BUBBLE MAGIC

BUBBLE MAGIC
MASTER TEACHER Jill Scott
GRADE(S) PRESCHOOL
OVERVIEW
The students will be able to see bubbles of all sizes and shapes. They will be able to predict which objects will make bubbles and which objects will not. The students will also learn different ways to make bubbles as well as experience some bubble activities on the internet.
ETV SERIES
Preschool Power # 213 Ponies and Piñatas
3-2-1 Classroom Contact: # 123 Bubble-ology
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
Students will be able to:
* create bubbles using a variety of materials.
* communicate that an object must have a hole to make a bubble.
* follow directions to produce a product.
* work cooperatively in a group.
* experiment with refracting light using prisms.
* participate in exploring the internet for information about bubbles.
* sort objects by one characteristic.
* Compare and contrast bubbles by size, shape, and durability.
MATERIALS
Have one of each of the following supplies for each group of 4 students:
Bowl
Pitcher of water
Measuring cup
Tablespoon
1 jar of Joy dishwashing detergent
1 pipe cleaner per student
Glycerin - 1 small bottle
eye dropper
Can – such as a Pringle chip can with both ends cut out
Spatula with holes
Spatula without holes
Pipe connector
Spoon with holes
Spoon without holes
Thread spool
Solid marble
Bubble mix - 1 cup water, 2 tablespoons   Joy, 2 drops glycerin
blue paper – (one per child)
colored chalk (several pieces per child)
CENTER MATERIALS
Prisms
Lab coats (2)
Measuring cup (2)
Tablespoons (2)
Joy - 1 bottle
Objects for wands (see above)
Blank books -20
Sticky shapes – 100 different shapes
Markers – variety
Foam circles – 4 per child
Shallow pan
Thin paper for printing
Session 1
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Show the student a bottle of Joy dishwashing detergent, a bowl, a measuring cup, a tablespoon, and a bottle of glycerin. Ask the students if they know what we can do with these items. Accept all answers. (Blow bubbles)
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give the students a specific responsibility for viewing, explain to the students that they are going to see a video that uses these objects for a special activity. Tell the students that they will be able to see which of the students were correct in their answers.
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Start the video Piñatas and Ponies where the cat puppet says, “Here is something else that you can learn to do by yourself.” The next picture is that of a boy and he says, “Did you know you can make your own bubble mix?” Pause the video at this point. Ask the students who was right. Now to give an additional focus for viewing say, “Now we will see how the boy is going to make the bubble mix. Then we will try and make our own.” Resume the video. Stop the video when you see the little boy blowing bubbles with the pipe cleaner wand and he says, “Anything with a hole can make a bubble.” Say, “Now let’s see if we can follow the directions that the boy is doing and make our own bubble mix.” Divide the children into groups of four. Have enough supplies for each group. Have each group select one student to measure, one student to pour, and one student to stir, and one student to listen carefully and direct the students. Rewind the video to where the boy says, “Did you know you can make your own bubble mix?.” Instruct the students to follow the directions on the video very carefully. Begin the video. Pause the video after the boy says, “One cup of water.”   Allow time for the students to measure and pour the water. Resume the video. Pause the video where the boy says, “Two tablespoons of dishwashing soap” and you see him measuring the soap. Allow time for students to measure and pour the soap. Instruct the stirrers to be ready to do what the boy is doing. Resume the video. Stop the video when he says, “Your mom can add a few drops of glycerin.” Go around and add the glycerin to each bowl of water. Show the students how to take the pipe cleaner and form a bubble wand and allow each child to make their own bubble wand. Resume the video. Stop the video when the boy is blowing the bubbles. Allow the children to blow a few bubbles at their stations.
POST – VIEWING ACTIVITY
Take the children with their bubble wands and bubble mix outdoors. Allow the children to experiment with their mix and their bubble wands.
Session 2
PRE – VIEWING ACTIVITY
Have a variety of materials such as a spool, spatula with slots, a spatula without slots, a spoon, a slotted spoon, a can, plastic holder for cans of soda, a plastic tray, and a pipe fitting on a tray. Ask the students which of these items do you think will make bubbles. Take a piece of poster board and divide it down the middle. On one side draw a picture of bubbles and on the other side draw the same picture with a line through it. Have the children sort the objects as to ones that can make bubbles and ones that can not make bubbles.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
Explain to the students that they are going to watch a video of a little boy using some of the objects that we just sorted. To give the students a specific responsibility for viewing, tell the students to see if they can figure out which of these objects the little boy uses and what he does with them.
VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Begin viewing the video Piñatas and Ponies where the little boy is blowing bubbles with a pipe cleaner wand and he says, “Anything with a hole can make a bubble.” Pause the video after the little boy uses the can to make bubbles. Ask the children if we have that object on our chart. Have the children decide if it can make bubbles or not, and if it was placed on the correct side of the chart. If the can needs to be moved, have a child move it. Resume the video and use this same technique after each object that the boy uses in the video. (can, spatula with holes, pipe connector, spoon with holes, thread spool) Stop the video when you see the boy using the spool to make bubbles and he says, “There’s more than one way to make a bubble.”
