The Coin Lab

The Coin Lab is the perfect hands-on science lab! It requires very little prep, inexpensive materials, and provides practice for students who are learning about the scientific method. Your student will have the opportunity to think like a scientist while being in their own kitchen! This hands-on lab will give your child confidence in collecting and interpreting data. Use this lab to teach your student to write a hypothesis, determine variables, and analyze scientific findings.

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The Coin Lab Sheets

The Coin Lab is easily accessible to most students and is great practice for the scientific method. In this lab, you will test how many water droplets each coin will hold before overflowing.

DOWNLOAD The Coin Lab Below

Gather Lab Materials

The hardest thing about this lab was gathering the materials, which is a cinch! All you will need is one of each major coin, a quarter, nickel, dime, penny, water, eye dropper, and lab sheet.

Wash Coins

After gathering your coins, wash and dry them thoroughly as to not interfere with your lab results.

Make predictions & Identify Variables

Now that you have your lab materials ready, it’s time to make some predictions. The kiddos will usually choose the quarter as holding the most and the dime for the least. However, there are times when your findings may surprise you with a sneak winner for the least (but not always!).

Don’t forget to identify your variables. Identifying variables was always tricky for me when I was younger. Just remember:

Manipulated Variable is the variable that is different in the experiment. It is the thing that is manipulated. So, in this case, what is different about the coins… the size.

Responding Variable is the variable that is being tested. It responds to the manipulated variable. Hence, the amount of water the coin will hold.

Controlled Variable(s) is the variable(s) in the experiment that does not change or remains the same. For this lab, it is the water, eye dropper, and the coin being on the head side.

Lab Time

After making your predictions about what coin you think will hold the most and least water droplets, it is lab time! Make sure that all coins are heads up when conducting your lab.

Record Data

I can’t think of anything more important in a lab or experiment than making sure to record data accurately. The Coin Lab affords your student the practice he or she needs to become an avid data collector. If data is collected incorrectly or inconsistently, then the results are null and void. Students will become better equipped for life the sooner they learn the importance of data collection and interpretation.

To make life easier, the boys took turns recording data down for their lab partner (brother). When recording the number of water droplets for each coin, the boys made tally marks in each column and then added them up at the bottom.

Analyze Data and State Conclusion

Whoa! You are almost done! Now, it is time to analyze your data and state a conclusion. The Coin Lab is pretty straight forward with the quarter usually taking the lead. However, on occasion, the coin that holds the least is disputed. Between my three boys, the dime won the least amount of water droplets twice, but one of my sons data revealed that the dime and the penny held the same amount of water. In years past, my students found this to happen often too. Huh? Why do you think?

Whatever your results, this would be a great time to ask them questions to encourage independent thinking. Do you think your results would be different if the coins were on the tail side? What if we did the same lab, but ten more times? Do you think you would get the same results? Similar results? Guiding your student to think is the key to scientific inquiry. One of the best skills you can teach your child is to think for themselves. Happy learning!