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Check it out!
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Squeaks and I built a well!
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A well is something you can use to get water from deep under the ground.
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The Fort already has one, but we wanted to make a smaller version that works the same
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way, bringing water from one place to another using science.
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And you can make one, too!
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We'll show you how we did it, and why it works.
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Are you ready, Squeaks?
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[Squeaks squeaks affirmatively]
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All you'll need is a cup, some rocks, water, a bottle of soap with a pump top, and a grown-up
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to help out.
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If you want, you can also add food coloring to the water so you can see it more easily.
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What color should we use this time, Squeaks?
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[Squeaks answers]
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Ooh Great suggestion!
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We'll use Sky Blue!
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Okay, now we're ready to start.
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First, place your rocks in your cup or jar, until its about halfway full
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And now fill it half way full of water
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And now we'll add the food coloring
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This cup will act like the earth, with water hiding deep underground between all of the
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bits of rock and dirt.
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Make sure to wash all the soap off your pump like we have and put it in the jar, so that
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the pipe part touches the water.
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OK, Squeaks, now we have to prime the pump.
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That just means pumping it a few times, until there's enough water inside the smaller
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section at the top, called the storage chamber, for it to work.
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To make sure I don't make a mess, I'm going to put a cup under my pump first
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When I push down on the pump, it forces some air out.
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You can see that there's air in the bubble from the leftover soap.
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Then, when I let go, it pulls some of the water up through the pipe and into the storage
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chamber.
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It's a lot like sucking on a straw, except you're doing it with the pump instead of
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your mouth.
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As we keep pumping, more and more water goes up the pipe, and when the storage chamber
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is full, that means the pump is primed.
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Before, when we pushed down on the pump, air came out.
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But now that it's primed, let's see what happens.
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Look at that, we've created our very own well!
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[Squeaks points out that they don't need to pump the Fort's well to make it work]
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That's a good observation, Squeaks.
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We don't need to pump the Fort's well with our hands to get water from the sink.
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Which is nice, because that would be a lot of work!
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Instead, many wells use an electric pump to do the same job.
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Instead of someone pumping the well by hand, a machine does it automatically, using the
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same motions to pump water up through the pipes and into the storage chamber.
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As long as the storage chamber stays full, whenever I turn on a faucet that's connected
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to the chamber, water will come out.
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This means that instead of going out to pump a well whenever I need water, I can have a
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machine do it while I do other things, like experiments with my best buddy.
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[Squeaks checks who that is]
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Of course that's you, Squeaks!
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I love learning about science and machines with you.
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What should we try next?
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Should we use our well to pump something like juice or milk?
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Do you think it'll work with something thick like syrup?
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If you try this out for yourself, let us know what you learn from your experiments!
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Ask a grown-up to help you leave a comment below, or send us an email at kids@scishow.com.
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We'll see you next time, here at the Fort.
