Name: Mayra Patiño
Name of Experiment: Making a Lava Lamp
Materials:









Water
Vegetable Oil
Red or Orange Food Coloring
2 Clear Plastic Bottle with Lids (1 Liter Size)
1-2 Alka-Seltzer Tablets
Markers or Crayons
Glitter (if desire)
Small Display Poster Board
Small Flashlight
Procedure:
1. Label the small display poster board Earth’s Concentric Layers and draw
half of a circle. Then you will label and color the following layers according to
the format. The four concentric layers crust-brown, mantle-red, outer coreorange and inner core-yellow.
2. Make sure both large clear plastic bottles are completely clean.
3. Using a measuring cup measure 2 ¼ of vegetable oil, pour the vegetable oil
into one of the clear bottle.
4. Fill the other clear bottle completely with water and add 3-5 drops of both red
and orange food coloring. Close the lid tightly and shake the bottle so the food
coloring and water will mix. You can add glitter if desire.
5. Add the red-orange colored water to the clear plastic bottle that contains the
2 ¼ vegetable oil by leaving a small portion of the bottle empty.
6. Break 1 Alka-Seltzer tablet into small pieces and add one at a time to the
color water with the vegetable oil.
7. Close the lid tightly.
8. Place the clear plastic bottle next to the small display board and put the
flashlight next to the clear plastic bottle. Turn the light off and with the light
source of the flashlight notice the reaction of the Alka-Seltzer and the
mixture of the vegetable oil with the water
9. You have your made own lava lamp.
Potential Observation:
As you observed your lava lamp, you will notice that the water and vegetable oil do
not mix together. Water and oil never mix due to the reason that water has more
density than the vegetable oil. The most important observation is the reaction of the
Alka-Seltzer tablets which is a visual representation of the convection currents in
volcanoes.
Conclusion of Learning:
The purpose of making a lava lamp and having a display board of Earth’s
Concentric Layers is for students to have a visual representation of the
convection currents. The students will be able to visually see how lava is release
from volcanos due to the result of convection currents. Convection currents occurred
due to the reaction of how the heat rises within the concentric layers of the earth.
As the heat continues to rise, lava is push through the concentric layers until
exploded into the surface of the earth as volcano eruptions.
Similar Experiments:
A similar experiments on making a lava lamp would be a mixing vinegar and oil in
a clear bottle. The students will see the separation of the vinegar and oil. If you turn
the bottle on its side you can watch the vinegar moving through the oil making
different types of shapes and blobs.