Cut squares of different types of fabrics to see if ice melts faster or slower on certain types of material. Collect scraps of cotton, twill, corduroy, denim, leather and vinyl fabrics and cut each material into a 4-by-4-inch square. Mark each fabric with a sticker and type of material written upon the material. Place a cube of ice onto each of the fabric squares, and time how long it takes for the cubes to melt. Record your findings, the materials you used, the room temperature and the length of time each ice cube took to melt fully.
To make ice cream, cooks add rock salt to the ice to help the cream to freeze faster while being churned. Lay out five bowls, and add 3 tbsp. of a different substance to each bowl; in the first bowl, add rock salt. Put powdered sugar, also known as candy sugar, in the second bowl, sea salt in the third bowl, refined cane sugar in the fourth bowl and table salt in bowl No. 5. Place an ice cube in each substance, and observe which ice cube melts fully first. Record how long it takes for each cube to melt, the substances used in your experiment and the room temperature.
Roads and walking surfaces become slick in winter when ice forms, making travel dangerous. Find out which surface melts ice the fastest by obtaining a sample of each surface substance. Place a cube of ice on each of the surfaces, and record which ice cube melted first, the length of time it took for each cube to fully melt, the air temperature and any weather conditions such as windy, sunny, cloudy or rainy.
Condensation on a summer glass of lemonade forms when the cool liquid inside the glass meets the warm summer air. Ice will melt fastest on a hot summer day, especially when left out on a surface beaten down upon by the sun. Set up a piece of glass and a piece of wood to test which surface will melt an ice cube faster. Allow the two surfaces to get a good few hours in direct sunlight before starting your experiment, then move the two surfaces inside. Place an ice cube on each surface, and time how long it takes for the cubes to melt fully. Record which cube melted first, the outside temperature while the surfaces were in direct sunlight and the inside temperature where the experiment was done.