La- La- Lava Lamps!

As our first activity, I created a 'lava lamp' with the children. Using simplified steps, the children acted as little scientists to help me pour in all of our ingredients to see the mesmerizing effects of coloured water, oil and salt!

Materials

The recipe card and instruction board were used to assist children in step by step directions and focus on one task at a time! The pieces on the board are removable, allowing children to interact.

Documenting our Hypothesis and Results

The children were encouraged to guess what happened before and after they mixed the ingredients together. These predictions ranged from the water mixing together with the oil and the water bubbling after adding salt. This was a great way for children to investigate and explore these properties!

Learning Objectives and Outcomes from Early Learning for Every Child Today and The Kindergarten Program

ELECT

• ELECT 5.3 Tool Use and Drawing

KP

• Expectation 2.2 Science and Technology: make predictions and observations before and during investigations

• Expectation 2.4 Science and Technology: communicate results and findings from individual and group investigations (e.g., explain and/or show how they made their structure; state simple conclusions from an experiment; record ideas using pictures, numbers, labels)

Reflection & Outcomes

The children thoroughly enjoyed adding colour to the water, and then adding the water to the oil. They were engaged and excited to use the dropper and pipette to add the coloured water into the oil, but were also surprisingly interested in how the magenta and blue waters mixed to make a dark indigo. They described the water droplets as "bubbles" and were able to identify that the bubbles were "falling down" or "sinking" to the bottom. They were also able to observe that after adding salt, some of the "bubbles went back to the top"! This large group activity reflected challenges in regulating and re-engaging some children, as it was difficult for every child to remain attended, as some children were impatient to have their turn.