Diana Verhaeghe
The Very Thirsty Candle
Materials:
Candle (preferably a votive)
Shallow bowl of water
Match
Jar with wide opening
Safety Considerations:
Make sure that the teacher is the one in charge of the matches and lighting the
candle, and that the matches aren’t left lying around after the experiment.
Have the students sit far enough away that they can’t reach out and touch the glass
jar.
Relevance to the Curriculum:
SLOs:
Grade 5, Cluster 2: Properties of and Changes in Substances:
5-2-04: recognize that matter is anything that has mass/weight and takes up space.
5-2-05: identify properties of the three states of matter.
Cluster 0:
Scientific Inquiry:
5-0-1a – (initiating): formulate, with guidance, specific questions that lead to
investigations.
5-0-3a (planning): formulate with guidance, a prediction/hypothesis that identifies a
cause and effect relationship.
5-0-5a (observing, measuring, and recording): make observations that are relevant to
a specific question.
Design Process:
5-0-1c (initiating): identify practical problems to solve eg. How can I determine the
mass of air?
GOs:
Diana Verhaeghe
D3: understand the properties and structures of matter as well as various common
manifestations and applications of the actions and interactions of matter.
C2: demonstrate appropriate scientific inquiry skills while seeking answers to
questions.
Teaching Sequence:
Start by talking about the different states of matter. Have the materials for the
experiment out and ask the students to classify each into a state of matter. Chances are
they won’t think of air. Ask, “What about the state gas? Can you give me an example of
a gas in the room right now?”. Brainstorm until someone comes up with air or oxygen.
Ask the students how much room air takes up. Can they tell where the air is? How
do they know this? Can they see it or feel it? How is air different from a solid or a liquid?
How much room does air take up? If we compressed all the air in the room what would
its volume or mass be? Ask the students if they think you can show them how much
room oxygen takes up. Show them the jar and tell them that you can show them how
much oxygen is in the jar by using a candle and water. Talk with the students about fire
and what fire needs to survive and what happens when it doesn’t have any oxygen.
Explain that as the candle runs out of oxygen the fire starts to extinguish and it starts to
get dry and becomes parched and craves water, just like humans do. As you are telling
this to the students begin the experiment, and as you start to put the jar over the candle
have the students be close enough to see the candle fading and the water level rising in
the jar. Continue to explain that the candle is becoming increasingly thirsty and when it
goes out note that the water level in the jar rises to its highest point.
At this point you can ask the students, “was the candle really thirsty?” When the
students say “no”, ask them to explain their reasoning for why the water level rose in the
jar. At this point the students could work in groups to brainstorm ideas and then share
them with the whole class.
After sufficient time to brainstorm and share, explain to the students that all
matter, even matter that isn’t visible to the naked eye takes up space. Once the fire from
the candle used up all the oxygen to burn, there was space in the jar. What does water
do in an empty space? It fills it, which is what it did in the jar. Therefore the water in the
jar represents the amount of space that the air would take up if it was compressed.
At this point you would examine more closely the different forms that matter can
take and reiterate that all matter has mass/weight and takes up space. This experiment
Diana Verhaeghe
is an introduction for the unit and should be used to spark interest and give the students
a concrete example that something that they can’t see - air, does have mass and volume
Concluding questions:
In what state of matter is air? Water? The jar?
What is the best way to put out a fire? Why? Would your answer work in a situation
such as a forest fire?
How could you use this experiment to measure the mass or volume of air in the jar?
What would happen if the jar was three times the size? Explain why and draw a
picture your hypothesis.
In a chart compare and contrast the properties of the water, the candle, and the air.
Source:
Holgate, Dr. S.A. & Kerrod, R. (2002). The Way Science Works. New York: DK
Publishing Inc.
