Purpose

The purpose of my group’s inquiry was to try to find which detergent (out of the ones provided), was the most effective against red wine stains.

Materials

• Four white socks
• 25ml of each laundry detergent
• Cold water
• Four 1000ml beakers
• Four 75ml beakers
• Four tablespoons of red wine

Safety Precautions

• Wear safety googles to prevent subtances getting into your eye

Procedure

The day before your experiment

1. Take your socks and lay them on a flat surface
2. Take a tablespoon of red wine and slowly spread it on your sock
3. Repeat step two until all socks are covered
4. Leave the stained socks out to let the stain sit

The day of your experiment

1. Put on safety googles
2. Get your materials together
3. Fill each 100ml beaker with 400 ML of water
4. Using the 75ml beakers, fill each with 5ml of detergent
5. Slowly pour the detergent into the beaker with water
6. Repeat step five until all the beakers have water and detergent in them
7. Mix each of the water/detergent mixture until there isn’t any detergent left and the mixture has an even coloring and consistency
8. Slowly place the socks into the beakers
9. Let stand for 15 minutes
10. Mix the mixture along with the sock for fifteen minutes changing direction of spin cycle every two to five minutes
11. Let stand for five minutes
12. Attempt to squish sock for two minutes
13. Stir mixture for another seven to ten minutes
14. Remove sock from mixture and ring it out
15. Lay sock on paper towel for two minutes
16. Dry each sock using a blow dryer for five minutes

Data Observations

After removing the socks from the detergent mixture, we found that they still looked dirty. Only after drying them did we realize that some were cleaner than others.

I concluded that Sock C looked the cleanest and Sock D had turned out to look the strangest. The other group members may have different opinions.

Photos I took

Reflection Questions

Discuss the Wonder Questions that you began this inquiry with. Did this initial brainstorm influence on how you conducted your experiment?

The Wonder Questions we began this inquiry with had little influence on how we conducted our experiment. We realized that the two points we wanted to investigate the most were connected which then led us to staining white socks with red wine.

Discuss how the research you did after your wonder questions helped you plan your experiment?

To be honest, we didn’t get much research done. One of our group members only added their research after the period was given. Which led to much confusion later. The research we did find helpful was finding out which stain was one of the harder ones to get out. After finding a list, we discussed and decided to use red wine.

What variable was the independent variable? What variable was the dependent variable?

The independent variable was the brand of detergent being used. The dependent variable was the amount of the stain that was removed. We compared the before and after by using photos.

State the hypothesis you made before conducting your lab. Did the results from your lab support your initial hypothesis?

We expected that by using Tide as the detergent, more of the stain would be removed. Our results proved the opposite, that Tide was the least effective.

Describe how your group designed a controlled science experience (describe how you changed only one variable and kept all other variables constant).

At the start, I made sure to stain each sock with the same amount of red wine. Though, the stain shape ended up varying, I did try my best to make them as close to the same as possible.  After bringing the socks to school, my group and I made sure to keep the same pace while stirring, along with drying them the same way. We also kept the water temperature and everything else the same.

What new Wonder Questions has your inquiry led you to? What do you now wonder about the effectiveness of detergents? If time allowed, what future inquiries would you explore about laundry detergents?

This inquiry hasn’t led to too many new questions for me. I do wonder why Sock D turned a brown-is color. I also wonder how the effectiveness of the detergents can be increased. Is there a special ingredient that we just haven’t found yet? Or is it more so on the speed and length of the laundry cycle? I would not be too interested in doing another inquiry about laundry detergent again because this subject doesn’t really interest me too much. If I was being forced to, I would do an inquiry about how the ingredients of different laundry detergents make it effective.

Reflect on the collaborative work of your group. What strengths were you able to bring to the group? In future group work, how would you collaborate differently?

I was able to bring my leadership skills into the mix and help delegate. I felt like sometimes certain people were off task, so in the future, I would try to keep everyone on the same page. I would also try to get my group to contribute more. Personally, I would like to have more fun with the experiment.