Name:

The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle3rd Grade Experiment

The Case:

Your friend, Richie McMillion, has been robbed! While he was out skiing yesterday afternoon, his favorite ship-in-the-bottle was stolen from his private office in his mansion. It is a collector’s item, and worth a lot of money if someone was to sell it on the Internet. Richie needs your help to get it back before something awful happens to it! In the hallway outside of his office, a video surveillance camera caught three people walking into the office during the time the ship was stolen.

The three suspects are:

After hearing their stories, who do you think stole the ship?

Let’s find out if you are right!

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12

Wally Watcher,the gardener.

Johnny Fast-Fingers,the accountant.

Barbra Spotter, the cleaning lady.

1

Data Table:Record the reactions from your Experiments here.

Who stole the Ship-in-the-Bottle?

_____________________________________________________Experiment 4: Testing the Sands What happened when you added the

lemon juice?

Bottle 1

Bottle 2

Which Ship-in-the-Bottle is the real one?

_______________________________________________________Name:

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 2

Suspects

Experiment 1:Ransom Note

What colors did you see?

Experiment 2:Dirt sample

What color did the litmus paper turn?

Experiment 3:Iodine Test

What happened when you added Iodine?

Wally

Johnny

Barbra

Evidence

The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle5th Grade Experiment

The Case:

Your friend, Richie McMillion, has been robbed! While he was out skiing yesterday afternoon, his favorite ship-in-the-bottle was stolen from his private office in his mansion. It is a collector’s item, and worth a lot of money if someone was to sell it on the Internet. Richie needs your help to get it back before something awful happens to it! In the hallway outside of his office, a video surveillance camera caught three people walking into the office during the time the ship was stolen.

The three suspects are:

Here are their stories:

Wally says he didn’t take the ship. His reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because he needed to water the live orchids in Richie’s office. He said that he forgot to water them yesterday, and only remembered today because he was out planting flowers in the garden and all the mud after he watered the flowers reminded him of the orchids.

Johnny says that he didn’t take the ship. His reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because he needed to collect some papers that he had left there by accident at the meeting he and Richie had had the night before. He had been outside giving his dog a bath just before he remembered about the papers, and rushed over to see Richie without even cleaning up. He didn’t find Richie, so he just went in to the office to get the papers anyway because he needed to write a report on them by tomorrow.

Barbra says that she didn’t take the ship, and that her reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because she needed to vacuum the carpets in the office. She said that she had been vacuuming up a salt, lemon juice, and cornstarch mess in the Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12

Wally Watcher,the gardener.

Johnny Fast-Fingers,the accountant.

Barbra Spotter, the cleaning lady.

3

dining room when she remembered that she hadn’t vacuumed the office yet. She went to go vacuum the office after the kitchen mess was cleared up.

Here’s the evidence we’ve found at the crime scene: The thief left a ransom note written on a coffee filter. There was also some dirt left on the floor where the bottle was displayed that was

not there when Richie left his office. The thief must have left it! It looks as if someone stepped in it, but there isn’t enough of a footprint to match up with the suspects. We can use the sample of the dirt for other tests.

Hypothesis: Who do you think stole the ship?

Now let’s help Richie discover who stole his ship-in the bottle using chemistry!

Experiment 1: Ransom Note Chromatography

The criminal used a coffee filter from Richie’s coffee making station and wrote with a marker: I HAVE YOUR SHIP, DO NOT TRY TO LOOK FOR IT!We have taken a pen from each of the suspects to compare with the ransom note.

1. There should be four cups and three pens labeled with the suspects names. 2. Put four spoonfuls of water in each of the four cups.3. Take three strips of filter paper. Now we’ll use Wally as an example. Take the pen

that was confiscated from Wally and make a medium sized dot near the bottom, (but not at the bottom) of the filter paper strip.

4. Put the strip that you colored with Wally’s pen in the cup, with the bottom of the strip barely touching the water. Fold the excess of the strip over the edge of the cup so the paper doesn’t fall in.

5. Repeat this process with Johnny and Barbra’s pens.6. Now repeat step 4 with your strip of the ransom note. Put it in the cup that is

labeled “Evidence”.7. Watch for color changes as the water moves up the strips of paper.8. Write down your observations in your data table.

Is this enough evidence to prove that they committed the crime? Yes or No

Why?

Experiment 2: Testing the pH of the dirt sample.

We’ve collected samples of dirt from each of the areas the suspects said that they were coming from before they entered Richie’s office. We will compare these with the dirt from the crime scene and see which one matches!

