Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My daughter is interested in the "How Salty is the Sea?" Science Fair Project. I am helping her plan which sites from which she will be collecting her water samples. The project does tell her to collect 3 jars per location for her samples, but can all three jars be collected from the same location on the same day at the same time and in the same spot? I don't want to have to drive around to all of the locations on three different occasions. Thanks for your help.

Hello,

This sounds like a great project to do with your daughter!

You are correct - you will collect the three samples from the same place at the same time. Why? So that you know that the data you get from each location is really representative of that place rather than a one-time fluke. Ideally, when you run the test, all three jars will get the same salinity measurement, and that gives you high confidence in your results!

Tonya