Giant Bubbles

Sections

Challenge Areas

Scout Method Elements

SPICES Growth Areas

The Adventure

Have fun making giant bubbles!

Plan

1. Investigate bubbles. What are they and how are they defined? Why are they usually circular? It may help you to investigate bubbles by drawing and labelling the components of a bubble.
2. Investigate the key components of bubbles. What are their properties and how do they affect the properties of bubbles? Why do bubbles appear to have different colours?
3. Bubbles sadly don’t last forever. Investigate why this is.
4. Investigate different bubble mix recipes and choose one to make.
5. Decide what size bubbles that you would like to make. What might affect bubble size?
6. Consider what some of the hazards might be when playing with bubbles, especially large bubbles. Make sure you are aware of these risks before starting the ‘Do’ section.
7. Choose an appropriate location for your bubble making. Consider the possible mess it may make but also factors in nature like wind and heat.
8. Collect the ingredients and equipment you will need for this activity. You will need the following: hot water, dishwashing liquid, glycerine, a tray, and bubble wands (store bought or homemade using string and sticks or string and straws).

Do

1. Make some bubble mixture using a recipe you have found or by gently mixing the following ingredients, keeping in mind that you can make more or less mixture by multiplying or dividing the recipe. The recipe works best if made a few days prior to bubble blowing:
   1. 500 mL of hot water
   2. 250 mL of dishwashing liquid
   3. 6 tablespoons of glycerine
2. Make your giant bubble wands. Try making the following two styles of wands. Both styles of wand are illustrated here. You may want to experiment with different sizes of wand to work out what works best.
   1. Tying some 1-metre-long string and 1.2 metre string to two long sticks
   2. Threading some string between two straws.
3. Gently pour your bubble mixture into a tray.
4. Make some giant bubbles. What is the best technique for forming giant bubbles? Who, in your patrol, can make the biggest or longest lasting bubble?
5. Try different ratios of the ingredients in the bubble mixture to work out what mixture makes the best and longest lasting bubbles.

Review

1. Did your bubbles work as you expected them to? Why or why not? How do they compare to bubbles from shop-bought bubble mixture?
2. What did you enjoy the most from this activity? What did you learn?
3. How do you think you could improve your bubbles by changing either the wand or the mixture? What else could you make the wands out of? What size wand worked best?
4. In our recipe, we use glycerine. What is this and how do you think it effects the bubbles? You may like to try making another recipe without glycerine to see how the bubbles change.

Safety

• Dishwashing liquid can be an irritant to eyes. Care should be taken to avoid eye contact. If dishwashing liquid gets in an individual’s eyes, the eyes should be thoroughly washed with fresh water.
• The giant bubble wands use long pieces of string and, as such, care should be taken to ensure that these are used safely.

Variations

• Normal size bubbles can also be made.
• Have a competition to see who can formulate the best bubble mixture recipe.
• Challenge yourself to catch a bubble or make a non-circular bubble.