POST – VIEWING ACTIVITIES
Have the children look at the chart and see how many objects they have that were in the video that made bubbles. Have them count each side of the chart. Have the children decide which side has more objects. Ask the children, “Why did these objects make bubbles?” (because they have holes) “Why did these objects not make bubbles?” (because they do not have holes). Allow the children to take the objects and the bubble mix outdoors to experiment with bubble making. Include some commercial bubble wands and string bubble makers. As the children are experimenting, have them notice the shape and color of the bubbles.
Session Three
PRE-VIEWING ACTIVITY
Ask the children to describe all of the bubbles that they made when they were playing with their bubble mix out doors. Encourage the children to use many different adjectives that relate size, shape, and durability. Write these descriptions on a large sheet of chart paper. Draw pictures of some of the bubbles as the children describe them.   Ask the students if they would like to take a trip to a bubble festival   and meet a bubbleologist.
FOCUS FOR VIEWING
To give the students a specific responsibility for viewing, tell the students to watch the video as they take a magic trip to a bubble festival in Philadelphia and see if they can find any bubbles that match the ones they made.
VIEWING ACTIVITY
Start video 3-2-1 Classroom Contact #123 where you see Hopi and Todd walking on a crowded street and the announcer says, “Where can you find out more about bubbles than at a bubble festival?’ Stop the video where you see the bubbleologist make 2 bubbles around 2 children and says, “This is what you call a double bubble.”   Using the same technique as in the pre-viewing activity, have the students describe the bubbles they saw in the video. Put the chart up next to the first chart and see if there are any descriptors that are the same. Use this time to match similar words visually. They can also match the pictures that the teacher has drawn. Highlight the words that appear on both charts. Rewind the video to where we started the video in this section (Hopi and Todd are walking down the street and the announcer says “Where can you find out more about bubbles than at a bubble festival?”) To provide an additional focus for viewing tell the children that they are going to draw their own bubbles. Encourage the children to look at the bubbles they see in the video and think of what the bubbles they will draw would look like. Start the video. Have the children view the video again, but this time turn off the sound. Let the children enjoy the visual aspects of the bubbles. When you see the two children in the “double bubble” Stop the video.
POST VIEWING ACTIVITY
Discuss all of the different bubbles that were in the video again. Provide blue paper and colored chalk for each child. Have the children draw bubbles that they made outside, bubbles they say in the video, or bubbles from their imagination.
ACTION PLAN
Have the students develop questions about bubbles to ask Professor Bubble. The students can post these questions on the internet at The BubbleSphere, http://www.bubbles.org and check periodically for the answers.
Students can also research the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest bubble ever made.
EXTENSIONS
After the children have experimented with the objects and bubble making have them gather around the computer or television if you are using a focus box and together search the internet for bubbles. The site 'BubbleSphere', http://www.bubbles.org is an excellent starting spot. The children can see many different sizes of bubbles.
The Bubble Professor will also explain how bubbles get their color by refracting light. This can be reinforced in the science center with prisms. Another excellent site is 'Bubble Geometry, Experimenting with Bubbles', http://www.smm.org/sln/tf/b/bubblegeometry/bubblegeometry.html where
the students can visit the Science Museum of Minnesota and their bubble area.
Further extend the lesson on bubbles through your centers.
Art Center
Provide sticky circles, ellipses, ovals, and other shapes to make bubble collages. Make soap prints. Allow the children to mix Joy and water in a shallow pan with an egg beater until there many bubbles. Add a few drops of glycerin. Using thin paper, have the children place the paper on top of the bubbles for them to stain the paper. The students can use markers to add characteristics to their bubble prints. The internet site 'Bubble Geometry, Experimenting with Bubbles', http://www.smm.org/sln/tf/b/bubblegeometry/bubblegeometry.html has good directions and examples of this.
Writing Center
Copy pages of Mercer Mayer’s Bubble Bubble and have the children dictate or write their own descriptions of these pages.
Provide blank books in bubble shapes for the children to draw and write their own bubble adventure.
Library Center
Use the books from the bibliography.
Housekeeping/ Dramatic Play Center
Provide lab coats for the children to pretend to be Professor Bubble. Have measuring cups, spoons, and bowls for the Professor to pretend to develop a new bubble mix.
Science Center
Have prisms available for the children to experiment with refracting light.
Block Center
Use round foam blocks to add to your regular blocks to be the bubbles. The students could use these to form bubble patterns using other blocks. Provide circular discs for stringing.
Water Center
Provide a variety of objects for bubble making. Have the students measure and mix the bubble mix in the water table fresh each day.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bubbles by Bernie Zubrowksi
Little, Brown 1979
Soap Bubbles Magic by Finn Jon
George Proust, Paris
Bubble Bubble by Mercer Mayer
Four Winds Press, 1973
INTERNET
You can help the students use the search engine Yahooligans! to search the topic of bubbles. They may find several listings. Here are a few that to enjoy.
Bubble Geometry
http://www.smm.org/sln/tf/b/bubblegeometry/bubblegeometry.html
Bubble Professor -- This site includes several games that you can play with your students that are made up of bubbles. It has a lot of factual information as well as entertainment.
http://www.bubbles.org
The Disney Company -- From this site you can use their search engine to fine Bubbles. The family.com site has a magazine about bubbles that has several activities to do.
http://family.go.com/

Updated: April 01, 2008