When I was reflecting on my favorite science classroom experiences, I remembered the experiments my teacher Mr. Kelly used to demonstrate. He has been an incredible example of what an exceptional science teacher should look like. This experiment comes from a demonstration he did in class. Bobbing Bertha What you Need: capillary tube, plastic water bottle with cap, food coloring, bunsen burner with gas source, match, water, and googles What will be covered: Water and Air Pressure You get to keep the cartesian diver and can trick people into think you are pulling the bubble down with a magic string! Let's Get Started!Start by ripping off the label on the water bottle and fill it with water so only a little bit of air is in it. Then, light your bunsen burner with the gas source and a match. Now you should put the "capped" end of the capillary tube in the bunsen burner fire for about 15 seconds. Put your mouth on the open end and give it a little puff. You should see a glass bubble form. Break the glass on open end so the capillary tube is a little shorter. Use food coloring to dye your water whatever color you want. Place the glass bubble in your water bottle. Put the cap on your water bottle tightly. Now you have a Bobbing Bertha When you squeeze the bottle Bertha should sink to the bottom (seen in picture). When you let go Bertha should come right back up? Why? Let's talk about it! Video that shows what it would look like How this relates to SteamScience: Water Pressure
Technology: Creating an instrument Engineering: Designing the instrument Arts: Creative colors and using artistic abilities for divers Math: Can later calculate the speed it moves, how far it moves, mass, force
5 Comments
Mary Beth Alexander
10/11/2015 05:12:46 pm
This looks like a great activity, but how exactly is it STEAM and more importantly, what is STEAM?
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Nick Robinson
10/11/2015 08:16:33 pm
We all have those super teachers that reside in memory, I can definitely relate to that. And those teachers aren't remembered for easy tests or little homework, they are remembered for giving us awesome learning experiences.
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Nikita
10/11/2015 08:26:01 pm
I agree with Mary Beth. The activity seems great, but what is STEAM and how can it be incorporated into this lesson? Also, why is it important to teach using STEAM? It would have been nice to see some STEAM background information before just explaining the lesson.
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Nick S.B.
10/12/2015 04:03:28 pm
Within STEAM education A is used to define the arts however, C for creativity might also be welcomed there. With your lesson there are arts and crafts, however the students are not being creative in designing their own structure or applying other schema to make something themselves. How could creativity be added to your lesson to better provide student driven interactions with the subject matter?
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drann
10/14/2015 02:39:56 pm
I totally agree with the other remarks! Please address them and possibly revise your blog post.
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AuthorAnna Kirkpatrick www.teacherspayteachers.com/store/kirkpatrickscience
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