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TINKERING & MAKING

Pegboard Water Factory
Children will experiment with water flow.

Lesson Objective
Children will tinker with materials to explore water flow.
(Science) Science
What You'll Need
- 2' × 4' sheets of pegboard (available inexpensively from hardware and home stores)
- Tubing – clear vinyl or PVC (available inexpensively from hardware and home stores)
- Funnels – different sizes
- 9 oz. plastic cups with different sized holes drilled in different places, such as the bottom or sides
- Bendable wire
- Zip ties (available inexpensively at hardware and home stores)
- Water table or small wading pool
What To Do
- Fasten the pegboard to the wall, or brace it with a tub of water at the bottom.
- Connect the tubing and funnels to the pegboard using zip ties or bendable wire.
- Have the children take turns pouring water into the tops of the funnels and the tubing; watch the water flow downward.
- Make cup holders out of the wire by making a loop and sticking the ends of the wires through two holes in the pegboard. Twist the wire ends together behind the pegboard to secure.
- Have the children experiment with moving the tubes and making different arrangements on the pegboard to create water flow.
- Ask the children what they could do to make the water flow from one tube into another before the water flows to the bottom.
- Help the children with rearranging the materials to do this.
- Ask the children what they could do with the tubes to get all of the water to flow into the same cup at the bottom.
- Assist the children with rearranging the materials to accomplish this.
- Discuss how making small changes to the tubes affects the water flow.
- Discuss the fact that the water always flows downward.
Resources
High School Resources
Home educators: use these printable lesson PDFs to teach this lesson to your home schoolers. They're available in English and Spanish.
Content Provided By
Common Core State Standards Initiative – These lessons are aligned with the Common Core State Standards ("CCSS"). The CCSS provide a consistent, clear understanding of the concepts and skills children are expected to learn and guide teachers to provide their students with opportunities to gain these important skills and foundational knowledge [1]. (External) Visit the CCSS