Dissecting Diapers?

As we learn about how matter can be too small to be seen, we have begun to learn about polymers. First, by "growing" tiny animals in water and seeing how much they can absorb over many days. Next, we learned what is taking place and how these hydrophilic polymers absorb water in ways we can not see. Yesterday afternoon we moved into looking at polymers in diapers. We dissected diapers, removing the polymers and then adding water to see how they gel up. Today we test these polymers in name brand Huggies compared to the generic brand Parent's Choice to determine if the extra cost (and fewer diapers) is worth it when buying a the name brand.