Bubbles are an excellent medium for teaching observation and measurement techniques and illustrating the concept of variables. Sue has her classes conduct several bubble experiments throughout the year. Students have determined the attributes of a bubble that they could measure, including size (diameter), speed, distance traveled from wand, height at time of pop, and many more. Sue also assigned the task of designing a device to measure the diameter of a bubble, which proved trickier than expected! Turns out, it is very difficult to accurately measure a bubble before it pops (or you pop it!)
Once the students had some experience blowing and measuring bubbles, we took the experiments outside…on a 0-degree day! Back in October, Sue gave the BU Antarctic research team a bottle of bubbles hoping they would blow bubbles in the freezing Antarctic temperatures and report back on what happened. Unfortunately, the team reported the bubble solution had frozen solid and all efforts to defrost had proven futile. Luckily we were blessed with a 0-degree day in Brookline this winter, and it was a school day! Sue had all of her classes brainstorm bubble variables.
First the students recorded bubble data inside. Then we bundled up and ventured outside. Blowing bubbles with a wand introduces warm, moist breath inside the bubble. To eliminate any effects of human breath, Sue bought a bubble machine which we brought outside. The machine produced a lot of bubbles quickly–and many of them froze! The result was exciting for students and adults alike and made for a dramatic display on the snowy school-grounds. What had been transparent, rainbow-hued bubbles indoors had transformed into opaque white shells in the 0-degree temperatures…
When the frozen bubbles popped, they did not explode like they did in the warm classroom. Instead, they ripped into filmy sheets that blew around in the wind.
After some fun with the bubble machine, the students broke into groups to blow their own bubbles. The bubbles blown with warm, moist breath reacted slightly differently than those blow by the bubble machine with cool outside air. The students’ bubbles formed more condensation and rose faster and higher.
While the students did write down observations on the attributes and behaviors of their outdoor bubbles, the experience was as much about fun and discovery as it was about formal data collection. The 10-15 minutes we spend out in the cold was worth the sight of frozen bubbles strewn across the sidewalk. This activity was really cool and, if not with your class, you should try this at home!
