Investigating water levels

Over the past few days grade 9s have been investigating with water.  The water in a bucket modelled the amount of oil in a well.  They had to choose which machine (cup) would be best to remove the “oil” the fastest.  The big cup could be used 2 times a month and the small cup 4 times a month.

   
We used volume calculations and modelled each cup as a cylinder.

 
Starting with 16 cm in the bucket, we predicted when the water level would be 0cm, or how long the oil reserves would last.

  
After calculating and predicting we did the experiment

  
We kept track of the height of the water

  
And then we made graphs to show the water level over time.

Next we made equations to calculate the water level at any point in time.

Many thanks to custodians with mops who arrive at the best time.