Lab / experiment Grade 5 Engineering & Design

Otterdale Garden Soil Drainage: A Grade 5 Percolation Lab

A grade 5 fair-test lab where teams pour water through gravel, sand, and soil to find which drains fastest, then use the data to pick a base for a rain garden.

Grade: Grade 5
Subject: Engineering & Design
Material: Lab / experiment
Time: 50 min
Prep: Moderate prep
Materials: 3 clear plastic cups per team, each with 4 small holes poked in the bottom, 1 cup of gravel per team, 1 cup of sand per team, 1 cup of dry potting soil per team, 3 clear cups per team to catch the water below, A measuring cup marked in milliliters, Water, Stopwatch or phone timer, Safety glasses, one per student, Spoon, tray, and paper towels, Marker or masking tape for labeling cups

Standards

3-5-ETS1-3 NGSS

Plan and carry out fair tests in which variables are controlled and failure points are considered to identify aspects of a model or prototype that can be improved.

How this material aligns: The procedure keeps the cup, the water amount, and the pour the same while changing only the ground material, so teams run the controlled fair test and read drain-time results this standard requires.

All materials for 3-5-ETS1-3 →

5-ESS3-1 NGSS

Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth's resources and environment.

How this material aligns: Data and Analysis questions 5 and 6 apply the drainage results to Otterdale's rain-garden plan and explain how soaking rainwater into the ground refills the aquifer a town pumps for drinking water, a community use of science to protect a water resource as this standard describes.

All materials for 5-ESS3-1 →

Download Word file

This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely, without attribution. Updated 2026-07-23.

Objectives

Students will run a fair test of how fast water drains through gravel, sand, and soil.
Students will record drain times and amounts and compare them across the three materials.
Students will use their data to choose the best base for a rain garden.

Vocabulary

Aquifer: An aquifer is an underground layer of rock, sand, or gravel that holds water in the tiny spaces between its grains. Wells reach down into aquifers to bring water up to the surface.

Also: drain, soak, gravel, variable

Teacher overview

The fictional town of Otterdale wants to add a rain garden near its community garden, but a rain garden only works if it sits on ground that drains quickly. This lab, sometimes called a percolation test, lets teams find out which ground material lets water soak through fastest. Teams pour the same amount of water through gravel, sand, and dry soil and time how the water drains. Because only the material changes and everything else stays the same, any difference in the results can be traced to the material itself. The same idea explains how water soaks down through the ground to refill the aquifers that many towns pump for drinking water.

Otterdale Garden Soil Drainage: A Grade 5 Percolation Lab — Grade 5 Engineering & Design

Name: ____________________________ Date: ______________

Procedure

Step 1. An adult helps poke 4 small holes in the bottom of each of 3 clear cups. The holes let water drain out the bottom.

Step 2. Fill one cup with gravel, one with sand, and one with dry soil, each up to the same line. Label the cups Gravel, Sand, and Soil.

Step 3. Set each holed cup on top of an empty clear cup, so drained water has a place to go.

Step 4. Put on safety glasses. Do not drink any water in this lab, and wash your hands when you are done.

Step 5. Pour 100 milliliters of water into the Gravel cup all at once. Start the timer as you pour.

Step 6. Watch the cup below. Write down the time, in seconds, when the first drip comes out.

Step 7. Let it drain for 30 seconds, then stop. Measure how much water is in the cup below and write it down.

Step 8. Empty the lower cup. Do Steps 5 through 7 again for the Sand cup, then for the Soil cup. Keep the water amount and the pour the same each time.

Step 9. If there is time, run each material a second time to check your results.

Step 10. Pour leftover water down the sink. Put used gravel, sand, and soil in the trash, not the sink.

Data & Analysis

Fill in the table as you test each material. Keep the pour the same, so the test stays fair.

Material	Water poured (mL)	Time to first drip (seconds)	Water collected after 30 seconds (mL)
Gravel	100
Sand	100
Soil	100

Which material let the water drain the fastest? Use your times to support your answer.
Which material was the slowest to drain? Use your times to support your answer.
You poured 100 milliliters of water into the Gravel cup. If 90 milliliters came out in 30 seconds, how many milliliters stayed behind in the gravel?
Find the difference between your fastest and slowest "time to first drip." What does that difference tell you?
A rain garden needs ground that drains fast, so water does not sit and flood. Based on your data, which material would be the best base for a rain garden? Explain.
Water that soaks into the ground can refill an aquifer deep below. Explain how fast-draining ground helps refill an aquifer.

From Water for Schools (waterforschools.org). This material is in the public domain (CC0) and may be copied, edited, and shared freely.

Answer Key

Answer: Gravel drains fastest in almost every team's data, with the shortest time to first drip. Accept the team's own choice as long as it matches their recorded times.
Answer: Soil is usually the slowest to drain, with the longest time to first drip. Accept the team's own choice as long as it matches their recorded times.
Answer: 10 milliliters. 100 milliliters poured minus 90 milliliters drained out equals 10 milliliters left behind in the gravel.
Answer: The answer is the fastest time subtracted from the slowest time, using the team's own data. A larger difference shows the materials drain at very different speeds; accept any value that matches their table and a clear explanation.
Answer: Most teams should choose gravel or sand, because they drained fastest, which keeps a rain garden from flooding. Accept any choice supported by the team's own data and reasoning.
Answer: Fast-draining ground lets rainwater soak down quickly instead of running off the surface. That water keeps moving down through the ground until it reaches and refills the aquifer below.

Differentiation

Support

Pre-poke the holes and pre-fill the three cups for these teams, so they start at the pouring step. Give a data table with the "Water poured" column already filled in, and pair a student who pours with a student who watches the timer.

Extension

Have these teams test a fourth material of their choice, such as a mix of sand and soil, while keeping the water amount and pour the same. Ask them to predict where it will rank before they test, then compare their prediction to the result.

ELL supports

Pre-teach "drain," "soak," "gravel," and "aquifer" while pointing to the cups and water as you say each word. Provide picture cards of each material and allow students to record results with numbers and short labels rather than full sentences.

Extensions

With an adult supervising and the school's permission, have students test the real ground outside by digging a small hole, filling it with a measured amount of water, and timing how fast it soaks in, then compare that to their cup results. Many towns require a similar percolation test before approving a septic system, and rain-garden guides recommend one, so students are practicing a real engineering check.