12.07.2020 and 12.11.2020
Experiment Leads: Nicholas Van Zee and Abby Harthorn
On December 7th and 11th, 2020, Ms. Holly Siasoco and Mr. Ben Winter’s students at Marcy
Open School explored types of reactions and immiscibility in a lava lamp experiment in a virtual
setting with Science for All. Supplies were delivered to students so that they were able to
perform this experiment at home. Students were able to build on their knowledge of chemical
reactions and physical changes that they witness every day and identify reactions happening in
their lava lamp experiment. The lesson goals were to teach students about chemical reactions,
physical changes, immiscibility, and apply the scientific method to the lava lamp experiment.
The students were first given a presentation of what a chemist does and what is a chemical
reaction. Students were then given everyday examples of chemical reactions such as burning,
baking, and rusting, as well as physical changes like chopping, boiling, and mixing. Lastly, we
wanted the students to learn the concept of immiscibility, since the separation of water and oil
are used in the experiment.
Materials for building your own lava lamp included a clear glass container, water, vegetable oil,
food coloring, and an effervescent tablet (AlkaSeltzer). In the break out rooms of groups of 3-4
students, SFA instructors lead their groups step-by-step through the process, asking students to
make hypotheses as to what they thought would happen next. They also applied concepts
learned in the initial presentation. Altogether, this was a fun experiment to conduct in a virtual
setting!
