Homemade Lava Lamp with Alka Seltzer

Type of resource: Website

Web address https://www.kenan-asia.org/one-awesome-science-experiment-you-can-do-at-home/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI34iV0uOe5wIVBLTtCh1mUAZAEAAYAyAAEgK9kvD_BwE

Language: English

Description

Experiment investigating mixing in liquids.

Scientific concept introduced

Chemical reactions: liquids do and don’t mix; dissolving.

Creative and critical thinking

Critical Thinking

Analysis

Inductive reasoning

Creative Thinking

Design

Mathematical reasoning

Counting

Sequencing

Scientific thinking

Observing

Questioning

Prediciting

Recording

Analysising

Learning how to learn

Being organised

Turn taking in groups

Fun in learning

Additional

Oral language – listening and following instructions

Hand-eye coordination

Fine motor skills

Pre-reading skills eg sequencing

Collaborative skills through group Work

Homemade Lava Lamp with Alka Seltzer

Overall aims

To enable pupils to explore how liquids that do and don’t mix

To enable pupils to explore the concept of dissolving

To develop pupils’ skills in listening and following instructions

To develop pupils’ organisation skills

To develop pupils’ communication skills

To develop pupils’ skills in observing and predicting

To develop pupils’ skills in counting

To develop pupils’ skills in recording

Vocabulary – keywords should be understood

Food colouring, vegetable oil, water, tablet, bubbles, lighted, heavier, dissolves, mix

Expected learning outcomes (operational aims)

The child will be enabled to:

– follow instructions of an experiment

– investigate how water and oil react

– observe and discuss how some liquids mix and some don’t mix

STEM skills – to which the learning unit is related to

CORE STEM SKILLS

Asking questions

Investigating

Observing and making predictions

Analyzing the results of an experiment

Counting

Recording

ADDITIONAL SKILLS

Hand-eye coordination

Fine-motor skills

Writing

Reading

Oral Language

Following rules of safety

Group work

Teaching methodologies/activity outline

Introduction

Show a bottle of food colouring as ask pupils if they know what it is used for. Elicit that it is a liquid which is used to colour food and it does so by mixing with other materials.
Inform pupils that they are going to investigate how other liquids mix.

Activity

Ask pupils to work in groups, each group using a different spice to make their own dough ball.

Materials

– Drinking glass or clear bottle

– Water

– Food coloring

– Vegetable oil

– Alka Seltzer tablet

Instructions

Put one drop of a food coloring into a glass.

Fill ¼ of the glass with water.

Sample question: What happened? Both liquids mixed.

Add about twice as much vegetable oil as water to the glass.

Sample Questions: What happened when you poured the oil into the water? Did the liquids mix? Did you notice that the two liquids did not mix?

Teacher Note: They separated because the density of water is greater than that of vegetable oil, and so the water sits at the bottom.

Drop one Alka Seltzer tablet into the bottle and look on as colorful bubbles ooze up and down through the oil.

Sample Question: What do you think will happen when you drop in the tablet?

Teacher Note: The tablet dives to the bottom and dissolves. This process creates carbon dioxide, which (like the oil) is lighter than water, causing it to form bubbles, with some of the colored water mixed in, that rise to the top and burst on the surface. After the mini explosion, the colored water sinks back down to the bottom, resulting in that oozing, lava-like effect in the bottle. Discuss the tone of colours to be seen in the glass.

Tip: For added effect, turn off the lights in the room and place the bottle on top of your mobile phone with the flashlight turned on. This makes the coloring really pop!