Collected Samples:From Barbra- dirt from her vacuum.From Johnny- dirt from where he was giving his dog a bath.Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 4

From Wally- dirt from the flower garden he just planted

1. You should have 4 cups with dirt in them. One cup labeled Wally, one cup labeled Johnny, one cup labeled Barbra, and one cup labeled evidence. 2. Add one or two spoonfuls of water to each cup to make it more muddy and stir. 3. Take four strips of blue litmus paper.4. Test each cup with a strip of litmus paper and see what color it changes. 5. Write down your observations in your data table. *If the blue paper turns red, the dirt is acidic. If the litmus paper turns a darker blue, it is basic. If it stays the same color, it is neutral.

Experiment 3: Iodine TestYou still need more evidence to convict the thief, so you decide to test the Evidence dirt sample with different chemicals to see if any of them cause a reaction. You found that iodine causes a strange reaction to occur.

1. Take the cups with the dirt samples that you used in Experiment 2 and use them for this experiment.

2. Take a pipette and suck up some of the iodine from the test tube. 3. Drop one drop of iodine into the cup labeled Evidence and see what happens.

Record the reaction in your table.4. Now take the pipette full of iodine and put one drop of iodine into each of the

samples of dirt from each of the suspects. 5. Record the reactions in your data table.

Compare data tables and figure out who stole the ship in the bottle and write their name below!

Turns out that __________________________stole the bottle! We know this because their sample of dirt matches the sample of dirt found at the crime scene, and their pen was the same pen used to write the ransom note.

We searched their belongings and found the ship hidden among them! But wait; there are two ships! The thief must have been planning to switch the real ship with the fake ship so we would think that it had been returned and we would stop looking for it. The two ships look exactly alike, so how can we tell which one is the real ship?

Richie has shared some important information about the real ship:The real ship-in-the-bottle was made in Bermuda. It contains white sand from Bermuda, which is one of the reasons why it is so rare and so valuable.

Experiment 4: Testing the sandSand from Bermuda contains calcium carbonate, a salt that will dissolve in a weak acid. The salt is what accounts for the sand’s beautiful white color.

1. Using a spoon, scoop a little of the sand from the cup labeled, “Bottle 1,” into a petri dish.

2. Using a spoon, scoop a little of the sand from the cup labeled, “Bottle 2”.3. Using a pipette, take some lemon cup from the sample cup, and squirt some in

each of the pipettes.4. Write down which sample fizzes and bubbles in your data table.

The sand that fizzes and bubbles is the sand from the real ship-in-the-bottle!

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 5

Data Table:

Record the reactions from your Experiments here.

Who stole the Ship-in-the-Bottle?

Experiment 4: Testing the Sands What happened when you added the lemon juice?

Bottle 1

Bottle 2

Which Ship-in-the-Bottle is the real one?

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 6

Suspects

Experiment 1:Ransom Note

What colors did you see?

Experiment 2:Dirt sample

What color did the litmus paper turn?

Experiment 3:Iodine Test

What happened when you added Iodine?

Wally

Johnny

Barbra

Evidence

You found it! Here’s a letter of thanks from Richie McMillion.

My Dear Friend,

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding my precious ship-in-the-bottle. Your use of chemistry knowledge and skill amazed me to no end! I have decided that knowledge of chemistry is worth pursuing, and I have enrolled in an adult chemistry class at my local college. Thank you for inspiring me and for helping me find the thief. I have fired the culprit and they will have the judge to answer to for their crimes. If I ever have another mystery on my hands, I will surely call upon you again.

Sincerely,

Richie McMillion

Name:

The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle7th-8th Grade Experiment

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 7

The Case:

Your friend, Richie McMillion, has been robbed! While he was out skiing yesterday afternoon, his favorite ship-in-the-bottle was stolen from his private office in his mansion. It is a collector’s item, and worth a lot of money if someone was to sell it on the Internet. Richie needs your help to get it back before something awful happens to it! In the hallway outside of his office, a video surveillance camera caught three people walking into the office during the time the ship was stolen.

The three suspects are:

Here are their stories:

Wally says he didn’t take the ship. His reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because he needed to water the live orchids in Richie’s office. He said that he forgot to water them yesterday, and only remembered today because he was out planting flowers in the garden and all the mud after he watered the flowers reminded him of the orchids.

