You will need:
- Four Pipe cleaners
- Strong Bubble mix
- Deep bucket
- Somewhere you can get wet!
Connect pipe cleaners together to form a cube … i.e. 6 sides.
First fold one of the pipe cleaners into a square.
Now fold another of the pipe cleaners into another square and chop one of the other pipe cleaners into 3 parts. Leave one pipe cleaner untouched at this point.
Wind each of the short pipe cleaner pieces onto the corners of the 2 squares made.
Begin to connect the squares together to form the cube.
Finish off the cube with the final pipe cleaner and leave a small amount hanging off the cube to act as a handle. You can straighten up the frame later.
Carefully pour the bubble mix down the sides of the bucket to avoid making small bubbles.
Dip the cube into the bubble mix and carefully withdraw it a couple of times. Can you make a cube-shaped bubble form on the inside of the pipe cleaner frame?
Try making tetrahedron (4 sides), a octahedron (8 sides), and a dodecahedron (12 sides)!
Does the bubble shape match the shape of each frame… why?
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Why Does This Happen?
Bubble films are stretchy… scientists call this ‘stretch’ surface tension. As bubbles are stretchy, they always try to shrink into a sphere shape, minimising surface area.
Dipping the frame into the bubble mix traps air inside the frame. The bubble inside the frame tries to form a sphere but the bubble films connecting to the frames pull on the bubble on the inside. This creates a bubble with the same shape as the frame.
Variable to test
- Try different mixtures of bubble mix
- How big can you make the cube before the bubbles don’t work?
From volume and length through to statistics and trigonometry, the Working Mathematically workshop has your mathematics enrichment covered!
Get in touch with FizzicsEd to find out how we can work with your class.
Working Mathematically
Years 3 to 6
Maximum 30 students
School workshop (NSW only)
90 minutes or Full Day
Online Class Available
STEM Full Day Accelerator - Primary
Designed from real classroom experiences, this modular day helps you create consistently effective science learning that directly address the new curriculum with easily accessible and cost-effective materials.
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