Groovy Lava Lamps

It was a busy first week of school in our room! We spent the first two days going over procedures, expectations, and daily routines. On Wednesday we started previewing Math and Science material we are going to be covering in the next couple of weeks! In Math we talked about how math is part of our everyday lives and is seen in many areas of our world. In Science we studied the questions, "What is a scientist?" and "What types of tools do scientists use?" We learned that scientists study the world around us and the ASK QUESTIONS!! So...on Friday...we used what we learned, asked a question, and investigated to answer it.

 

Our question was, "Do oil and water mix?"

 

Materials

Water bottles

Food coloring

Water

Vegetable Oil

Funnel

 

 

A water bottled filled half full with vegetable oil and an observation guide sheet was placed on each of the students' desk.

 

 

At the back of the room I filled small cups with water. The students got to choose a color to mix in their water. Not only did the food coloring make funky colors, but it was a great way to visually see the difference in the oil and the water. After they choose the color and mixed it in, we used the funnel to pour the water into the bottle of vegetable oil.

 

 

The students had three tasks to complete during their investigation of whether water and oil mixed. First, they had to lay the bottle on its side. Second, they had to shake the bottle up and down. Third, they had to let the bottle sit untouched on their desk for 5 minutes. After each task they had to write and draw their observations. They recorded what the oil and water was doing at the end of each.

 

The observation sheet was also displayed on the Interwrite Board.

After the students' investigation was complete, they came back to the carpet and we talked about the outcome of the experiment. We found that although, when shaken really hard, oil and water APPEAR to mix, when given time oil and water will seperate again. Therefore: oil and water do not mix!

 

I will definitely do this experiment again. The bottles of oil and colored water resembeled lava lamps (hence-the title of this post!) so the students' interests were instantly gained. It was fun, easy, and a great way to get the students' hands on some materials. Not to mention...they were physically carrying out of the knowledge they had learned throughout the week in a hands-on investigation!