Water can move up and down.
What gets wetter the more it dries? A towel. Why? Because of capillary action. Capillary action is the ability of water to move through narrow tube like spaces called capillaries. Water can move even against gravity due to capillary action.
Capillary action activities
1. Wet rag in water. Put a wet rag in a container full of water and let one end of the rag be in the water and the other end of the rag outside of the container. Watch what happens over the next hour.
2. 2 slides or plastics and water. Place 2 CD covers close to each other over a small puddle of water. Press the CD covers close to each other and watch what happens to the water between the CD covers.
3. Chalk in colored water. Put a chalk in a cup that has a small amount of coloured water in it and watch the chalk for 15-30 minutes.
4. Paper flower in water. Cut out a paper flower with long petals. Curl up the flowers with a pencil such that the flowers look like they are a bud. What will happen when you place the flower bud into water? Where will the water go?
Things to try at home:
Which liquid moves faster- plain water or soapy water or salty water?
Through which paper will the water move faster – newspaper or printer paper?
Do colours move at the same rate as the water?
Question if the day:
Rita finished mopping the floors and put the bucket full of water down on the floor. She put the mop rag on the bucket edge. She locked the door of the empty room so that no one could come in the room. After ½ hour she went back in the room and saw that the whole floor was flooded with water. What happened?