Johnny says that he didn’t take the ship. His reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because he needed to collect some papers that he had left there by accident at the meeting he and Richie had had the night before. He had been outside giving his dog a bath just before he remembered about the papers, and rushed over to see Richie without even cleaning up. He didn’t find Richie, so he just went in to the office to get the papers anyway because he needed to write a report on them by tomorrow.

Barbra says that she didn’t take the ship, and that her reason for going into the office while Richie was skiing was because she needed to vacuum the carpets in the office. She said that she had been vacuuming up a salt, lemon juice, and cornstarch mess in the dining room when she remembered that she hadn’t vacuumed the office yet. She went to go vacuum the office after the kitchen mess was cleared up.

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12

Wally Watcher,the gardener.

Johnny Fast-Fingers,the accountant.

Barbra Spotter, the cleaning lady.

8

Here’s the evidence we’ve found at the crime scene: The thief left a ransom note written on a coffee filter. There was also some dirt left on the floor where the bottle was displayed that was

not there when Richie left his office. The thief must have left it! It looks as if someone stepped in it, but there isn’t enough of a footprint to match up with the suspects. We can use the sample of the dirt for other tests.

Hypothesis: Who do you think stole the ship?

Now let’s help Richie discover who stole his ship-in the bottle using chemistry!

Experiment 1: Ransom Note Chromatography

The criminal used a coffee filter from Richie’s coffee making station and wrote with a marker: I HAVE YOUR SHIP, DO NOT TRY TO LOOK FOR IT!We have taken a pen from each of the suspects to compare with the ransom note.

9. There should be four cups and three pens labeled with the suspects names. 10. Put four spoonfuls of water in each of the four cups.11. Take three strips of filter paper. Now we’ll use Wally as an example. Take

the pen that was confiscated from Wally and make a medium sized dot near the bottom, (but not at the bottom) of the filter paper strip.

12. Put the strip that you colored with Wally’s pen in the cup, with the bottom of the strip barely touching the water. Fold the excess of the strip over the edge of the cup so the paper doesn’t fall in.

13. Repeat this process with Johnny and Barbra’s pens.14. Now repeat step 4 with your strip of the ransom note. Put it in the cup that is

labeled “Evidence”.15. Watch for color changes as the water moves up the strips of paper.16. Write down your observations in your data table.

Is this enough evidence to prove that they committed the crime? Yes or No

Experiment 2: Flame Test6. You should have 4 cups with dirt in them. One cup labeled Wally, one cup labeled Johnny, one cup labeled Barbra, and one cup labeled evidence. 7. Add one or two spoonfuls of water to each cup to make it more muddy and stir. 8. Dip a metal scoop or spoon into the dirt solution and hold the metal scoop over the flame.9. Record what colors you see in the flames in your table.

Experiment 3: Testing the pH of the dirt sample.

We’ve collected samples of dirt from each of the areas the suspects said that they were coming from before they entered Richie’s office. We will compare these with the dirt from the crime scene and see which one matches!

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 9

Collected Samples:From Barbra- dirt from her vacuum.From Johnny- dirt from where he was giving his dog a bath.From Wally- dirt from the flower garden he just planted

1. Take four strips of blue litmus paper.2. Test each cup with a strip of litmus paper and see what color it changes. 3. Write down your observations in your data table. *If the blue paper turns red, the dirt is acidic. If the litmus paper turns a darker blue, it is basic. If it stays the same color, it is neutral.

Experiment 4: Iodine TestYou still need more evidence to convict the thief, so you decide to test the Evidence dirt sample with different chemicals to see if any of them cause a reaction. You found that iodine causes a strange reaction to occur.

6. Take the cups with the dirt samples that you used in Experiment 2 and use them for this experiment.

7. Take a pipette and suck up some of the iodine from the test tube. 8. Drop one drop of iodine into the cup labeled Evidence and see what happens.

Record the reaction in your table.9. Now take the pipette full of iodine and put one drop of iodine into each of the

samples of dirt from each of the suspects. 10. Record the reactions in your data table.

Compare data tables and figure out who stole the ship in the bottle and write their name below!

Turns out that __________________________stole the bottle! We know this because their sample of dirt matches the sample of dirt found at the crime scene, and their pen was the same pen used to write the ransom note.

We searched their belongings and found the ship hidden among them! But wait; there are two ships! The thief must have been planning to switch the real ship with the fake ship so we would think that it had been returned and we would stop looking for it. The two ships look exactly alike, so how can we tell which one is the real ship?

Richie has shared some important information about the real ship:The real ship-in-the-bottle was made in Bermuda. It contains white sand from Bermuda, which is one of the reasons why it is so rare and so valuable.

