Lava Lamp Experiment

The boys school holds a science fair each year for the 3rd grade to 8th grade.  So Cole being in 3rd grade this would be his first year doing a science fair.  I asked him what he wanted to do, I thought a volcano would be cool.  He liked the Lava Lamp the best.  So we got to work on his visual board, adding all our required items.  We spent a whole weekend making this just perfect.  I took pictures of him doing the experiment and we thought it looked wonderful.  

After making the board and the doing the experiment, the kids then had to stand in front of a board of high school kids telling about their project and what they did.  They picked the top 4 kids from each grade.  We had our hopes up and really thought we did an amazing job, sadly Cole did not make the top 4 in 3rd grade.  I could just see his heart drop and tears well up in his eyes.  I gave him a huge hug and let him know he was a winner in my book.  Rick and I took him out for ice cream.  

What you Need:

• A clean 1 liter clear soda bottle
• 3/4 cup of water
• Vegetable Oil
• Fizzing tablets (such as Alka Seltzer)
• Food coloring

1. Pour the water into the bottle.

2. Use a measuring cup or funnel to slowly pour the vegetable oil into the bottle until it's almost full. You may have to wait a few minutes for the oil and water separate.3. Add 10 drops of food coloring to the bottle (we like red, but any color will look great.) The drops will pass through the oil and then mix with the water below. 
4. Break a seltzer tablet in half and drop the half tablet into the bottle. Watch it sink to the bottom and let the blobby greatness begin!

5. To keep the effect going, just add another tablet piece. For a true lava lamp effect, shine a flashlight through the bottom of the bottle.

So we didn't win but I still think this was a pretty cool experiment and our board was the best (even in my humble opinion).  For the 3rd grade his was the most detailed.  Looking at the other kids projects, it looks like ours may have been too simple.  Next year I think we have to work with worms or something :).