Sarah A. Martinez January 27,2010 Experiment# 3

HOW TO MAKE A LAVA LAMP

TEACHER’S INSTRUCTIONS

Note: This experiment is designed for K-4th grade.

Approximate time for demo and both experiments: 50 minutes

Part I

All of part I activities: 30 minutes

Background story

As a birthday gift you receive a lava lamp. One day, you and your brother are wrestling for fun and he accidentally kicks the lava lamp, and it falls on the ground and breaks. In order to avoid your mom finding out, you quickly decide that you are going to make one and here is how! First we need to understand a little concept called density. Some liquids are heavier than others. If you put different liquids on top of each other the heaviest one will be at the bottom and the lightest one will be at the top. So for example, if I put vegetable oil, green water and blue lamp oil together:

Which is at the bottom? Water

Which is at the top? Lamp oil

Which is in the middle? Vegetable oil

Which is the lightest? Lamp oil

Which is the heaviest? Water

Which is in between? Vegetable oil

Objectives

Have the students understand the concept of density in a fun way by making a lava lamp!

Definitions

Density- how much mass of a substance is in a given volume (Prentice Hall Science Explorer)

Materials

  • Water
  • Vegetable Oil
  • Food Coloring
  • Clear bottles
  • Glitter, beads, buttons, sequences

Instructions

  1. Help the students pour vegetable oil until their bottle is 3/4ths of the way full
  2. Give the students a plastic cup with water in it.
  3. Instruct the students to put food coloring in their water.
  4. Instruct the students to pour the water into the bottle with the vegetable oil. Make sure to tell them to leave room in their bottle for any decorations.
  5. Suggest to the students to add glitter, beads, buttons or sequences.
  6. Also be sure to tape the top of the bottle to ensure that students do not open the lava lamp and make a mess.
  7. Have the students turn the bottle on its side and observe what it looks like.

Discussion Questions

When looking at the lava lamp you created, which is the heaviest liquid? Which is the lightest liquid?

Congratulations class you have made a lava lamp to replace the one your brother broke!

Expected Results

The water and the oil will not mix due to the fact that water is heavier than oil. Water will be the bottom layer and oil will be the top layer.

Reference

Prentice Hall Science Explorer Chemical Building Blocks. Upper Saddle River: Pearson

Prentice Hall, 2004.

Part II

All of Part II activities: 20 minutes

HOW TO MAKE A CARDBOARD FISH SWIM?

Note: This experiment is designed for K- 4th grade.

Background story

You are an inventor and your boss tells you that he wants you to make a cardboard fish swim in water and your job today is to figure out how.

Objectives

Have the students understand the concept of surface tension by making a cardboard fish swim by releasing a non-polar substance: dish soap in a polar substance: water.

Definitions

Surface tension- the inward pull of a liquid that bring the molecules at the surface closer together making it act as though it has a skin (Prentice Hall Science Explorer)

An example of an organism that exhibits surface tension is a water strider. A water strider gives an illusion of walking on water.

Polar- a molecule that has partially positive and partially negative charges

Non-polar- a molecule that only has one type of charge

Materials

  • Water
  • Pie pans for each student
  • Liquid dish soap
  • Cardboard cut out fish for each student

Instructions

  1. Hand out a cardboard cut out fish and a pie pan to each child.
  2. Have each color their fish with crayons.
  3. Fill each child’s pie pan with water.
  4. Place the fish gently on top of the water and place a tiny drop of dish soap behind the fish and watch it swim away.

Expected Results

The fish will shoot forward once the soap is added because the soap breaks down the surface tension between the water and the cardboard fish.

**Note- Soap cannot be added more than once because water will not react to the soap again. Once the water is introduced to the non-polar substance: soap, the fish cannot be shot forward again.

Experiment Variations

This experiment can also be done with matchsticks or any thing that will float on water.

Outside preparation

Cut out cardboard fish for each students

Bring at least 3 gallons of water and a bucket to throw waste away

Reference

Prentice Hall Science Explorer Chemical Building Blocks. Upper Saddle River: Pearson

Prentice Hall, 2004.

Experiment #3

STUDENT WORKSHEET

Name:

Date:

Part 1

Objectives

The goal of this experiment today is to understand the concept of density in a fun way by making a lava lamp!

HOW TO MAKE A LAVA LAMP?

Step 1

Take your bottle

Step 2

Pour vegetable oil until your bottle is 3/4ths of the way full

Step 3

Put food coloring in their water that is in the cup

Step 4

Pour the water into the bottle with the vegetable oil. Make sure to leave room in their bottle for any decorations.

Step 5

Add glitter, beads, buttons or sequences

Step 6

Add the cap onto your lava lamp

Step 7

Be sure to tape the top of the bottle.

Draw a picture of your lava lamp when the layers are completely separated.

Draw a picture of what your lava lamp looks like in motion.

Experiment #3

STUDENT WORKSHEET

Name:

Date:

Part 2

HOW TO MAKE A CARDBOARD FISH SWIM?

Step 1

Make sure your teacher gives you a cardboard cut out fish and a pie pan with water in it.

Step 2

Color only one side of your fish with crayons.

Step 3

Place the fish gently on top of the water and place a tiny drop of dish soap behind the fish and watch it swim away.

Draw a picture of your fish

Congratulations you have made a cardboard fish swim in water!

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