Science Fair - Presentation Script
Zeng Yan:
Good morning (Xin Qi raises ‘hi’ banner) to all my fellow friends and
our panel of judges! I am Zeng Yan from Year 7 and these are my
team members, Enrique, Xin Qi and Chloe. Welcome to our booth
titled ‘I’m On Fire’ and today we’re demonstrating the combustion
of foam on hand. (Xin Qi lowers the banner) Without further ado,
let’s begin our fiery chemistry demonstration now!
Enrique:
Firstly, we need to pour some water until it fills half of the bucket.
(wait) Then, add three or four squirts of liquid soap into the bucket
and stir it with a spoon. (wait) Next, we will pass some flammable
butane gas into the water, until a sufficient amount of thick foam
forms. (wait) Then, wet your hand with water, hold a little foam on
it, and raise it above your hair and away from the remaining foam in
the bucket to prevent it from catching fire. Finally, bring a lighter
up to the foam and ignite it, just like this.
Zeng Yan:
Wow, this really looks like something straight out of a Harry
Potter movie! Would anyone else from the crowd like to try? Or
our beloved judges, would any of you like to try?
(Maximum 2 students or judges come up to try…)
Zeng Yan:
Now, moving on to the explanation (Chloe raises ‘why’ banner), you
might wonder, how can foam ignite with fire? And how can the fire
not burn the hand?
Does anyone from the crowd know?
(Choose 3 people maximum)
(If they’re correct, say: Oh yes, you are right.)
(If they’re wrong, say: Um, I don’t think so but good try!)
Then, continue with:
Actually, the foam ignites with fire because of the flammable gas
inside the bubbles. The butane gas that we passed into the solution
is a highly flammable gas used in cigarette lighters. If it is passed
through the water, a foam forms, with bubbles filled with the
flammable gas. (Chloe lowers the banner)
Enrique:
Chloe, the foam bubbles don’t pop easily, but why?
Chloe:
Oh, they don’t pop easily because the liquid soap increases the
surface tension and makes it stronger. And when the lighter moves
towards the soap bubbles, the gas in them heats up and starts to
burn. The butane gas reacts swiftly with oxygen, forming water
and carbon dioxide. Then, the gas burns out quickly. But Zeng
Yan, which chemical reaction is involved in this?
Zeng Yan:
This chemical reaction is exothermic, which means that energy is
released. In this chemical reaction, radiant (Chloe raises the picture
banner) energy and thermal (Chloe flips the banner) energy is released
(Chloe lowers the banner). But why does the fire not burn the
experimenter’s hand? This is because wetting our hands with water
helps us to avoid burns. The water in the bubbles and the water on
your hand absorbs the heat from the fire instead.
Xin Qi:
Last but not least, the safety precautions we should take is to make
sure that your hand is wet to avoid burns and ready a
fire-extinguisher or a bucket of water.
Zeng Yan & Xin Qi:
(Chloe & Enrique raise the ‘thank you’ banner) Yes, this is the end of our
presentation and thank you for listening! (Both lowers banner)
(Question & answer session if the judges want to)
(Clean up and prepare for result)
*Underlined: the word where Xin Qi and Chloe has to raise the cardboard
word or picture up
-End-
