EGG BUSTERS FIVE
by Theresa Farris
April 12, 2010
EGG IN A BOTTLE
Since K/1 students had been working hard at collecting, washing, and labeling the eggs laid by SVCA chickens we decided they also should have a chance to enjoy some “eggs”periments using eggs. We collected the necessary materials: old glass milk bottle, matches, peeled hard-boiled egg, and scrap of paper. We hard-boiled several store bought eggs as well as several SVCA chicken eggs. Since we had a small glass bottle we thought it best to use the smaller SVCA eggs on our first attempt.
I set the egg in the opening of the bottle to demonstrate that the egg would not fit inside the bottle on its own. While K/1 students watched, I lit the paper and quickly dropped it into the bottle. As soon as the paper was in place I took the egg and placed it on the mouth of the bottle. We were all surprised when the egg went "pop" and slipped right into the bottle.
We were so excited that we set the experiment up again to share our success with 2-5 grade students. The best part of this science experiment was the
4-5th grade students had been preparing for the Science State Assessment and understood exactly how it works! Did my K/1 students understand the scientific explanation …. Not exactly, BUT it will be something that they will remember for a long time. Check out the video of our egg in the bottle experiment at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RrCc-bL6MWw
HOW DOES IT WORK?
The burning piece of paper heats the molecules of air in the bottle and causes the molecules to move far away from each other. Some of the heated molecules actually escape out past the egg that is resting on the mouth of the bottle (that’s why the egg wiggles on top of the bottle). When the flame goes out, the molecules of air in the bottle cool down and move closer together. This is what scientists refer to as a partial vacuum. Normally the air outside the bottle would come rushing in to fill the bottle. However, that darn egg is in the way! The “push” or pressure of the air molecules outside the bottle is so great that it literally pushes the egg into the bottle.
