Students in Mrs. Boresi’s fifth grade class at Coal City Intermediate School have been studying matter and the law of conservation.
The class created their own lava lamps by mixing water, food coloring, and vegetable oil together. Then they added tablets to make their lava lamps bubble. The tablets caused a chemical reaction producing carbon dioxide gas. The students sealed their lava lamps with a balloon to trap the gas. As the gas rose, it dragged droplets of colored water with it. Eventually, the droplets fell back down. This happened over and over, making it look like a lava lamp.
The students weighed their materials before the chemical reaction occurred and after. The weight of their lava lamps stayed the same thanks to the law of conservation of matter.