Laid Back Lava Lamp
By: Danielle Combs, an OSU Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development in Highland County
Have you been looking for something new and exciting to do while at home? Laid Back Lava Lamps are a fun way to learn something while performing a chemistry experiment.
Materials:
- See-through glass or jar (with smooth sides preferably)
- Vegetable oil
- Water
- Alka-Seltzer fizzing tablet
- Food coloring
- Paper
- Pencil or pen
Directions:
Hypothesis: What do you think will happen?
- Pour vegetable oil in the container (3/4 of the way full)
- Add a few drops of food coloring
- Observe and record what you see happening.
- Add water till just below full
- Break the Alka-Seltzer tablet into quarters
- Place a piece of the Alka-Seltzer tablet into the vegetable oil mixture and watch.
- Observe and record what you see happening.
Reflection:
If you did not add the Alka-Seltzer tablet what do you think would happen?
What implications might this science challenge have in helping water quality specialists deal with run-off, spills, and other issues?
Review Editor: Margo Long, Extension Educator, 4-H Youth Development, Marion County
References:
Lava Lamp (n.d.) Retrieved May 8th, 2020 from http://www.sciencefun.org/kidszone/experiments/lava-lamp/
Color Blob Test Tube Challenge (n.d.) Retrieved May 8th, 2020 from https://ohio4h.org/sites/ohio4h/files/imce/4h_science/Test%20Tube%20Takeaway%20Color%20Blob%20Challenge.pdf
