Formation of Rivers Experiment

For these experiments, I worked with Bergndi and Bret. The three of us decided on two different variables that may affect the formation of rivers.

First Experiment:
Our first hypothesis was: If the dirt is more compacted, the water will not soak in as much as it will for the loose dirt.

We set up our experiment by putting diatomaceous earth and water in a tub and mixed them together to get the soil we were going to use. From there we found where half of the tub was and kept one half compacted and loosened the other half. Then, we poured 5 mL of water onto each half.

Our observations were:
Loose dirt - larger lake, formed a somewhat skinny river, lots of water soaked in to the dirt.
Compacted dirt - small lake, very wide river, not as much water soaked in.

Our conclusion for this experiment was that with dirt less compacted , a lake will form. With more compacted dirt, a river will form, since the water can't soak in as much.

Second Experiment:
Our second hypothesis was: With animals in the way, the river will have to find a way around these animals and their homes.

We set up this experiment by first using the same diatomaceous earth from our other experiment (but with the same amount of compaction.) Next, we used play Play-Doh to represent the animals and their homes. Once we finished that, we poured 10 mL of water into the tub.

Our observations were:
The river goes around the animals and their homes. The water makes an island of them.

Our conclusion for this experiment was that the river will continue to flow, but animals and their homes may deflect the path.