Capillary Action

We learned about Capillary Action by draping a folded paper towel between a cup filled with colored water and an empty cup.

The colored water traveled up the paper towel into the empty cup.

Each child experimented with capillary action by placing a Smartie on a coffee filter and then dripping water on top.

It is hard to see, but the colors from the Smarties spread out as the water was attracted towards the edge of the filter. 

We continued engineering structures to hold books.  After the first trial where the strongest structure held 25 books, the students had a second chance to design a better structure based on what they had observed.  So far the strongest one held 50, but we didn't have a chance to test them all.