Discrepant Event – Needle Through A Balloon

Kaitlyn Oakley – ELM 420 – 2/5/2020

Materials Needed:

 Balloon(s) (preferably clear or a lighter color so you can see the needle)
 Needle(s) (metal or wooden skewer, knitting needle, sharpened coat hanger, etc.)
 Petroleum Jelly or Cooking Oil
 Q-Tip(s)

Time Required:

Approximately 10-15 minutes

Target Grade Level:

4th and 5th Grade

Links to Standards:

4.P.2.1 Compare the physical properties of samples of matter (strength, hardness, flexibility,
ability to conduct heat, ability to conduct electricity, ability to be attracted by magnets, reactions
to water and fire).

https://files.nc.gov/dpi/documents/curriculum/science/scos/support-tools/new-
standards/science/3-5.pdf

5-PS1-1 - Develop a model to describe that matter is made of particles too small to be seen.

https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/5-ps1-1-matter-and-its-interactions

Science Concepts Summary:

All things are made up of atoms. Atoms are the smallest units of matter that combine to
make molecules, which combine to make objects. A polymer is a substance that has multiple
molecules composed of many atoms bonded together, and most balloons are made of rubber,
which is a stretchy material made up of many polymer chains. When a balloon isn’t blown up,
the polymer chains are randomly scattered and in loose clumps. However, when the balloon is
blown up, these polymer chains stretch at the sides of the balloon almost to the point where they
would break. If you blow up the balloon with more air than it can stretch to hold, it will pop.

While the sides of the balloon consist of extremely-stretched polymer chains that aren’t
closely-compact, the top contains more rubber and more loosely-coiled polymer chains that are
close together. If you poke the side of the balloon with something sharp like a needle, it will pop
because the polymer chains are so stretched that they can’t hold and they break. If you poke the
top of the balloon with something sharp (and you do so carefully), you can keep the balloon from
popping because the polymer chains are not as stretched out and therefore be stretched more
without popping. They “allow” the skewer in between the polymer chains without breaking.

Everyday Ideas:

It was a little complicated to find research about students’ misconceptions about “what
causes a balloon to pop”, but something I found that connects is that students may have
misconceptions about materials and polymers in general. For example, students may have
misconceptions about the complexities and varieties of polymers, how their different properties
make them interact with other materials differently, and how the way they are stretched or
altered can have an effect on how other materials affect them. If students hold these
misconceptions, it’s not likely that they would be able to understand how the balloon wouldn’t
be popped when a needle is stuck into it.

How This Discrepant Event Confronts Those Ideas:

This Discrepant Event helps confront the ideas of materials at the polymeric level because for
one, when you look at the balloon you can see how the material is more “bunched up” and
compact at the top and bottom while the sides are “more transparent” because the material is
more stretched out. Also, you’re able to see the needle go through the top and bottom without
popping the balloon, and then seeing the same needle pop the balloon when it goes through the
side.

When and How to Use This Event:

I would use this event at the beginning of a unit to engage students in thinking about the
differences in materials and how they vary in physical properties like strength and flexibility.
This would also apply to the beginning of a unit on the properties of matter that are too small to
be seen.

Questions to Set-Up:

 How many of you have ever popped a balloon?

 What do you use to pop a balloon? Describe the kind of tool you would use to pop it.
 Will a sharp object always pop a balloon? Explain your thinking.

Questions During:

 Do you think the balloon is going to pop when I stick this skewer into it?
 Why do you think we have to put something like petroleum jelly on the skewer?
 Does it make a difference where I stick the skewer into the balloon?
 Now that I’ve put the needle into the top and bottom without popping the balloon, what
do you think will happen when I stick the needle in the side? Explain your thinking.

Questions to Summarize:

 Why was there a different result when I put the needle in the top and bottom vs the side?
 What are polymers and how did this affect the experiment?
 Is there something I could do to the balloon to allow me to stick a needle through it
without popping it?

Sources:

Needle Through A Balloon. (2003). Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

http://chemistry.elmhurst.edu/demos/

Pinkney, A. (2020). How are Polymers Utilized in Everyday Life? Retrieved February 4, 2020,
from https://uakron.edu/cpspe/agpa-k12outreach/lesson-plans/how-are-polymers-utilized-
in-everyday-life

Studios, R. (n.d.). Atoms Around Us. Retrieved February 4, 2020, from

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_intro.html