The World Around Us

Evaporate Some Water, Part 2

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In the first Evaporate Some Water experiment, we explored the water cycle and how water can be converted into water vapor using only the energy from the sun. But what happens to water that is not in a stream, lake, or ocean?

The Experiement

Supplies: Two clear glasses of the same size, a marker pen, a piece of cardboard that will cover one of the glasses, tape, food coloring (optional).

What to do: Put a vertical strip of tape on the side of each glass. Measure out enough water to fill each glass about 3/4. Fill each glass with the exact same quantity of water. Add food coloring, if available. On the piece of tape, mark the water level on each glass. Tape the cardboard cover onto one of the glasses so that it does not fall off. Place both glasses in direct sunlight and leave them for a full day of sunlight. Then observe the level in each glass. Which glass had more water evaporated out of it?

What is happening: The piece of cardboard blocked the water vapor from reaching the atmosphere, so the water stayed inside the glass. Blocking the top of the glass created a miniature closed ecosystem, where the water evaporated into the space in the top of the glass, then condensed and returned to the pool of water below. The Earth is a closed ecosystem on a grand scale, with our atmosphere trapping the water and keeping it here, just like the cardboard kept the water in the glass.

Links

To find out more about closed ecosystems and instructions on how to make one of your own, visit NASA’s Climate Kids website!

Sky Watching

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The world around us contains so much more than just the plants, animals, and geography that makes up our planet. Earth is just one piece of the universal puzzle. There are other planets, solar systems, galaxies, and more spread so far across the universe that it would take millions of years, traveling at the speed of light, just to get there. The black hole picture we have from the Messier 87 galaxy may be new to us, but in reality, this image is what the M87 black hole looked like over 55 million years ago!

Distances in the universe are so large they are measured in “light-years.” A single photon of light can travel 186,000 miles in a single second. A light-year is the number of miles that a single photon of light can travel in one year, nearly 6 trillion miles! To figure out just how far away that black hole is, you would have to multiply the 6 trillion miles (for a single year) by the 55 million years it would take to travel there. That’s a lot of zeros!

Luckily for us, there are other objects in the universe that are much closer, so close that we can see them without too much effort. Some things we can see with our own eyes. Others require a little help to be seen. Sometimes we look at just the object itself, like the moon, or other planets. Sometimes we look at a cluster of objects, like different stars, and identify them by the patterns they make. These patterns are called constellations. Constellations are often named for common objects, animals, or ancient mythological figures like Orion.

Because everything in the universe is constantly in motion, what we can see changes depending upon our location, what time of day it is, or even what time in the year it is. There are lots of resources to help you find what you are looking for. Some links are posted below. When you are ready, go outside, take a good look around, and see what there is to see!

The Experiment

Supplies: Your eyes.
Optional: A pair of binoculars or a telescope

What to do: Locate, but do not look directly, at an object in the sky that is eight light minutes from the Earth. Then locate an object in the sky that is 1.3 light seconds from the Earth.


What two things did you find?

Links

Visit the Dome Planetarium at the Peoria Riverfront Museum for programs and information about outer space.
To find out what objects will be visible in the night sky tonight visit TimeAndDate.com’s Night Sky Guide.
Sky & Telescope magazine has an interactive sky chart that can help identify constellations.
Explore Astronomy on the American Museum of Natural History’s website.

Shapely Leaves

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Trees are an important part of our ecosystem. Humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide. Trees take in carbon dioxide and expel oxygen as part of the photosynthesis process. Without trees, we would have no air to breathe.

The photosynthesis process happens in the trees leaves. Beyond just being a “food factory,” leaves are important in other ways. They provide shade for animals and other plants and helps combat global warming, they help slow down air currents, making it less windy, and they provide a sheltered home for birds, insects, and other creatures that are necessary for a healthy ecosystem.

Trees are identified by many different characteristics, like the kind of bark on their trunks or the size and shape of their leaves.

The Experiment

Supplies: Tree leaves to be collected.

What to do: Collect tree leaves of the following types (Refer to the web or a tree identification book to find what kinds of trees have these leaves.)

Name Each Species of Tree:
Smooth Edges Simple Leaf ______________________________
Simple Leaf with Lobes or Teeth ______________________________
Palmately Compound Leaf ______________________________
Pinnately Compound Leaf ______________________________
Acicular Shaped Leaf ______________________________

Links

To find out more about the trees around you, use the Arbor Day Foundation’s tree identification field guide, What Tree is That?

Go “Birding”

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Birds are an important part of our ecosystem. Some eat insects and worms, which helps keep those creatures from taking over our yards. Others eat fruits and distribute the seeds of those fruits in their droppings, effectively “planting” new bushes and trees when they do.

Head outside and observe some birds that make their homes in Illinois.

The Experiment

Supplies: None, just your eyes.


What to do: Observe each of the following:

A member of the Thrush family (The most common one is gray with a reddish-orange breast, relishes earthworms, and goes by the scientific name of Turdus migratorius.)
What species of bird did you see? _________________________

A member of the Jay family (The most common one is blue and white with black markings, is known for its noisy calls that mimic other birds, and goes by the scientific name of Cyanocitta cristata.)
What species of bird did you see? _________________________

A member of the Finch family (The most common one is black and yellow with white markings, loves thistles and milkweed, and goes by the scientific name of Spinus tristis.)
What species of bird did you see? _________________________

Links

To find out more about bird species you see when you are out in your yard or out on a hike, visit All About Birds from The Cornell Lab at Cornell University.

Official Illinois Nature Species

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Each state has its own state nature symbols – plants and animals that are native to that state. Some of these symbolic plants and animals are easy to find. Finding others might require a trip to a special location, like a botanical garden or a zoo. Do you know what plants and animals are symbolic to Illinois?

The Experiment


Supplies: None. Just your eyes, and perhaps a web search.


What to do: Identify (and observe, if possible) the following:


Amphibian _________________________
Animal _________________________
Bird _________________________
Fish _________________________
Flower _________________________
Grass _________________________
Insect _________________________
Mineral _________________________
Reptile _________________________
Tree _________________________

Did you know Illinois had so many state symbols? Were you able to see all of these in person? If not, which ones are you still missing?

Links

For more information about the state symbols of Illinois, check out the State Symbols web page on the Illinois.gov website.