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Why do ice cubes float in water? What is the true shape of a raindrop? Is your drinking water really “pure”? Water is a very common substance that has lots of extraordinary properties! This comprehensive collection of experiments includes many suggestions that are ideal for science fairs. Most experiments can be conducted with objects found around the house, and all instructions are clear and easy to follow.

Introduction

Chapter 1: The Structure of Water

1.1—What Makes Up Water?

1.2—Can You Bend a Falling Stream of Water?

1.3—Solubility

1.4—How Much Salt Can Water Hold?

Chapter 2: The Three States of Matter of Water

2.1—Colored Ice

2.2—Molecules Are Always in Motion

2.3—Why Can an Ice Cube Float in Water?

2.4—Heating Ice

2.5—Evaporation Removes Heat

2.6—Water, Water in the Air

2.7—Purification by Distillation

Chapter 3: Surface Tension, Adhesion, and Cohesion of Liquid Water

3.1—How Many Drops of Water Can a Penny Hold on Its Surface?

3.2—Feeling the Force of Surface Tension

3.3—Cohesive Versus Adhesive Forces

3.4 —Shape of Liquid-Solid Interface

3.5—Raindrops

3.6—How Do Soaps and Detergents Work?

3.7—What Is a Soap Bubble?

3.8—Capillarity: Water Can Walk up the Sides of a Tube

3.9—Paper Chromatography

Chapter 4: Chemical Properties of Water

4.1—Water Reacts With Metal Oxides

4.2—Does Iron React With Water?

4.3—Water Makes Some Reactions Possible

4.4—Acids, Bases, and Indicators

4.5—Do Acids and Bases Neutralize Each Other?

4.6—How Powerful Are the Hydrogen Ions?

4.7—Testing the Quality of Drinking Water

Glossary

Further Reading and Internet Addresses

Index

November/December 2004...

Books offering science projects, both for the budding chemist or for the science fair are always in demand. The two volumes reviewed would be a good addition to meeting that demand. Both devote the first chapter to the chemical makeup of the book’s topic, then move on to various experiments and projects moving from simple to complex. Both offer glossaries, indices, and further reading, as well as Web sites. Cartoon-like illustrations, and colorful covers also lend appeal to these books. Students will learn how they can make both slime and silly putty. This could provide middle schoolers entertainment for a rainy day. These books would be best used by average science students, and could help them explain the states of matter and polymers. During the time preceding the science fair, these books could be very valuable. Recommended.

National Science Teachers Association Recommends Web site...

How many more fizzy soda or sour taste experiments can a lone science teacher endure? I was overjoyed when I found this science fair book featuring simple but highly motivating experiments for middle schoolers. Just when you think you know all there is about water and you think you have enough examples to relate these properties to your students, Water Science Fair Projects reminds you to look at the molecule from a new angle: close to 104.5 degrees but much deeper!

Water, one of the wonders of the chemical world, has a number of unique properties—structure, polarity, and it's ability to adhere, stick, and dissolve— that make investigations so interesting. Water Science Fair Projects allows students to examine these properties with well-organized activities and ideas for independent investigation.

I have already used three of the experiments described in the book: "Can you Bend a Falling Stream?" "How Many Drops of Water Can a Penny Hold on Its Surface?" and "Acids, Bases and Indicators." Although versions of these three experiments have been part of my repertoire for years, the thoughtful and logical supportive information given by the author is so on target for the middle school group that I reread them to my classes. A "Science Project Ideas" section is filled with interesting ways in which students can extend the original experiment’s concepts independently.

Madeline Goodstein is a retired professor of chemistry from Central Connecticut State University. In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family and friends, as well as writing, reading, and running.