Tapestry of Faith: Love Connects Us: A Program on Living in Unitarian Universalist Covenant for Grades 4-5

Alternate Activity 1: Blowing It Out

Activity time: 5 minutes

Materials for Activity

  • A tea light candle and a tall, cylindrical container (such as an empty salt or oatmeal container) for each team of three or four participants
  • A lighter or matches, and extinguisher

Preparation for Activity

  • Try the experiment on your own so you are familiar with the process.
  • Since this activity uses lit candles, make sure you have a flat, uncluttered surface for each team to set their candles on; enough adult supervision; and a fire extinguisher nearby.

Description of Activity

Form teams of three or four participants. Give each team a tea light candle and a round container. Tell the teams to place the candle directly behind the container. Light the tea light candles. Then, ask the teams to have someone hold the container securely to the work table and then blow out their candle by blowing on the round container instead of the candle.

Use these questions to reflect:

  • Were you surprised by what happened? Why or why not?
  • Why were you able to blow the candle out by blowing on the container? (The blown air flows around the container and meets in the back to blow out the candle.)
  • How does this experiment prove the existence of something (air) which cannot be seen?