our hypothesis isn that baking soda and rice will shirnk the water beads the best

Most of out research was on semi-permeable membranes.  We wanted to find out why only salt worked.  So we looked up what semi-permeable membranes were, how they work, and if salt worked on many semi-permeable membranes.  Then we focused on osmosis.  This background research helped us to understand more of our project, now we know why salt works best.

(A semipermeable membrane is a type of barrier that only lets certain particles pass through while blocking others.)

Controlled Variables:

Amount of Water Beads (Orbeez)

Amount of "Drying" Substance aplied to the Orbeez

Manipulated Variables:

Different substance applied to Orbeez

Responding Variables:

Orbeez

Place a tablespoon of water filled Orbeez into seven (7) containers.

Apply a tablespoon of the drying substance to the Orbeez containers.

Allow the each conatainer to rest for 24 hours.

Observe and photogrpah each container after 1 hour, 2 hours 24 hours.

Observe the difference in size of Orbeez.

Record observations.

No Substance: No change in size

Salt: 50% smaller

Uncooked White Rice: 10% smaller

Flour: 15% smaller

Corn Starch: 10% smaller

Dirt: 10% expansion!

Baking Soda: 10% smaller                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

We learned that salt shrinks Orbeez the most.  We also learned the dirt expanded the Orbeez. This is due to moisture being in the dirt.  Then when we learned that orbeez are semipearmble membranes which are objects that allow some substances to flow through them while others cannot.

We learned that salt draws the most water out of the Orbeez and got curious why.  We found out that Obreez are semi-pearmble membranes which are objects that allow some substances to flow through while others cannot. So why does salt get to be the winning substance?  Because the salt and water are attracted to each other.  So by putting salt on the outside of the membrance the water passes out through while the salt cannot enter through the membrane.

We used water beads (Orbeez) as an example of semi-permaeble membranes. We leaned that when salt is applied to semi-permeable membranes water is drawn out.     

We also learned that salt works on many semi-permeable membranes.  For example, if a piece of clothing that has semi-permeable properties has a juice stain,  the stain can be removed be applying salt. (www.science.com)

maybe when we put them in a dark place it couldve made them shrink less or grow more 

https://orbeezworld.com/what-happens-if-you-leave-orbeez-in-water-too-long - Discover the Unseen World of Orbeez: Long-Term Effects in Water

https://biologydictionary.net/semipermeable-membrane/ - Semipermeable Membrane

We would like to acknowledge are parents for buying us absoulotly everything we need to do this project.