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When Water Gets Icy Lab

This document provides instructions for an experiment comparing freshwater ice and sea ice. Students will create freshwater and saltwater ice by freezing cups of water with and without added salt. On the second day, students will add dye drops to each type of ice and observe how the dye interacts with the ice. They are asked to predict what will happen and whether the dye will react the same in both ice types based on knowledge that saltwater ice contains brine pockets that freshwater ice does not.

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kayla lee
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66 views3 pages

When Water Gets Icy Lab

This document provides instructions for an experiment comparing freshwater ice and sea ice. Students will create freshwater and saltwater ice by freezing cups of water with and without added salt. On the second day, students will add dye drops to each type of ice and observe how the dye interacts with the ice. They are asked to predict what will happen and whether the dye will react the same in both ice types based on knowledge that saltwater ice contains brine pockets that freshwater ice does not.

Uploaded by

kayla lee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Before You Begin

As you read in the Frozen Life (https://askabiologist.asu.edu/explore/frozen-life ) companion story,


when sea ice forms, freshwater freezes and leaves behind a concentrated salt solution called brine. This
brine is found in pockets throughout the ice. Brine pockets allow organisms that get trapped in the ice
to avoid freezing and survive until the next spring. The pockets are small and isolated in winter, but in
spring, as the ice begins to warm, the brine pockets get bigger and combine with other pockets to form
channels which allow the organisms to move throughout the ice. You can explore the differences in
channels between seasons in our channel maze.

In this experiment you are going to compare the difference between regular freshwater ice (the kind
you would put in your drink) and sea ice. To do this you will create fresh and saltwater ice, then put a
couple drops of dye on each type of ice and compare what happens. What do you think is going to
happen? Do you think the dye will act the same in both ice types?

This should ideally be done over two days. The first four steps in the procedure should be done on Day
1, and the remaining steps should be completed on day 2.

Procedure (1-4 should be done ahead of time)


1. Measure out two cups of water into each of your two containers (you can use less if your container is too
small). Make sure to leave a little room as the water will expand when it freezes. You want to use to plastic/
or glass see through containers (whatever you may have at home)
2. Using your tape and marker, label one container "water" and the other "salt water."
3. In your "salt water" container, dissolve 1.5 teaspoons of salt for every cup of water (so, if you have two cups,
use 3 teaspoons).
4. Put the containers in a freezer (this will take a few hours to freeze, best done overnight) and keep frozen
until ready to perform experiment
5. Take the ice out of the containers and set them next to each other. These are going to melt and make a
mess so put the containers on a tray or a sink. (A baking sheet with sides would work for this)
6. Add 5 drops of dye to the top of the freshwater ice and note what happens. (If nothing seems to happen, you
can add a few more drops of dye.)
7. Add 5 drops of dye to the top of the saltwater ice and note what happens.
After you do the experiment:

1. In this experiment you are going to compare the difference between regular freshwater ice (the
kind you would put in your drink) and sea ice. To do this you will create fresh and saltwater ice,
then put a couple drops of dye on each type of ice and compare what happens. What do you
think is going to happen?

I believe that the salt water will dissolve the dye, while the freshwater ice won’t dissolve the
dye.

2. Do you think the dye will act the same in both ice types?

I don’t think that the dye will react the same to the different types of ice.

3. What did you observe once you added the dye?

Once the dye was added, only the saltwater ice was dissolving the dye.

4. Was your hypothesis (from Question # 1) correct? If not why?

My hypothesis was correct since the saltwater ice dissolved the dye.

5. Attach a picture of your two cups of ice with the dye after you have completed the lab.

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