(lively upbeat music) (birds chirping) - Hello, I'm Ashley Payton, the Early Learning Specialist for GPB Education.

And welcome to Camp GPB.

So I have a question for you.

What's something that's round, it could be big or small, and you could see it, say in dishwater, in a boiling pot, in a pool, a lake or a stream?

I'll give you a hint.

It starts with a B.

(thoughtful music) (bubbles popping) Now I don't know about you, but I just love blowing bubbles.

But I've often wondered, what exactly are bubbles made of and how are they formed?

Have you ever wondered that?

I know I'm not the only one.

Well, I did some research, and I learned that bubbles are small, round bodies of gas that is surrounded by a thin liquid film.

In other words, a small, round ball of gas surrounded and trapped inside of liquid.

There's different examples of bubbles.

There's bubbles that we see in soap.

There's also bubbles in carbonated drinks like soda and pop.

Today, we're investigating bubbles.

And we're gonna conduct a science experiment using household items in the PBS kids science inquiry design process.

Now the science inquiry design process is five steps that we're gonna use the guidance through our experiment.

Step one is ask a question.

Step two is make a prediction and plan.

Step three is to watch and observe closely.

Step four is to collect data.

And last but not least, step five is to draw conclusions.

Well, let's get started.

Now the first thing we're gonna do is gather our supplies.

So what you're gonna need today is a small mixing bowl with room temperature water, you're going to need dish detergent, corn syrup, a Popsicle stick to mix our mixture.

Now you don't have to use a Popsicle stick if you have a spoon or straw, or whatever else is available to you to mix this mixture, you can use that.

And last but not least, we are going to be using these pipe cleaners to create our bubble wand.

Now I'm using four, but if you have less than that, maybe two, two will do.

But in order to make our bubble wand as durable as possible, I'm using four pipe cleaners.

So we are using the PBS kids science inquiry design process.

And the first part of that process that process.

Step one, which is ask a question.

The question is what is driving you through the entire experiment?

Well, our question today is, will this liquid mixture form bubbles?

That's the entire reason why we're doing this experiment.

That's our question.

The next thing we're going to do is make a prediction.

A prediction is making a guess based upon what you know.

If you've ever used bubble solution before, you know it's really sticky.

So I'm gonna make the prediction that this mixture will create bubbles.

The next step, which is step three, to make a plan.

So our plan today is to add these solutions together.

The dish detergent, the corn syrup, and the room temperature water.

And we're gonna stir it up.

And then we're gonna use our bubble wand and dip it into the mixture.

And then step four, which is to observe.

So we're gonna watch and look closely to see what the mixture look like, what the mixture is doing.

And then we're gonna collect data, which I'm collecting data by recording this video and walking through the steps.

But you can also get a science journal.

You can get a piece of notebook paper and you can just write down each step in the process.

What are you observing?

Remember, observe means to look with your eyes, feel with your hands.

You want to look and see and feel what the solution feels like.

What does it look like?

Does it look like bubbles are forming?

We want to use all our senses to look at this project.

And then the last thing, which is draw a conclusion, which means to actually say what happens.

So we're gonna compare our prediction to what actually happens.

So let's get started.

So the first step we're gonna do is we are going to make our bubble wand.

So the way that I make the bubble wand is I take two pieces of pipe cleaner and I roll them together.

Just to make it kind of strong.

These two pieces.

And then I make a circle and then I tie it under and twist it.

So you can make your bubble wand is big or large or small as you want.

So I want about a medium size.

And then you're gonna twist the remaining pipe cleaner.

And so what I do is I take those other two and I wrap them around the stem of the wand just to make our wand longer and durable.

Remember, this will work if you only have two pipe cleaners, but if you want to make your wand longer, a little bit more durable, adding a couple of more or more than that will help.

So now we have our bubble wand.

So remember, we're twisting it together.

And then I made, not a medium sized one.

So now we are going to add our mixture together.

So I'm going to take the dish detergent and remember, we're making observations.

So I want you to pay attention to what is happening to this solution as we mix it together.

So now it's water in.

Now I'm adding dish detergent.

So friends, are you observing what's going on?

The dish detergent is pretty much sitting at the bottom.

I'm gonna add some more.

Now that I have the discharges inside of the water, I am going to take the corn syrup and add corn syrup as well.

Now friends, I'm making observations.

As I add more things into the water, the water begins to rise.

So it looks like the dish detergent and the corn syrup is sitting at the bottom of the bowl and the water is rising to the top.

An explanation for that means that these liquid forms are a whole lot more dense.

The molecules are more tightly packed together.

So they tend to sink because they're heavier.

All right, friends, I'm gonna pour just a little bit more dish detergent.

Now we are going to take our Popsicle stick and mix our solution together.

Now friends, I'm observing from what I'm feeling.

I'm using my hands as my senses, and I'm observing that this mixture feels very thick.

Now we know water's really thin, but when we mix all these solutions together, the water becomes very, very thick.

So friends, are you paying attention to what's happening in the bowl?

What are you observing?

What do you see?

I think you see what I see.

Bubbles.

Bubbles are already forming inside of our bowl.

Oh, friends, this is really, really cool.

Wow.

So once you feel like it's good and mixed together, which I think now it is.

Now everything is mixed together.

So the corn syrup and the detergent is not sitting at the bottom of the bowl, but it's actually well mixed with the water.

So everything is blending together.

So friends, I'm already seeing bubbles, but we also want to see if we can create big bubbles using our bubble wand.

So here's the test, friends.

Remember, we're collecting data.

So as you're observing things, you can write them down.

You can draw them out, but we want to collect data.

So the last step of the process is to take our wand and dip it in the solution.

All right, friends, I'm seeing bubbles.

Let's see if I can blow out a bubble.

Oh, my goodness, friends.

Did you see that bubble?

Wow.

We are making bubbles.

Let's try again.

I'm gonna hold the wand, submerge it under the water.

Now I'm gonna take a blow.

Oh, my goodness, friends, we have bubbles.

Friends, the last step of this process is draw conclusions.

So what happened?

What happened when we mixed all of our solutions together and made this new mixture?

What happened?

It formed bubbles.

We have bubbles all alongside of the bowl and we also was able to use our DIY made bubbled wand to make bubbles.

In conclusion, we made a prediction that if we mixed the corn syrup, the dish detergent and the room temperature water together, that it would make bubbles.

And guess what?

Our prediction was right.

Give yourselves a round of applause.

(people clapping) Now we'd like to see you try this experiment at home.

And of course, share pictures, share videos.

You can email them to us, share them on social media, but we can't wait to see what your experiment looks like.

As always, thanks for joining us at Camp GPB.

And until next time, see you later.

(soft music)