Lazy Lava

5.4 The student will investigate and understand that matter is anything
that has mass and takes up space; and occurs as a solid, liquid, or gas.
Key concepts include
a) distinguishing properties of each phase of matter;
b) the effect of temperature on the phases of matter;
c) atoms and elements;
d) molecules and compounds; and
e) mixtures including solutions.
ommentary
!) "reparation#$aterials:
2 glass jars Salt (about 8 spoon full)
ater !ood coloring
"egetable oil#canola oil $ut a light behind the jar so the students can see
better
%) &a'ety considerations: this is a relatively safe e%periment &hich involves
nothing hot or to%ic' (ust be careful not to spill the jar because the food coloring
and#or oil may stain your clothes) countertop or anything else it comes into
contact &ith'
() )ntroduce experiment: *+ have three li,uids here and &e are going to see
&hat happens &hen &e put them all together in the jar' -hen &e are going to
add salt to the jar.' /s0 three students to come up to add the oil) food coloring
and salt'
4) *emonstration:
$our the &ater into the glass jar until it is about half full'
Prediction- /s0 students &hat they thin0 &ill happen &hen the oil is poured into
the glass jar &ith the &ater'
+quili,rium in students- &tudents will pro,a,ly think that the water and oil
will mix. They might think that they will mix ,ecause they are ,oth liquids.
$ost o' their experience with liquids has shown them that liquids mix with
each other .ex milk and water or milk and chocolate sauce.
1ave a student pour the oil into the jar so the total volume of the jar is about 2
full'
*isequili,rium in &tudents- /0hy don1t the water and oil mix2/
3on4t ans&er the ,uestion at this time' 5ontinue &ith the e%periment'
/s0 one of the students to add a couple drops of food coloring to the jar'(it &ill
ta0e a fe& seconds for the food coloring to color the &ater)'
Predictions- hat do you thin0 &ill happen &hen the salt is added to the jar6
+quili,rium in &tudents- 3nly two things can happen; the salt will stay
on#in the oil or it will sink to the ,ottom o' the water.
/s0 a student to add a couple spoons of salt to the jar
*isequili,rium in &tudents- 40hy does the salt sink to the ,ottom and then
'loat ,ack to the top2/
/s0 the students if anybody thought that the salt &ould sin0 and then float bac0
to the top' +f anybody ans&ers 7yes4) then as0 them &hy they thought that'
8ou can as0 the students &hat &ould happen if &e added something other than
salt'
5) +xplanation .working towards equili,rium).
3ra& a diagram of the jar &ith the oil and &ater in it'
*hat happens &hen you mi% oil and &ater6. *hy don4t oil and &ater mi%6.
+ntroduce the term density. *hat is density6. rite students4 ans&ers on the
board
/fter the students have run out of ideas &rite the informal definition on the board'
Informal definition: hen t&o things ta0e up the same amount of space but one
&eighs more than the other &e say that object is denser' (e% &ater is denser than
oil)
9%plain that : litre of &ater is heavier than : litre of oil therefore &ater is denser'
/s0 students &here they have come across density in their lives' rite their
ans&ers on the board'
hy did the salt sin0 to the bottom of the jar6
+f they have some trouble ans&ering this ,uestion as0 them &hat happens to salt
&hen you put it in &ater6
/fter listening to their ans&ers use the second jar that is filled half full &ith &ater
and as0 a student to drop a spoon full of salt in to it'
-he students &ill see that the salt sin0s to the bottom but does not float bac0 to
the top'
/s0 them &hat the difference is bet&een the t&o jars'
-hey &ill hopefully ans&er oil and food coloring'
9%plain that the salt mi%es &ith the oil and ma0es it heavier than the &ater' -he
salt#oil ball sin0s to the bottom of the jar' -he salt then gets dissolved in the
&ater and then all that is left is the oil' Since the oil is less dense than the &ater
it floats bac0 to the top'
5) 6a7y 6ava 8ctivity; 1opefully this &ill allo& the students to see the idea a
little more clearly'
Let some 0ids be &ater) some oil and some salt' +f you have a school &ith
soccer pinnies#jerseys) borro& them and the blue ones can be &ater) the yellow
oil and the white for the salt'
1ave the &aters and the oils stand at opposite ends of the room'
9%plain to the students that the oils are at the top of the jar and the &aters are on
the bottom'

-he teacher then ta0es t&o salts and directs them to the oil
-he salts then drag the oil to the &aters' -he &aters then grab the salts from the
oil
-he oil then gets pulled bac0 to the rest of his *oil friends.'
9) :loom1s Taxonomy
!) Knowledge: hat is the definition of density in your o&n &ords6

%) omprehension: 9%plain using your o&n &ords &hat happened in the
e%periment' hy did the oil stay above the &ater6 hat happened &hen
the salt &as added and &hy6
() 8pplication: hat &ould happen if an oil tan0er spilled open into the
ocean (salt &ater)6 hat &ould happen if an oil tan0er spilled into a fresh
&ater la0e'
4) 8nalysis- 3ra& at least three diagrams about the e%periment and ho&
things changed' Label the diagram and e%plain &hat happened in each
diagram'
5) &ynthesis: rite do&n three e%amples of density that you have come
across in your life'
5) +valuation: hat do you thin0 is the best &ay to clean up an oil spill &ith
your current 0no&ledge about density6 1o& &ould you clean up an oil spill
if &ater and oil had the same density6
;) <esources
http:##&&&'coe'missouri'edu#<pgermann#3isc9vent#3ensity#Lava=Lamp#lava=lam
p'html