Colorado Reader April 2019: Where does our water come from? | Page 10

Student Activity
Where does our water come from?
Irrigation Tubes – Your Own Experiment
After canals were dug, farmers needed to be able
to get the water from the canal to the crops. Many
ditches were dug and the invention of the irrigation
tube was a big help.
At first, farmers made “cuts” in the ditch that
would allow the water to flow. This was very
labor intensive and with erosion would make the
watering not even over all of the crops.
The invention of the irrigation tube, helped farmers
“set” the water and allows the water to flow evenly
through their crops.
All you need to try to “set a tube” is an irrigation
ditch with water, a metal pipe, and a bit of “know
how.” Place
the tube into
the water at
an angle to
get as much
water into
the pipe as you can. Place your hand over the end
of the tube that is out of the water and “pump” the
tube back and forth in the water. When water starts
to squirt out of the tube, lay the end of the tube
you were holding over the bank of the ditch so
that gravity will help the water flow from the ditch,
through the tube, to the crops. If it didn’t work, no
worries, just try it again!
If you don’t have a tube or an
irrigation ditch handy, you can
experiment with the concept by
trying the experiment below: 4. Create a vacuum on the
opposite end by suctioning the
water up the tube like drinking
from a straw.
Siphon Experiment 5. Once water gets to the end of
the tube immediately place it in
the bottom bucket.
For this experiment you will
need:
• 2 gallon buckets
• Water
• Clear tubing approximately
3 feet in length (can be found
in a science lab or purchased
at a hardware store)
1. Place one bucket on a stool
and the other bucket on the
ground.
2. Fill the top bucket with water.
3. Place one end of the tube in
the top bucket, submerged in
the water at the base.
6. What happens? In what
direction does the water travel?
7. Now reverse making the water
flow up into the top bucket.
8. Fill the bottom bucket with
water. The top bucket should be
empty.
9. Place one end of the tubing in
the bottom bucket and create a
vacuum.
10. Once the water reaches
the other end of the tube
immediately place it in the top
bucket, near the base.
11. What happens? Does
the water travel in the same
direction?
Experiment taken from: https://
www.education.com/science-
fair/article/uphill-water-flow/