Experiment 5: Testing the sandSand from Bermuda contains calcium carbonate, a salt that will dissolve in a weak acid. The salt is what accounts for the sand’s beautiful white color.

5. Using a spoon, scoop a little of the sand from the cup labeled, “Bottle 1,” into a petri dish.

6. Using a spoon, scoop a little of the sand from the cup labeled, “Bottle 2”.7. Using a pipette, take some lemon cup from the sample cup, and squirt some in

each of the pipettes.8. Write down which sample fizzes and bubbles in your data table.

The sand that fizzes and bubbles is the sand from the real ship-in-the-bottle!Data Table:Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 10

Record the reactions from your Experiments here.

Who stole the Ship-in-the-Bottle?

Suspects

Experiment 1:Ransom Note

What colors did you see?

Experiment 2:Flame Test

What color did the flame turn?

Experiment 3:Dirt sample

What color did the litmus

paper turn?

Experiment 4:Iodine Test

What happened when you added

Iodine?Wally

Johnny

Barbra

Evidence

Experiment 4: Testing the Sands What happened when you added the lemon juice?

Bottle 1

Bottle 2

____________________________________________

Which Ship-in-the-Bottle is the real one?

___________________________________________________You found it! Here’s a letter of thanks from Richie McMillion.

My Dear Friend,

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 11

I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for finding my precious ship-in-the-bottle. Your deductive use of chemistry knowledge and skill astounded me to no end! I have decided that knowledge of chemistry is worth pursuing, and I have enrolled in an adult chemistry course at my local college. Thank you for inspiring me and for helping me find the thief. I have fired the culprit and they will have the judge to answer to for their crimes. If I ever have another mystery on my hands, I will surely call upon you again.

Sincerely,

Richie McMillion

Teachers Guide toThe Mystery of the

Missing Ship in the Bottle:

Teaching Concepts:Chemical Reactions

Deductive ReasoningAcid Base Chemistry

Forensic ScienceChemical and Physical Changes

This experiment should take about 40 minutes, not including pre-experiment set up time. This experiment was designed for 3rd-8th graders.

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 12

Materials:

(For a class of 20) Materials you can buy at Wal-Mart:Lemon juiceCornstarchDish Soap80 Plastic Cups1 bag of Plastic spoonsCoffee filtersCandles*Metal scoops/spoons*

Matches/ a lighter*

3 different types of the same colored marker (one has to be a Sharpie)5 pairs ScissorsWater Plain dirt (potting soil)Play Sand Popsicle sticks (to use as stirrers)Salt*

*only if you are doing the flame test.

Materials that you’ll have to buy specially for this experiment:IodineCalcium Carbonate (Tums)

Blue Litmus PaperPipettes

Iodine can be purchased at a drugstore, grocery store, and some convenience stores. You can buy small bottle at CVS’s online site: http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/shop_product_detail.jsp?filterBy=&skuId=732579&productId=732579&navAction=jump&navCount=3

Try to find Tums that are not colored, but are just white. These can also be purchased at CVS.

You can buy blue litmus paper and pipettes online:http://secure.sciencecompany.com/Blue-Litmus-Paper-Acid-test-P6260.aspx (at this site the blue litmus paper is only 0.95 cents for 100 strips)

You can find plastic pipettes online at www.amazon.com

Pre-Experiment Set up time: 20-30 minutesYou will have to set up the experiments ahead of time. Maybe while the kids are on a break or during lunch. Reading aloud the story or having students read aloud certain parts of the story is effective as well. Please print worksheets double-sided.

The experiment (not including pre-experiment set up time) should take about 40 minutes.It’s easiest for the students to work in groups of 4 and then have them work together at their station on all of the experiments. If you have a small group, it’s easiest to make stations for each experiment and have the group rotate through the stations. Experiment 1:Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 13

1. Lay out 5 plastic cups.2. Label one for Wally, one for Barbra, one for Johnny and one as “Evidence”. Label the last cup for Water.3. Take the coffee filters and cut them into strips. Leave the strips there so the students can access them.4. Take one full coffee filter and write on it with the Sharpie, “I HAVE YOUR SHIP. DO NOT TRY TO LOOK FOR IT.” This will be your ransom note. The kids will have to cut a strip from the ransom note to use in their test.5. Fill the cup labeled water with water and place a plastic spoon in it.6. Take the 3 different markers of the same color and label them. It does not matter what marker Wally and Johnny get, but Barbra can’t have the Sharpie.7. Place the markers in front of the cups.8. The Sharpie should not separate, but the other two markers should separate into different colors that are similar to each other.

