Waterproof investigation

This afternoon we talked about what we've learnt about rain, and remembered that in Zok's letter he said that he wants to know what things he'll need for different types of weather. We talked about what we need when it's wet - coats, hoods, hats, umbrellas. We decided to investigate a good material for making an umbrella so we could tell Zok what the best kind was. First we reminded ourselves of what 'materials' are, and named lots of materials such as plastic, glass, metal, wood, paper and fabric. Then we talked about what properties materials have - for example, they might be hard, soft, rough, smooth, transparent, opaque, bendy. We used our talk partners and tried to think of what was important in an umbrella. What do we need it to do? Hope said "you need the umbrella to keep you dry". We learnt the word waterproof and talked about what it means. We talked about how we could test if things were waterproof, and filled out what we're trying to find out on our investigation sheet.

Then we tested four materials to see if they were waterproof. We made predictions, then poured on water to see if they were waterproof or not.

First, we tested paper. We didn't think it would be waterproof and when we tested it we found that the paper got very soggy and started to rip. We were right - paper isn't waterproof.

Then we tested fabric. We didn't think this would be waterproof either. Maddie said "when your clothes get rain on then they get all wet." We tested it out and found that we were right - although the fabric didn't rip, it got very wet and wouldn't protect us from the rain at all!

Next we tried wood. Most of us thought this would be waterproof. Harry said "wood will be waterproof because it's hard and it doesn't have holes in." When we tested it we talked about what had happened. Although the wood didn't break, it did get darker - this is because the water was soaking into it. We talked about what happens when wooden things are left out in the rain, and how they might get damaged. Wood isn't waterproof and wouldn't be good for an umbrella!

Finally we tested plastic. We all predicted that it would be waterproof, and when we tested it out - it was! The water didn't go through it, so we'd be nice and dry if we were stood underneath it, and it didn't soak into the plastic and damage it. We thought again about some of our outdoor furniture, and why we had chosen plastic tables and chairs for outside rather than wooden ones.

We then talked through our investigation and what we had learnt. We were trying to find out which materials were waterproof - what had we found out? That plastic is waterproof, but paper, fabric and wood are not waterproof. We decided that plastic would be the best material for Zok to make an umbrella with! Here is our completed investigation sheet.

In our Play and Learn time we explored some other things in the water tray to see if they were waterproof, such as feathers, shiny paper, pipe cleaners and shells. What do you think we found out?