QR Challenge: Science & Technology Lava Lamp

Created using the ClassTools QR Treasure Hunt Generator

Teacher Notes

A. Prior to the lesson:

1. Arrange students into groups. Each group needs at least ONE person who has a mobile device.

2. If their phone camera doesn't automatically detect and decode QR codes, ask students to

• Download a QR reader (e.g. I-Nigma | NeoReader | Kaywa) onto their mobile devices
• Bring these devices into the lesson.

3. Print out the QR codes.

4. Cut them out and place them around your class / school.

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B. The lesson:

1. Give each group a clipboard and a piece of paper so they can write down the decoded questions and their answers to them.

2. Explain to the students that the codes are hidden around the school. Each team will get ONE point for each question they correctly decode and copy down onto their sheet, and a further TWO points if they can then provide the correct answer and write this down underneath the question.

3. Away they go! The winner is the first team to return with the most correct answers in the time available. This could be within a lesson, or during a lunchbreak, or even over several days!

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C. TIPS / OTHER IDEAS

4. A detailed case study in how to set up a successful QR Scavenger Hunt using this tool can be found here.

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Questions / Answers (teacher reference)

Question	Answer
1. We are going to make a lava lamp using oil and water. Oil and water are insoluble in one another. What does it mean that they are insoluble? What clues tell you they are insoluble? When you know the answer, see Michelle.	Insoluble: they don't mix together. Clues: Water forms blobs in the oil.
2. Density plays a big part in our lava lamp. One of our main ingredients is more DENSE than the other. Do you know which is more dense? When you know the answer, see Michelle. You must be able to tell her what visual proof you have that one is more dense	water is more dense, oil is less dense. Water "sinks" and oil "floats" (think of oil spills). Denser items sink, less dense items float. You have earned your first item! Each person gets a bottle with lid. To earn your next items, you must do the experiment Michelle has waiting for you
3. WHY did the food coloring form blobs in the oil, but not form blobs in the water? Why did the coloring react differently when poked with a pencil? See Michelle when you have the answer. You do't have to be right, you just need to show good scientific thinking! If you show good thinking, you will earn more parts to your lava lamp!	Food coloring is mostly made of water, and water and oil don't mix. Even if you stir them, the oil separates and forms a layer on top of the water. So when you add food coloring to the cup that has water and oil, each drop is coated with oil. That is why the drops sit in the oil layer. The oil is like a raft that helps the food coloring float. If you poke a drop with a pencil, the oil layer is broken. Then the food coloring mixes with the water and makes a cool design.
4. Talk to Michelle about how the alkaseltzer tablets might help your lava lamp. Think about the experiment we did last week with the balloon... that is your big clue! You don't need to be right, just thinking scientifically. Earn your tablets!	The Alka-Seltzer tablet reacts with the water to make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles attach themselves to the blobs of colored water and cause them to float to the surface. When the bubbles pop, the color blobs sink back to the bottom of the bottle.
5. What actually happened when you added the tablets? Relate this scientifically!	The Alka-Seltzer tablet reacts with the water to make tiny bubbles of carbon dioxide gas. These bubbles attach themselves to the blobs of colored water and cause them to float to the surface. When the bubbles pop, the color blobs sink back to the bottom of the bottle.

 

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