Which Material Absorbs the Most Water?

Problem: For my experiment I wanted to find out which material absorbed the most water.

Procedure: 1. _Put ½ cup of each soil in a coffee filter over a cup

2. _Pour 1 cup of water in each filter

3. _Time the amount it take for the water to leave the surface of the soil.

4. _Repet this 4-5 times and find average amount on how long it take for the water to leave the surface of the soil.

Hypothesis: I think that the soil will absorb the most water because it is used for gardening and is used to absorb water for plants.

Conclusion:

Abstract:

Which Material Absorbs the Most Water

For my science fair experiment I am trying to figure out which material absorbs the most water. I have three materials, sand, soil, and gravel. I think that the soil will absorb the most water because soil is used for gardening and it absorbs water to feed plants. I think the gravel will not absorb the most water because the rocks are larger and there are spaces between them so the water will go through.

When I first started my experiment I needed to get cups, coffee filters, the materials, and water. I measured out ½ cup of each material and put in in the coffee filter. The coffee filter was over the cup so it would fill with water. I then poured in a ½ cup of water into the filter and waited for all the water to absorb. When it was done I took out the coffee filter and took the cup with the water that passed through the material. I measured how much water was in the cup and got my answer. For every material I came up with an average.

All of my data seemed to be right. For gravel the average was 1 cup, for sand is was 0.6 cups, and for soil it was 0.71 cups. The gravel drained the most water and the sand absorbed the most.

My experiment turned out the way I wanted. I learned that sand absorbed the most water and gravel absorbs none at all. My hypothesis was incorrect. I said that the soil would absorb the most water but instead the sand did. I think to improve my experiment I could have tested more materials and tested them more then 3 times. I thought my experiment was good besides the things I could improve on.