Air Science Experiment – The Talking Coin

What you will need:

• A plastic bottle without a lid
• A coin, big enough to cover the mouth of the bottle
• A cup of water
• A freezer

 What you will do:

1. Put the empty bottle into the freezer for 5 minutes.
2. Wet the coin in the cup.
3. Take the bottle out and stand it on a table.  Lay the wet coin over the mouth of the bottle.  You have to be quick!

 What is going on?

We know that air has molecules.  When we put the bottle into the freezer, the air molecules inside the bottle cooled down, and moved closer together.  This made room for more air, so air from the freezer moved into the bottle as well.

When we took the bottle out of the freezer, the air molecules warmed up, and started to spread out again.  That meant there was no room for the extra air, so it had to go!  The molecules of air pushed past the coin to get out.

 Monster Challenges: 

• How many coins can the air push?  If you put too coins on top of the bottle, is it too heavy for the air to push past?  3?  4?
• What happens if you put a piece of paper over the mouth of the bottle instead of the coin?
• Can you explain why the coin needs to be wet?

 TEACHING NOTES:

Topic: 

Air

Key Concepts: 

Air has molecules.  Molecules get closer together when they are cool and further apart when they are warm.

Resources:

• Investigation Record IR01– one copy per student
• Experiment Description Air A03– one copy per student
• Empty plastic container, coin, cup of water, freezer

Lesson Notes:

This may be more of a demonstration than an experiment because of access to a freezer.
If it is possible, set up this experiment in small groups nearby a freezer so the students can
do it themselves.  If not, be sure to include them as much as possible in the demonstration
by accepting and trying their suggestions.

Remind students to listen carefully to instructions, and to OBSERVE their experiment.

As a class discuss the experiment prior to undertaking it, and students should complete the
sections of their Investigation Report IR01 from ”Title to “Hypothesis”.

What should happen in this experiment, and why? 

As the cold air in the bottle warms up, it expands and can no longer fit into the container.
Air begins to push out of the bottle past the coin, making it bob up and down and seem like
it’s talking.

The coin needs to be wet to make a seal on the mouth of the bottle.

Follow up discussion questions:

• Could you make a musical instrument using what you now know about air and temperature?
• Can you work together to act out how molecules change as they get colder and warmer?

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Air Science Experiment:  The Singing Balloon

What you will need:

•  A balloon, if possible some of different sizes and shapes
• Music (optional)

What you will do:

1. Blow up your balloon nice and full and hold it shut, but don’t tie it.
2. Now grab the neck of the balloon, pinch it on both sides and pull it gently out so that some of the air escapes. What can you hear?
3. Can you make your balloon “sing” in time with the music?

What should happen:

We can’t see air, but it is made up of molecules, just like water is made up of molecules and tables are made up of molecules. The molecules in air are spread out, because it is a gas, but we know they exist because as they rush to get out of the balloon, they bump into the neck of the balloon. This makes the balloon neck wobble, or vibrate, and that makes a sound.

Monster Challenges:

• Can you change the type of sound by moving the neck of the balloon in different ways? What happens if you pull it faster or slower, a long way or a little way?
• Do different shaped balloons make different sounds?
• What other ways is air used to make music? What musical instruments use air?

TEACHING NOTES:

Topic: 

Air

Key Concepts: 

Air has molecules

Resources: 

• Investigation Record IR01– one copy per student
• Experiment Description Air A02– one copy per student
• Balloons, music (optional)

Lesson Notes: 

This is a simple and fun experiment, but it is noisy!  To understand the experiments later in this series, students will need to be aware that air has molecules.  You may even wish to use the experiment on states of matter prior to this experiment, however a simple description of
molecules will suffice at this stage, eg:

“Molecules are the tiny little bits that make up everything.  They are so small we can’t see them without a very powerful microscope, but we
know they are there.  In solid things the molecules are packed tightly together so we can pick up solid things.  In liquids they have more space
to move around, so liquids pour.  In gases, like air, they can move about quite a bit and that makes them hard to see.  This experiment will help us
find them.”

Demonstrate the technique of blowing up the balloon and pinching the neck to the students before they begin.

Remind students to listen carefully to instructions, and to OBSERVE their experiment.

As a class discuss the experiment prior to undertaking it, and students should complete the sections of their Investigation Report IR01 from ”Title to “Hypothesis”.

What should happen in this experiment, and why? 

A whole lot of lets face it, quite annoying noise happens in this experiment.  However it is very effective at creating understanding, and it is so much fun that the students remember it for a long time.  Future discussions become simple:  “Remember how we learnt that air has molecules in that noisy balloon experiment?”

Students simply need to make the connection that it is the molecules of air that are vibrating the balloon to make sound.

Follow up discussion questions: 

• Discuss different noises made by different balloons.
• Can anyone have a go at explaining why a paper bag filled with air and suddenly squished will go “pop”?

© www.monstersciences.com

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Welcome to Monster Sciences!  Everything you find here was written for teachers by a teacher who understands the challenges of teaching in today’s classroom.  All the experiments are printable, designed to be effective, fun, hands on and are FULLY EXPLAINED in complete Teacher’s Notes.  They use simple, every day items that can easily be brought from home – no fancy expensive equipment required!

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Fun and easy: hands on experiments that kids can really do and learn from.

Fully explained:complete Teacher’s Notes tell you what should happen, and why.

No fancy equipment:everything you need can be found in the classroom or easily brought from home.

Effective:investigations enable students to observe results first hand and relate them to their existing knowledge to build understanding.

Differentiated:extention activities provided for fast finishers, guided questions to assist class discussions.

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Want to see how our science experiments are done?

Watch kids demonstrate them here and see how easy, fun and effective they are!

