In Term 2 Science our Year 2 class conducted many investigations. One of the most exciting, and favourite, was to create a lava lamp.
We explored how liquids behave as mixtures with different additives. Our hands-on, shared experiences for creating mixtures allowed us to observe, record and report our observations of the reactions. It was so exciting when we saw our lava lamp mixtures in action that we videoed it!
When we were doing our lava lamps our classroom was really noisy! We could hear squeals of delight and surprise from all around the classroom as we saw what was happening to the mixtures in our lamps. We had no idea making mixtures could be so much fun!
‘Look, look, there are tiny drops in there!’ – Annabel L
‘There’s different colours in there… its mixing!’ – Hannah
‘The drops are going up and then down, it’s all mixing, round and round!’ – Lucca
‘Oooh… there are tiny little bubbles, look they’re up and down…” – Elijah
‘They look globby and green… like a giant slug… yuk! And they’re still moving around!’ – Asher
We then created a procedural text outlining ‘How to make a Lava Lamp’. We wrote up each step and drew labelled diagrams for each.
This activity allowed the Year 2 students to continue to develop their understanding of Chemical Science, Science as a Human Endeavour and the use of Science Inquiry skills. Students enjoyed exploring mixtures, becoming aware that they surround us and form an important part of everyday life in products such as glue, paint, medicines, foods, cleaning agents, fuels and so much more.
To further extend learning, students completed a self-assessment. They were asked to reflect on how well they had undertaken and documented their investigation. Students’ feedback gave them an opportunity to view their perspective of their effort and completed task. These processes gave students an opportunity to develop self-awareness, critical review skills such as metacognition (thinking about thinking), as well as greater agency and control of their own learning.
Biblical Thread – ‘Pondering Creation’: Students praise God, responding to and reflecting Him in understanding the world He has created and how it works. Through the study of chemical science, we can marvel at the power and creativity of God and grow in awareness of the impact of chemistry on the world around us.
