In school-age 3, children worked together with the educator to make an “almost” unpoppable bubble mix and used straws or their own handmade pipe cleaner bubble wands that they made last week to make bubbles. The bubble mix was made using specific proportions of water, sugar and dish soap. As we were making the mix, Amilia asked how the sugar helps in this solution which led us to talking about the science behind bubbles and Eliora explained how sugar can decrease the rate of water evaporation of water, thus making the bubbles to last longer. Everyone contributed in preparing the solution as they helped measure the amount of sugar, water and dish soap required. Amilia and Eliora got right onto trying to make the biggest bubble while Fred was more focused on making a caterpillar with a lot of bubbles in a line. Ignacio in the start was having a tough time making a bubble because he was too eager and was blowing in a harsh way. We practiced together as I blew bubbles with him to show him the technique and he finally caught onto it, helping his peers make bigger bubbles after. They all decided to cover the whole table with a layer of soapy water and cover the whole table with bubbles. Fred at the end suggested that this should be added as an Olympic sport and be called “Biggest Bubble blowing sport” and it seemed like everyone liked the sound of it. Such STEM activities help foster inquiry-based learning which is a great way to provoke curiosity in children and also answer their questions at the same time. Open-ended, STEM-focused activities cultivate creativity by motivating students to use their own imagination and resources to interpret the situation. Not only this but, STEM learning also integrates and applies concepts, processes, and ways of thinking associated with these subjects to design solutions to real-world problems.
