Science Project on “Energy in Moving Water”, Project Experiment Topics on Energy in Different Forms for Class 8, 9, 10 and 12 Students.

Energy in Moving Water

Materials Required:

1. Sand
2. Four two/litre plastic bottles
3. Water
4. Model houses and buildings
5. A large dish pan
6. Several thick books
7. Piece of still cardboard of about 2 by 4 feet
8. Plastic food wrap
9. Adhesive tape

During hurricanes, places next to the beach are always destroyed. This is caused by the wrath of the ferocious kinetic force of moving water.

 For the experiment, cover an area of around 2 feet by 3 feet with sand, raising it to a height of about an inch.

Now construct a riverbed, by scooping out a 2 by 3 inch wide channel from one end to  the other, lengthwise.

Now place your model buildings along the edge of the riverbed.

Remember to add some buildings away from the shore, so that it represents a whole town and you can make out the difference of the water hazard between the two sets of buildings.

Now take a cardboard measuring about 2 by 4 feet and fold it into half, lengthwise. Now open the folded structure, so that it makes a “V” shape. The top of the structure can be covered with plastic food wrap with the help of adhesive tapes, so that it can channel water into the river bed. Stack books on both sides at one end of the river bed and rest your water channel on that. You could construct the ramp at a height of approximately 6 inches for the desired results.

Now fill your 4 plastic containers with water and pour it out on the ramp cautiously. The water will trickle down into the riverbed. Notice and record any changes that you may observe.

Now refill the bottles and fill them out on to a large dish pan and then dump all the water, quickly into the channel.

Earlier, there was a continuous flow of slow moving water, but now the water flows at a much faster rate over a very short period, much like a hurricane. Note the changes that take place now!

Rivers and Their Changing Paths

Rivers are formed either from underground springs or mountain ice which melts with the change of seasons or from water flowing out of large lakes. Rivers play a major role in shaping the Earth’s surface, either by eroding mountains or by depositing rocks and soil in new areas.

As rivers flow, water erodes the banks and washes away the soil or rock. Over a period of time the currents begin to form bends in the river’s path, as shown in the diagram. These bends are called ‘Meanders.’ River currents move the water towards the outer sides of these meanders, as a result of this the gradual twists and turns of the river become sharp bends.

The river continues to cut into the soil on the outer bends and deposits the sediments on the inner bends thus changing its shape. Gradually the river cuts into one of the bends and isolates or abandons a patch of water in the shape of a crescent, and by depositing soil in front of it forms an `Oxbow lake.