Tinfoil Boat Challenge
During this unit students have been exploring the properties of liquids. In this investigation they examined buoyancy and predicted whether or not different items would sink or float. Using this experience students designed and made a tinfoil boat in attempt to create something that could hold 100 pennies. Their first models would be tested and evaluated by the students for strengths and weaknesses. The students will then have a second opportunity to try and improve upon their designs.
Lava Lamps
Students have been mixing together various household liquids and solids to investigate how the react with one another.
In the lava lamp activity students discovered that cooking oil and water do not mix with one another. Using alka seltzer tablets which release carbon dioxide bubbles into the water force the water and oil to combine creating a cool effect.
The Science:
When you mix oil and water, they do not become one uniform substance. Instead, they are able to co-exist in one container. This occurs because water is only attracted to like molecules and because oil is dissimilar, it is incompatible resulting in a mixture whereby oil and water maintain their individual properties, without mixing. When you add food colouring, it is absorbed because it has the same molecular composition as water. When the Alka-Seltzer tablet is added to the oil and water, it illustrates the concept of dissolving and evaporation. A chemical reaction occurs as the solid dissolves into the liquid, causing another chemical reaction to occur, where the liquid evaporates, transforming into a gas, creating a bubbling effect. This bubbling effect is a result of a chemical reaction where carbon dioxide is created as the Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolves into the liquid.
In the lava lamp activity students discovered that cooking oil and water do not mix with one another. Using alka seltzer tablets which release carbon dioxide bubbles into the water force the water and oil to combine creating a cool effect.
The Science:
When you mix oil and water, they do not become one uniform substance. Instead, they are able to co-exist in one container. This occurs because water is only attracted to like molecules and because oil is dissimilar, it is incompatible resulting in a mixture whereby oil and water maintain their individual properties, without mixing. When you add food colouring, it is absorbed because it has the same molecular composition as water. When the Alka-Seltzer tablet is added to the oil and water, it illustrates the concept of dissolving and evaporation. A chemical reaction occurs as the solid dissolves into the liquid, causing another chemical reaction to occur, where the liquid evaporates, transforming into a gas, creating a bubbling effect. This bubbling effect is a result of a chemical reaction where carbon dioxide is created as the Alka-Seltzer tablet dissolves into the liquid.