LAVA LAMPS!

How come oil and water dont mix?

you only need of a tablet per bottle. The
important thing here is to have the kids
Because they dont like each other! The major concept
carefully watch if the tablet starts fizzing in
for this weeks lesson is that two dissimilar things dont mix
the oil layer or in the water layer (its the
together. Like dissolves likeso what does that say about
water layer!). What does that tell us about
water and oil?
the tablet?
What to do with materials:
At the end of session, dont throw bottles
away!! Save them for the next session. Dump
Purpose
out the water and oil in the sink and place
The purpose of this experiment is to teach the kids about them back in the bags.
dissolving and polarity (dont need to mention this) but in
an engaging and cool way! Instead of just dropping oil
into a cup of water and watching it settle, were adding Buzz words
alka seltzer tablets to the mixture to make lava lamps. Dissolve
What does it mean to dissolve? Polarity
When things dissolve, they kind of disappear. For *immiscible
example: sugar starts off as little crystals, but when you
Notes
put them in water where do they go? You can explain to
the kids that all molecules have a special property that Each bottle should get 1 tablet, but
makes them different or similar to other molecules, and used at a time. I.e., use of the
that is called polarity (use at your discretion). tablet, then when it fizzles out and the
kids want to see more then add
Part 1-Make a hypothesis
another 1/4.
First, have the kids make a guess as to what will happen
when you add oil to the water in the bottle. Will they mix?
Will the solution become all one color? How can we tell if
they mixed, or if oil dissolved in the water? (hint: if theres Materials (per table)
two layers that means they didnt mix and that water
and oil are different polarities). Water bottles: 2
Part 2-Adding the oil to water Oil: enough to fill of 2 bottles
Each table will get 2 or 3 water bottles depending on Water: get from sink. Use enough to
session size (each class should have 12 bottles). Fill each fill of 2 bottles
bottle a fourth full with water, then fill the rest with Food coloring: 1 per class
oil(doesnt have to be all the way to the top). Add a
drop or two of food coloring. How many layers form? Is
the solution one color or two? (*if you think they can
handle it, tell them that when two liquids dont mix
theres a special word to describe that phenomenon
called immiscible)
Part 3-Adding the alka seltzer
Well be adding food coloring and alka seltzer to each
water bottle. Make sure to break the tablets into 1/4ths
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