Sharpie Marker Tie-Die T-Shirts

This activity is designed to teach students that when 2 things react with each other it is chemistry. Students will explore drawing shapes on a shirt and observe how they change. Students will observe if one color changes more than another. Vocabulary words: rubbing alcohol, dropper bottle, react, observe, chemistry, scientist

This activity is appropriate for primary grades. A class size of 25 is manageable. It would be a lab type lesson that could take about 2 one-hour sessions to complete. Teachers would need to send home a letter asking students to bring an old or new white t-shirt to school before the lesson.
Other Materials Needed:
Tables or desk moved together to have students work in groups

Variety of colored Sharpie Markers
One plastic cup for each student
One rubber band for each student
One white t-shirt for each student

These t-shirts could be made for many different reasons, they could be used for the students' art shirt, their lab coat, class t-shirt to wear on field trips or just for daily use.

First you will want to start off the lesson by reading a book called What is a Scientist? or Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh. Ask students if they know what happens when you mix red and yellow together. Have a group discussion about what the word observation means. Ask some questions to get the students thinking about what it means to observe, for example what do you observe about your neighbor? What do observe is happening on the playground? You could then practice observing different things like students, teachers and the weather outside. Make an anchor chart with their responses, so you can refer back to them if needed. Then, explain to the students that they will be observing what happens when you drop rubbing alcohol onto a small design made by a Sharpie marker.

Steps to make the t-shirt

1.Open up the t-shirt at the bottom and stand the plastic cup inside the t-shirt.

2. Place the rubber band on the outside of the t-shirt around the top part of the cup, securing the t-shirt so it is tight.

3. On the open part of the cup, at the top where the shirt lays over it, draw a small design no larger than a quarter. You may use multiple colors or just one.

4. Then take the bottle dropper and drop 10 drops of rubbing alcohol onto the design. Then blow on it so it dries a bit.

5. Watch what happens! Ask the students what they observe is happening with the colors.

I typically have the students work on the front side of the shirt for about 30-45 minutes on the first day. Then after they have tried overnight they complete the backside the next day.

*****When t-shirts are complete they need to be dried in the dryer for about 10 minutes to set the colors. Then they may be worn and washed as a regular t-shirt.

This t-shirt activity came from www.stevespangler.com
Teaching notes

Make sure the student's designs are not too large. A good idea is to make a large poster with some design ideas so students can see what size the picture should be. Also remind the students to only put enough drops on so that their design spreads otherwise their t-shirt will get too wet.

Students will write or share in a large group discussion what they observed about the reaction and if they observed one color that spread more than another.

1.1.1.1.2 Recognize that describing things as accurately as possible is important in science because it enables people to compare their observations with those of others.