Angelique Anastasiadis Task 1: Collaborative Experimental Task:

& Ellen Combe Investigative Activity

‘Salt’: And Its Effect On Potatoes

LINKS TO VELS SCIENCE LEVEL 4 – GRADE 6

Dimension - Science Knowledge and understanding

At Level 4 Students discover the nature of similarities between, and the diversities of, living
things and their sustainable relationships with each other and their environment. Students
explain change in terms of cause and effect. They identify the characteristics of physical and
chemical changes. They identify and explain the connections between systems in the human
body and their various functions.

Dimension - Science at Work

At Level 4 Students learn to be curious and to use scientific understanding and processes to
find answers to their questions. They design and pursue investigations/ experiments ethically
and safely; generate, validate and critique evidence; analyse and interpret ideas and link them
with existing understanding; work and reason with scientific models and communicate their
findings and ideas to others. Students use the terms relationships and cause and effect when
discussing and drawing conclusions from the data they collect.
They identify and practise the underlying values, skills and attributes of science.
Through investigations, students gain insight into science as a human activity and the
relationship between science, technology and society both now and in the future. They
explore how science is used in multiple contexts throughout their lives and its pervasiveness
throughout the workplace.

PURPOSE OF THE EXPERIMENT

The purpose of this experiment is to demonstrate the effects of salt on potatoes and then
relate this process to easy to understand concepts such as ‘de-hydration,’ and provide
examples in everyday life.
(This relates to the process of osmosis - whereby water passes through a semi-permeable
membrane from an area of low salt concentration to an area of high concentration).

HYPOTHESIS

The process of osmosis will cause water to pass from inside the potato that has been placed in
the salty water to pass out into the salt solution. The result will be that this potato will de-
hydrate and shrivel up. The potato that has been placed in the freshwater will remain visibly
unaffected.
Angelique Anastasiadis Task 1: Collaborative Experimental Task:
& Ellen Combe Investigative Activity

MATERIALS USED
 1 potato
 Two plastic plates
 Chopping board
 Knife (to be used by teacher)
 Salt 3-4 tablespoons
 ¼ cup of Water in each saucer
 Camera
 Clock/Timer
 Measuring Cup

METHOD (WHAT TO DO)

1. Cut the potato in half.
2. Fill both plates with water.
3. Mix some salt into one plate and mark ‘salt’ and leave the other plate with just
plain water.
4. Place one half of the potato into each plate with the flat side facing down.
5. Leave for one hour and turn over the potato (face up) and observe and record
observations. (Repeat process after longer period if needed).
Angelique Anastasiadis Task 1: Collaborative Experimental Task:
& Ellen Combe Investigative Activity

RESULTS:

PLATE 1 – FRESH WATER

After 1 Hour After 4 Hours After 24 Hours

The potato did not appear to The potato did not appear to The potato showed only
change in size, colour, change in size, colour, texture minor changes in terms of
texture or smell. or smell. colour and it was softer
around the edges.

PLATE 2 – SALT WATER

After 1 Hour After 4 Hours After 24 Hours

There did not seem The effects of osmosis were quite You can really see the effects of
to be any visible evident after 4 hours. The potato the process of Osmosis. The potato
change in size, appeared to have decreased in has shrunk in size, appeared more
colour, texture or overall size and took on a ‘shrivelled’ and had black colour
smell. ‘shrivelled’ appearance. around its edges.
The potato felt soft and spongy
and had a stale smell about it.
Angelique Anastasiadis Task 1: Collaborative Experimental Task:
& Ellen Combe Investigative Activity

DISCUSSION

As expected the potato that was placed in the salt water eventually shrivelled up as water
moved from inside the potato and into the salt water. i.e. from area of low concentrated salt to
area of high concentrated salt.
After the first hour however this process was not actually visible. It was only after four (4)
hours that the effects of osmosis could be clearly seen. A further twenty (24) hours saw more
severe de-hydration.
The potato that was placed in the freshwater did not show any noticeable changes after one
(1) hour and not after four (4) hours either. In actual fact one would expect that some water
may have actually passed into the potato as the salt concentration in the potato would
probably be higher than the surrounding fresh water. You could possibly be test this by
weighing the potato with a sensitive weighing machine before the experiment was started and
then once again at the end of the experiment. The potato should be slightly heavier in this
case.
A simple example to demonstrate the occurrence of osmosis in everyday life is to use the
example of a person drinking lots of salt water. Through the process of osmosis the water
contained in our bodies will move out leaving us feeling thirsty or de-hydrated.
(i.e. this often happens to humans when they sweat a lot and don’t drink enough water to
replace what they sweat out.)
Another example to illustrate osmosis is that of a freshwater fish which if put into salt water
will dehydrate. Conversely a salt water fish put into freshwater will drown as water moves
quickly to fill the fish.

Further investigations could include using thin slices of potatoes rather than half a potato and
in water with different salt concentrations.

LIMITATIONS OF THE EXPERIMENT

As we used potato halves we found that it took up to four (4) hours before we could see some
visible results. Given time limitations in a classroom setting, perhaps we should have used
smaller potato pieces or possibly sliced potatoes. Weighing the potatoes before and after
placing in the salt solution would provide better measurement of water moving out of the
potatoes.

CONCLUSION

A potato is made up of tiny parts called cells. These cells contain mostly water and are
surrounded by a cell membrane or skin. Water can pass in and out of this membrane through
the process of osmosis. Water will move from an area of low salt concentration to an area of
high salt concentration.

Every living thing, plant or animal, is made of millions of tiny living cells.

DELEGATE THE ACTIVITY

Angelique Anastasiadis Task 1: Collaborative Experimental Task:
& Ellen Combe Investigative Activity

 Together we set up and conducted the experiment.

 Angelique took photographs.
 Angelique completed the final report (Word document).
 Together we observed our findings.
 Ellen recorded the findings/results for the experiment on paper.
 Ellen completed the VELS standards in the report.
 This task was a real team effort.
REFERENCES

1. Singleton, G. 2007. 501 SCIENCE EXPERIMENTS: Hinkler Books, pg. 84.

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osmosis

3. http://www.cyh.com/HealthTopics/HealthTopicDetailsKids.aspx?
p=335&np=284&id=2689