1. Now do it and record observations!
Birthday Candle Mystery
Before
After
beaker 5. 2.
candle
pie pan 6. 4. 1. 3.
water
penny
Observations:
At the very end the water…
Prediction:
I predict that when the candle
is lit…
Now do it and record observations!
TEACHER NOTES below
Materials per group: pinch of clay, small birthday candle, aluminum pie pan, 1 penny, 250mL beaker with ~200mL water in it, paper towel, goggles
Caution: Keep flammables, loose clothing, hair, and hands well away from the flame. Locate all fire safety equipment and be familiar with their operating procedure BEFORE class begins. Comply with all fire codes in your building. Keep matches and lighters out of student reach. Blow out candles as soon as the lesson is over.
Beforehand:
Do yourself a huge favor and practice this demo yourself a few times. Also go through the activity, starting with the blank handout, like your students will. It’s a little extra time, but it will help you communicate the lesson much better!
Decide how you will group students. You can put them in groups of 4’s, each with their own setup of materials. You can also divide your class into 3 large groups, so a class of 30 would be 3 groups of 10. If materials and safety are an issue, you could also do it once as a demo for the class, but the big drawback is that they won’t see as well the big surprise at the end very well. Whatever you do, keep your students sitting down as much as possible.
If you chose to have student groups, have a candle stations around the room so students can light and re-light their candles often to repeat the experiment without leaving their seats. I set a few short round candles on a small sheet of aluminum foil in different spots around the room.
With the excitement of this lesson and fire in the room, also understand that what your students need more than anything today is strong leadership. Without it this lesson won’t go well for you.
Procedure:
Get materials
Set up apparatus as shown in the “Before” diagram above on the ppt, but don’t burn candle yet-
Put blob of clay on bottom of candle, and stand candle in center of pie pan
Pour water from beaker into pie pan
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Why I think this happened:
The reason I think
this happened is because…
Explanation:
candle was lit
air inside heated, expanded
air escaped; (less air inside than before)
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Teacher Notes
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Student Handouts