMENT SET UP

RESULTS
 250

200

150

100

50

0
Beaker 1 (Styrofoam) Beaker 2 (Cling Wrap) Beaker 3 (Nothing)

Starting Mass(g) Ending Mass (g)

Beaker Starting mass (g) End mass (g) Change in mass (g)

1 237.7 233.2 4.5

2 217.5 211.0 6.5

3 206.6 195.4 11.2

DISCUSSION

1. Describe your data

- The beaker with Styrofoam lost 4.5g of water which was 2g less than the beaker with
cling wrap
- The only trend I saw throughout everything was that so many beakers were used,
making it a trend.
- Something that stood out to other groups were the beaker 2’s results. Since there was
an error and something happened the cling wrap, The results changed.
- So first, we put 100ml of water into a 250ml beaker. We did that to two other beakers
as well. We then got some Styrofoam and crumbled it up into small pieces, then
carefully put then on top of the water in beaker 1. On Beaker 2, we put some cling wrap
onto it. Finally for beaker 3, we didn’t put anything on it. The experiment here was to
see what product evaporated faster, and “how” did it evaporate.

2. Identify 3 different errors that could have occurred in the experiment

- The Cling wrap fell off mid-way through the experiment on top of beaker 2.
- The evaporation speed might of changed throughout the experiment.
 - Nothing can be done at this point.

Extended Response Scenario (can be first person)

3. A representative from a large textiles company has asked for your input on how they should
prevent water evaporation. The textiles industry relies heavily on water to produce materials
and are looking for a cost-effective solution. They want you to recommend either the foam
method or cling wrap method.
Write a response that covers the following key points:
- Cling wrap works just as good as Styrofoam, but it is a lot more expensive. I suggest
purchasing Styrofoam because it is quite a bit cheaper and easy to use.
- Again with the cost, Styrofoam would still be better even with these circumstances of
wildlife eating it. Just work inside a warehouse or a big house or shed, and no
Styrofoam will go out to the environment.
- Another option would be to keep the water in a water tank, and a lot less water will
evaporate since it is not exposed to sunlight.

CONCLUSION

In Conclusion, Beaker 1 (Beaker with Styrofoam) was the best because it protected the water the best.
Secondly, Beaker 2 (Beaker with cling wrap) had a major error. The cling wrap blew off or maybe was
taken off mid-way through the experiment, making it an unfair test. Finally, Beaker 3 (Beaker with
nothing to protect it) did the worst, losing 11.2 grams in a single day.
 A B C D E

Science Understanding

Explain how the water cycle works

INTRODUCTION

Some of Earth’s resources are renewable, including

water that cycles through the environment, but others
are non-renewable

Explore how human management of water impacts the

water cycle

INTRODUCTION

Science Inquiry Skills

Identify and construct questions and problems that they

can investigate scientifically

HYPOTHESIS

Identify variables to be changed, measured and

controlled

VARIABLE

Construct representations of their data

RESULTS

Analyse patterns and trends, and use these when

justifying their conclusions

DISCUSSION

Explain how modifications to methods could improve

the quality of their data

DISCUSSION

Use appropriate language and representations to

communicate scientific ideas, methods and findings in
a range of text types

EVERYWHERE