# data[].attributes.body
I choose to do an experiment on fermentation because it interested me the most in the class. For this experiment, I got two glasses and filled them with roughly two inches of cold water. In the first glass, the one on the left, I mixed in one teaspoon of yeast, one-fourth cup of warm water, and two teaspoons of sugar. In the second cup, the one on the right, I mixed one teaspoon of yeast with one-fourth of warm water. The first mixture bubbled up and almost filled the cup with foam. The addition of sugar and warm water into the first glass caused the foaming because of fermentation. Fermentation is the breaking down of a substance through bacteria or microorganisms and in this case it was yeast. The foaming was caused by the yeast “eating” the sugar, which is why the second glass without sugar does not have any foam. This is called sugar fermentation, therefore the first glass produced carbon dioxide as a result and it also produced heat. The first glass smelled like warm bread but also had a chemical scent to it, whereas the second glass smelled more watery. Overall, this experiment let me see the process of fermentation firsthand and I learned about the steps of fermentation. I also learned the reaction of sugar fermentation and I got to observe the way the bubbles rise.

# data[].attributes.body
After leaving the potatoes overnight:

# data[].attributes.body
Option 4 (Diffusion and Osmosis in Potatoes):
For this experiment, I filled two cups with water and put two tablespoons of salt in one of these cups. Then I cut a potato into thin slices and observed its qualities before putting them in the water glasses. I found that the potatoes were semi-flexible, crisp, golden yellow, and smelled starchy before putting them in the water. After I observed these characteristics, I put an equal amount of potato slices in the salt-water and water glasses. I observed what they looked like in the water before leaving them overnight (see the first picture below). After leaving them overnight, the first thing I noticed was that the potatoes in the saltwater glass turned a dark brown color. Upon further inspection, the saltwater potatoes were bendy, did not snap, and smelled rotten almost. However, the potatoes in the normal water were crisp, snapped when folded, golden yellow, and still smelled fresh. This occurred because of osmosis, the diffusion of water across a semipermeable membrane from an area with a high concentration of water, to an area of low concentration. Diffusion, a spreading out of particles from a high concentration to a low concentration to create balance, is also in play in this experiment because osmosis is a property of matter that relates to diffusion. Moreover, the potatoes in the saltwater were placed in a hypertonic solution, so the water will move from an area with less salt to an area with more salt. Therefore when the potatoes were placed in the saltwater solution, water within the potato moved out because of osmosis. Overall, I enjoyed this experiment because I got to see the effects of osmosis and hypertonic solutions firsthand. I also learned how exactly osmosis and diffusion are related to each other, and what happens to things when they lack water in their cells.

Before leaving the potatoes overnight:

# data[].attributes.body
Activity 2:
In this experiment, I used red food coloring, a fork, a cup of water, and a piece of paper towel. I put a few drops of food dye in the water so it could be seen better in the experiment. Next, I dipped the piece of paper towel in the liquid and observed. The water moved up the paper towel, defying gravity. This happened because when the paper towel got wet, some water molecules stuck to the molecules in the paper towel. This process is called adhesion, which is the tendency for hydrogen bonds in water to form with other substances. In addition to adhesion, cohesion was also at work and caused the water to stick to itself. Both of these forces combined caused the water to move up the paper towel. I enjoyed this experiment because I got to learn how cohesion and adhesion work together in the world. This is important because these forces work together often and an example of this can be seen in plants using water.

Video/Picture of Activity 2:

# data[].attributes.body
Activity 1:
In this experiment, I used a glass of water, a fork, and a paperclip. Using the fork, I placed the paperclip on the surface of the water and it floated. The paperclip did not sink because hydrogen bonds in water cause a property of water called cohesion. Cohesion is the tendency for water molecules to stick to one another. This cohesion is responsible for water sticking together at the surface, which is called surface tension. The tension on the surface of the water was strong enough to support the weight of the paperclip allowing it to float.  Through this experiment, I learned more about cohesion and I got to see surface tension first hand. Also, this real-life application was very beneficial to me because now I understand how it occurs in everyday life, not just in a lab.

Video/Picture of Activity 1: