July 1, 2016 at 4:12 p.m.
Naturalist shares the science of bubbles
Naturalist shares the science of bubbles
By Kayla Thomason-
Children never know what they might experience at the library as musicians, magicians and sometimes animals drop by.
On Wednesday, the visitor of the day was Licia Johnson, a naturalist at the North Lakeland Discovery Center in Manitowish Waters.
Johnson turned the children into little bubble-ologists.
They learned about molecules, states of matter and practiced the art of bubble blowing.
"It's fun to see them get excited about learning new terms," Johnson said. "I always like to introduce new scientific terms into the programs and have them understand something simple but a little bit more about it. I think if they understand something a little more they can appreciate it a little more."
The children made their own bubble solution with a very simple recipe. To make a small batch they mixed 5 ounces of water (distilled is best), 0.5 ounches of dish soap and 10 drops of glycerin.
The children measured out all the ingredients and used pipettes to suck up and drip out the glycerin.
From there they used bendy straws to carefully stir the mixture. The children were taught that if they touch the bubbles with dry fingers they will pop, but if they dip their fingers in the solution they won't.
The children tried to hone their skills by gently blowing to get one big bubble, make a chain of dangling bubbles and connecting their chain with someone else's.
After the initial lesson, everyone went outside for some extra bubble fun.
Using two wooden rods and a loop of string with one side weighted down by a metal washer (thus making a triangle when the rods are held apart) they made basketball-sized or larger bubbles.
Some of the children loved chasing the bubbles and popping them, yelling "again, again" to the one holding the rods.
Ed O'Casey and his daughter, Miriam, enjoyed this station.
"Chasing and popping big bubbles (was probably her favorite part)," O'Casey said.
"(The programs are) very important. That's one of the reasons that we live in town instead of outside of town, because we have her. It's a huge deal for kids to be able to socialize and learn as well."
At another station children used bubbles to create art.
There were two plates set out with bubble solution. Also available was blue and red acrylic paint. The children had to carefully and thoroughly mix the two. They then blew a bunch of bubbles and carefully lowered a heavier weighted paper on top without it touching the solution. Left on the paper was a somewhat marbled looking design.
"It's summertime, it's perfect to be outside, just being creative, doing what they can with it," Johnson said, explaining the art project. "Just being active outside is the goal."
"I like it, it's fun and it's interesting," said Bekah Hansen.
She said bubble art was her favorite station and she also liked learning about science.
Her sister, Lily, also enjoyed the program but her favorite part was blowing the big bubbles.
"It was fun," she said.
Johnson enjoyed her visit with the children.
"I enjoyed coming to this community," she said. "I've never been here to do a program before so I hope to come back again to the library and do more programs."
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
Comments:
You must login to comment.