Date: May 1994

Grade Level(s): 1, 2, 3

Subject(s):

• Science

These activities are good in the spring or just before vacations when attention wanes.

PURPOSE: In this activity, students develop inquiry skills during fun experiments.

OBJECTIVES: Students will be able to:

1. observe bubble movement, shape, and color.
2. observe that warm air rises.

RESOURCES/MATERIALS:

1. Dictionary
2. Florist wire
3. Dishpans, bowls, jars
4. Solution: 1 cup Joy dishwashing liquid and 8-9 cups water
5. Drawing paper, pencils, crayons
6. Optional-straws, string, tubes, dowels

ACTIVITIES AND PROCEDURES:

1. Is a bubble a "sphere"? Look up the definition in a dictionary. Discuss "sphere" as a class.
2. Using florist wire have each child make one end into any shape except a circle. What shape will the bubble be? Gently blow a bubble. What shape is the bubble? Students should observe each other's bubbles. Younger students may need to make a chart to reach a conclusion.
3. Draw a bubble on a piece of paper. Be careful to draw the shape correctly. What colors will you use to color it?
4. Discuss temperatures in your lungs and outside where you blow bubbles. You blew warm air into the soapsuds. Which direction did the bubbles go? What conclusion do you reach? Warm air rises.

ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES:

1. Using a straw with one end snipped at an angle and a baby food jar of suds, allow students to experiment.
2. Use different materials to make blowers: a paper towel tube; 2 straws with one yard of string threaded through them; a dowel rod with a string attached at one end and sliding on a ring in the middle.
3. When you return to the classroom, use experiences and drawings to write a creative story.
4. Students may want to measure bubbles.

TYING IT ALL TOGETHER:

Most children enjoy blowing bubbles. During this activity, children observe, predict, and experiment with simple materials. They are actively involved throughout.

May 1994

These lesson plans are the result of the work of the teachers who have attended the Columbia Education Center's Summer Workshop. CEC is a consortium of teacher from 14 western states dedicated to improving the quality of education in the rural, western, United States, and particularly the quality of math and science Education. CEC uses Big Sky Telegraph as the hub of their telecommunications network that allows the participating teachers to stay in contact with their trainers and peers that they have met at the Workshops.