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“I was nervous about teaching science because I thought I didn’t know enough to be able to answer my students’ questions.  Monster Sciences is fantastic because the experiments are explained and easy to do.  I feel confident teaching them and my class love them!”  Nikki, 4th grade teacher.

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The Monsters at Monster Sciences are here to introduce the topics to your students in a fun, friendly way that is engaging and non-threatening.  They are wondering about our world and what makes it tick and it’s this curiosity that inspires them to ask questions that will guide your students’ investigations.  Give the experiments from Monster Sciences a go with your class and watch as the understanding they gain lights up their faces.

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What you will need:

• A clear space with nothing to trip over
• Some cones or markers (optional)
• A whistle or drum to keep time (optional)

 What you will do:

1. You and your classmates are going to act out gears.  Lets start with a 1:1 ratio of gears.  The class will need to split into 2 even teams.
2. Each team forms a circle with your hands on the shoulders of the person in front of you.  The two circles must meet at one point of the circle, and one should be facing clockwise, and the other anticlockwise.  Your teacher will place the markers inside the circle so that you stay in a circle as you move.
3. Now one team is going to take the arm closest to the outside of the circle and hold it straight out.  This arm is like the cog on the gear.
4. As the circles go around, the cogs (arms) will slot into the spaces between the students in the other circle, just like real gears.
5. You need to listen very carefully to your teacher.  They are going to clap their hands or blow a whistle or beat a drum.  Every time they make a sound, you will all take tiny shuffle steps until the next arm of the cog circle is in the gap between the next 2 people in the other circle.  The person who is the current cog will yell “Stop!” when they are in place.
6. Continue around, each beat a new cog into a new gap, until the first cog and the first gap are back together.
7. Now lets try a ratio of 1:2.  Split the class into 2 teams, one with twice as many people as the other (eg 10 in one, 20 in the other).  Set up the activity again with the smaller circle as the cogs.  How many times does the small circle go around before the large circle is back to the beginning?
8. Now try it with different ratios, eg 1:3 or even 2:5.

 What is going on?

Gears enable one part of a machine to move more quickly or more slowly than another.  On a bike, the higher gears let you move further along with each push of the pedals.  Lower gears don’t take you as far with each push, but the pushing is much easier, especially on hills.

 Teaching Notes:

Topic:

Gears and ratios

 Key Concepts:

¨ How gears work, how size affects their ratio

 Resources:

 Investigation Record IR01– one copy per student

• Experiment Description Engineering EG01 – one copy per student
• A clear space, markers (optional), whistle or drum (optional)

 Lesson Notes:

This lesson is an introduction to gears and ratios, but it needs to be proceeded by some discussion about gears, preferably with some examples that students can look at and try.  Common examples could include can openers, egg beaters, clocks and bikes.  There are also many toys that have gears, including lego, so if you can have some of that for a demonstration, all the better.

As a class discuss the experiment prior to undertaking it, and students should complete the sections of their Investigation Report IR01 from ”Title to “Hypothesis”.

 What should happen in this experiment, and why?

In this activity, we start with a 1:1 ratio – it is important that each “cog” slots into the next space in the opposite circle, just like a gear would.  If the students have had a good look at how gears work, they shouldn’t have too much trouble understanding this.  When you try the different ratios, make sure you count how many revolutions the smaller gear does to each revolution of the big wheel.

Students should understand that faster revolutions mean less force – ie the gears that move quickly don’t push as hard as the slow gears.

 Follow up discussion questions:

Where would these kinds of gear ratios be used?  Why?

• Have you ridden a bike with gears up a hill?  How did the gears help?
• How many gears does a car have?  A truck?  Why would a truck have more?
• What does RPM stand for?

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What you will need:

• A class and some space to move about
• Some chairs to define the space
• Disco music (optional)

 What you will do:

Start with a large space. Now each student is to behave like a molecule—moving in a straight line until they gently bump into another molecule or the edge of the space. Then they change direction and move in a straight line again until the music stops. This is what it is like for molecules in a GAS. They are able to move about quite freely.

1. Now halve the space by moving the chairs in closer.  Continue as  before with the same number of students confined in the smaller space. This is like molecules in a LIQUID—their freedom is more restricted.
2. Halve the space again. It should be really cramped so that there is almost no room to move. Try to act like molecules again. This is a solid—the molecules can only vibrate rather than move around.

 What is going on?

Keeping in mind that we can only do this demonstration in 2 dimensions, this is a good way to think about the difference between solids, liquids and gases. In real life the molecules can move up and down as well.

 Monster Challenges: 

•  Can you explain what happens to the molecules when you apply pressure to them?
• What are the names of the 3 states of water?

 Teaching Notes:        

 Topic:

Liquids, States of matter

 Key Concepts:

 How molecules move in the 3 different states of matter

 Resources:

•  Experiment Description Liquids LQ01– one copy per student
• Chairs, optional disco music

 Lesson Notes:

 Discuss molecules—start with assessing students’ existing understanding. Include what they are, how small they are, where they are found etc.

At each stage of the experiment pause briefly to ask students to share their observations about the ease of movement and how they can relate it to their understanding of the states of matter. You may also like to include a discussion of how common substances like water change from one state to another—freezing, melting.

Remind students to listen carefully to instructions, and to OBSERVE their experiment.

At the conclusion of the demonstration I like to clear the chairs away and ask the students to act out the state of matter that I call out, as an assessment of understanding.

Following the demonstration students should make notes of their understanding, either as a whole class discussion and brainstorm or individually.

Follow up discussion questions:

• Why is it important that we understand how molecules move in the 3 states of matter? How will it affect our understanding of the world?
• How will it inform our hypotheses when we conduct experiments in the future?

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