A general tank-draining problem was used as an experimental project in two undergraduate-level chemical engineering courses. The project aimed to illustrate the critical nature of experimentation in addition to use of mass and energy conservation principles in developing mathematical models that correctly describes a system. The students designed and executed experiments and used mass and energy balances to develop and test a constitutive equation. Compared to the lecture format, most students strongly agreed or agreed that the hands-on approach was more effective (63% and 32%, respectively) and enabled them to learn more effectively (42% and 53%, respectively). Details of the project and student response are presented.