Reviewing the Scientific Method: Paper Towels

Our second science experiment had to do with the wet strength of paper towels.  We discussed how people decide to buy paper towels- based on how strong they are (if they don't rip) and how absorbant they are at the same time.

The students worked in partners to fill out the question, hypothesis, materials, procedure, observation, and conclusion.  The partners each had a kind of paper towel that they poured 40 milliliters of water onto.  Then, one by one, they put a metal washer in the center of the towel.  They continued to add washers until the towel ripped.

The five brands of paper towels were: Brawny, Bounty, Viva, the school brand (what we use at school), and Dillon's/Kroger's brand.

The wet towels held way more washers than we expected!

Recoding and comparing their data.

Our data.

We ended up having to use small and big washers because we ran out of small ones. In order to be able to compare which brand was best, we weighed a big washer and found out that 6 small washers were equal to one.  We then multiplied how many big washers by six to find out how many small washers it would have equaled.

Our data was:

• Brawny- 337 washers and 332 washers
• Bounty- 76 washers and 148 washers
• Viva- 49 washers and 98 washers
• Dillon's- 328 washers and 137 washers
• School- 260 washers

We found out that, overall, Brawny was the strongest wet paper towel.  We also discussed how the company probably named their towels "Brawny" for a reason- so that people would buy them because they think they are tough and strong towels.  We were also impressed that the rough, icky towels that the school uses are actually not bad!