Experiment 2/3:

Create the dirt samples-

1. Label four large plastic cups, one for Wally, one for Barbra, one for Johnny and one for “Evidence”. 2. Put some plain dirt into each cup. Depending on how many student you have, you may need to make more or less of the sample.3. Add plain water to Wally’s dirt cup.4. Add cornstarch, table salt (three or four spoonfuls, enough so it’s there, but the students can’t see it), and lemon juice to Barbra’s dirt cup and the Evidence cup.5. Add a little dish soap to Johnny’s cup.6. Mix all four of the cups with Popsicle sticks and add more water to each cup as necessary to mask the contents of the cups. Do not make them too muddy.7. Put a plastic spoon into each cup.

Set up the experiment-8. Lay out 5 small plastic cups, and label them. One for Wally, one for Barbra, one for Johnny, one for “Evidence”, and one for water. (If they are working in groups and not moving stations, they can use the same cups they used in Experiment 1.) 9. Put a Popsicle stick in each small cup, and a plastic spoon in the cup labeled water.10. Have the blue litmus paper out on a small plate or on the table for easier access for the students. The litmus paper is a little difficult to remove from the small container.11. Have a stack of extra plain cups, already labeled with the names of the suspects so each group coming through can start the experiment fresh.

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 14

Experiment 2/3: Flame Test

Set up this station with a candle or a Bunsen burner per group. You can take away or add this experiment based on the maturity of your students.

This experiment can also be done as one station and monitored by a teacher or assistant. The whole class can watch as the teacher or assistant burns a metal scoop of each sample. They can then write down their observations.

Or… If you think your students can handle having a candle per group, melt the bottom

of a candle to a plastic cup and give each a plastic cup with a candle in it (a Bunsen burner is preferable). Then in their groups they can use a metal scoop or spoon, dip it into the solution and then burn it over the candle.

For the flame test, just add a lot of table salt to Barbra’s sample and to the Evidence. The salt will burn a steady orange color. Some of the other samples may burn orange too, but that’s ok. Have the students write down what they see and the other tests will convict Barbra for sure.

Experiment 4: Iodine Test1. Lay tape out with the suspect’s names so the students know where to put the

cups. 2. Put the iodine in a test tube or a small cup. Label it “Iodine” and place a pipette

next to it.3. Have the kids bring the cups already labeled with the suspect’s names from

Experiment 2 to Experiment 3. (If they are working in groups, they would just use the same cups they’ve been using through the whole experiment.)

4. They can use the pipette to drop a small amount of Iodine into each cup. Barbra’s sample and the Evidence sample should turn blackish purple when iodine is added to them, because Iodine reacts with cornstarch (this is a chemical change).

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 15

Experiment 5: Testing the Sands1. Take the play sand and pour it into two cups. Label one cup Bottle 1 and the other

Bottle 2. 2. In one of the cups, add calcium carbonate (ground up tums) and mix it up.3. Put a plastic spoon into each of the cups with sand in them.4. Take another small plastic cup and label it “lemon juice” and pour lemon juice into

it. Place a pipette into the lemon juice.5. Label two places for the sample cups, and put some tape on the table labeling

them as Bottle 1 and Bottle 2. 6. Keep a stack of plastic cups nearby so the students who rotate to this experiment

can use a fresh cup. (Students in groups will need two cups, one labeled Bottle One, and one labeled bottle Two, so they can test their sand samples.)

Outcome: Barbra is the culprit. Experiment 1- her pen matches the pen used in the ransom note.Experiment 2- the litmus paper turns red for the evidence and for Barbra’s sample.Experiment 3- the flame should burn bright orange for the evidence sample and for Barbra’s sample. Experiment 4- The iodine will react with the cornstarch and turn the solution purplish-black.Experiment 5- The sand from the real ship will fizz and bubble.Cleaning up the Experiment:

Have the students dump their excess sand and dirt from the experiments into the garbage, not the sink.

You can have a small plastic bin for them to dump the excess dirt and sand and then dump the whole container later for an easier clean up. You can dump the bin in the dirt outside or in the trash.

You can rinse and reuse the plastic cups. Rinse them outside or into the garbage or the waste container to throw into the garbage later or to throw outside.

Sonia Vargas, The Mystery of the Missing Ship-in-the-Bottle, 1/26/12 16