Learning 4 Life: bubble-ology

bubble-ology: the study of bubbles!!!

This week we prepared for a science project that we were going to present to our T.I.E. Homeschool group. I searched the internet for a fun science project that I thought she'd be interested in and that would also be educational. I found a GREAT website that every parent should bookmark! It's called Science Buddies and it is a wealth of great science information and some great projects/experiments as well! All you have to do is enter your child's grade level and how much time you will need to complete the project, and then it will ask a series of questions to find your child's interests, then viola! It gives a list of experiments your child will enjoy, with every bit of information you need to successfully complete the project!

So, I found a great one for Zora...bubble-ology...and she loved it!

First we talked about the strength of the water molecule bond and how another agent must be added to water in order to "weaken" or "elasticize" the water molecule bond and produce bubbles. We determined that soap/detergent was the perfect agent. Then, we questioned if some other agent could be added to make even better bubbles.

Our experiment was this:

Jar #1: water only
Jar #2: water + detergent
Jar #3: water + detergent + glycerin
Jar #4: water + detergent + corn syrup

We set out to determine which made the best bubble solution! We did this project as a family so we determined our jobs:

Joel: timekeeper
Tara: bubble blower
Zora: data recorder
Lily: photographer

The next step was to blow bubbles from each solution and catch the bubbles on the wand and then record how long each bubble lasted until in evaporated ("popped").

We did 10 sets of data from each jar. Then we went inside for Zora to evaluate our results. First, she made a bar graph of each set of data. Then we determined the minimum value, maximum value and average value for each set of data. She then used the information to determine which bubble solution was BEST (for strength/endurance)!

The results:

Jar #1: water only:
NO BUBBLES

Jar #2: water + detergent:
WEAKEST SOLUTION

Jar #3: water + detergent + glycerin:
STRONGEST SOLUTION

Jar #4: water + detergent + corn syrup:
MEDIUM SOLUTION

(but it had the biggest bubbles!)

huge bubble from corn syrup solution!

Today Zora presented the information to our T.I.E. group. I had to help her present it because her nerves got the best of her, but she did pretty good nonetheless :-)