Splash and Bubble

Splash and bubble EYFS, KS1 and lower KS2 

Duration 30 minutes 

This bubbling and explosive show engages students with liquids, gases and ideas about volume and making measurements. Watch as we make water disappear and seem to defy gravity with floating bubbles.

Key words

Materials, Bubbles, Solid, Liquid, Gas, Volume, Floating, Sinking.

Learning objectives

Communicate observations and use them to make suggestions for changing experiments.

Think about familiar phenomena in new ways.

Consider the nature and behaviour of materials and their states (solid, liquid, gas).

Recognise that volume is a way of measuring fluid—whether a gas or a liquid.

Recognise that water has some specific properties.

Learn about the nature and formation of bubbles.

Appreciate that bubbles contain a gas, but that this is not always the same, depending on how they are made.

That bubbles can sink or float, depending on what is inside them.

Content

Enjoy the spectacle of bubbles made with air, dry ice, and hydrogen.

Find out how nappies appear to make wee disappear.

Explore simple concepts of volume.

Think about the way bubbles move and how this can be manipulated.

Observe a range of highly visual demonstrations using a variety of materials.

Contribute ideas to changing the experiments and therefore the outcome.

Experience hydrogen bubbles exploding dramatically.

Curriculum links

Year 1: Everyday materials

Identify and name a variety of everyday materials.

Describe the simple physical properties of a variety of everyday materials.

Compare everyday materials on the basis of their physical properties.

Year 4: States of matter

Compare and group materials together depending on whether they are solids, liquids or gases.

Potential hazards and accessibility

Student volunteers are given goggles, but bubble mixture in students’ eyes may cause irritation.

Possible allergic reactions to detergents (washing up liquid).

Hydrogen bubbles ignited at the end of the show can make quite a loud bang.