Olympic Flame in a Bottle Explore chemistry as you create a mixture of water, oil, and food coloring that looks like an Olympic flame.

Then, learn about the importance of fire for ancient Olympics in Greece and modern Olympics today!

TEKS: SCI 3.5 D: The student is expected to explore and recognize that a mixture is created when two materials are combined such as gravel and sand or metal and plastic paperclips. SCI 4.5 B: The student is expected to compare and contrast a variety of mixtures, including solutions. SCI 5.5 A: The student is expected to classify matter based on measurable, testable, and observable physical properties, including mass, magnetism, physical state (solid, liquid, and gas), relative density (sinking and floating using water as a reference point), solubility in water, and the ability to conduct or insulate thermal energy or electric energy. SCI 5.5 C: The student is expected to identify changes that can occur in the physical properties of the ingredients of solutions such as dissolving salt in water or adding lemon juice to water.

Materials: - Empty plastic bottle - Food coloring - Fork - Funnel (optional) - Small bowl - Tablespoon - Vegetable or canola oil

Experiment/How To: 1. Place 4 tablespoons of vegetable or canola oil into a small bowl. 2. Decide what colors of food coloring you want to use for your Olympic flame. Orange, yellow, and red

are great colors for representing fire! 3. Add 3-5 drops of each color of food coloring to the oil. 4. Lightly stir the mixture of oil and food coloring drops with a fork.

5. Fill the plastic water bottle about ¾ full with warm water. 6. Carefully pour the oil and food coloring mixture into the water bottle. Use a funnel to help prevent a

mess. 7. Watch what happens inside the bottle!

STEM Connection: What happened after you poured the oil and food coloring mixture into the warm water? You may have noticed that the oil mixture sat on top of the water. This is because oil is hydrophobic and less dense than water. Things that are hydrophobic do not like to mix with water, and things that are less dense than water float. The food coloring droplets mixed throughout the oil are not hydrophobic and are denser than oil. This caused them to separate from the oil and drift down into the water. Once the food coloring droplets hit the water they dissolved and made swirls of all different colors! These swirls represent the flickering fire of an Olympic flame. The first recorded Olympic games were in Ancient Greece in 776 B.C. That is almost 3000 years ago! They took place every four years in the town of Olympia and featured athletic, speech, and music competitions, theater performances, and ceremonies to honor the Greek gods. One of the most important things that happened during the games was the lighting of the Olympic flame in Olympia. The Greeks considered fire to be a divine element, and the flame burned throughout the games. Today’s Olympic Games still feature this special Olympic flame! A torch is lit in Olympia, Greece, and the flame from this torch travels in a relay to the country where the Olympics are being held that year. This Olympic torch relay carries the Olympic flame for thousands of miles and across many different countries!

Career: Chemists study the properties of matter. They may specialize in a specific area of chemistry such as organic chemistry or physical chemistry. These scientists must understand the structure, properties, and compositions of various substances. They study the dynamics of systems and processes at a molecular level.

Resources: https://jdaniel4smom.com/2018/02/stem-activity-olympic-flame-bottle.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=pinterest&utm_campaign=tailwind_tribes&utm_content=tribes&utm_term=298084948_8371636_143004 https://www.scholastic.com/teachers/articles/teaching-content/history-olympic-games/

https://www.olympic.org/olympic-torch-relay