Activities

1. Water has a positive end and a negative end, which gives it the ability to “stick” to itself. Identify this characteristic
   
   
2. What molecule is in both the reactants and products of photosynthesis?
   
   
3. Why does water move from the roots to the leaves of plants?

4. Water molecules move up a piece of paper in the chromatography lab. What two properties of water allow this upward movement of water. Describe each property.
   
   
5. A water spider is a type of insect that can walk on the surface of a pond. Explain how the properties of water allow this to occur.

6. Water has a higher specific heat than the materials around it. Explain how this factors into your day at the beach.
   
   
7. When wind blows over the surface of a leaf water is lost from the leaf. Explain how this then causes a chain reaction all the way down to the roots.

Answer Key/Rubric

1. Polarity
   
   
2. Water
   
   
3. Water's cohesion causes it to "pull" towards the leaves

4. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• cohesion- water “sticks” to water
• adhesion- water “sticks” to other substances like paper

5. The cohesion of water forms a “skin” on the top surface and the insect can walk of it without breaking the bonds between the molecules.

6. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The sand is colder than the water at night
• The water is colder than the sand during the day.

7. Acceptable answers include, but are not limited to:

• The water in the leaf is blown out of the stomates
• The stare molecules in the xylem are pulled up by cohesion and adhesion, and this pulls water out of the soil at the roots.