Virgil’s Snow Globe

CEBU, Philippines — “What are you going to do with that cooking oil and flour, Virgil?” Ate Lisa asked when she saw her younger brother packing them in his bag.

Virgil replied, “We’re going to use them in our science experiment.”

Ate Lisa was confused. “Are you sure it’s Science? Don’t you mean TLE?” The latter is where students usually cook something.

“Nope. Science. We’re studying liquids and miscibility.” He explained.

“I’m not sure what you mean but flour is definitely not a liquid.” Ate Lisa said.

Virgil just nodded and didn’t argue with her. He continued packing other things from the kitchen like soy sauce, vinegar and even some kerosene, which he placed in a tightly-capped thick container.

“You seem really excited to go to school. Please wait, I still need to finish my coffee.” Mr. Ong smiled at his son, who was already by the door wearing his backpack.

In their science class, they were grouped into five. Each student brought something from home for their activity and they all placed them in the center of their group circle.

Teacher Sam gave the steps that they would follow. The first thing they were asked to do was mix oil and water.

“Why don’t they mix? Oil just floats on top no matter how many times and how hard I shake the bottle.” Rina voiced out her observation as she continued to shake the bottle.

“My soy sauce and vinegar mix just fine. Look, I don’t even see the vinegar anymore.” Karen showed her groupmates the mixture she created. “Teacher Sam, is it okay if I taste a bit of this?” She asked.

Teacher Sam gave her a thumbs up. She dipped her spoon handle in the bottle and licked its tip. “Oh, I can still taste the vinegar. Isn’t this the same as the dip we use for fried fish?”

“Very good realization, Karen. Yes, you’re right. That’s how you make the dip for fried fish.” They all clapped their hands for her.

Virgil thought how he could make something different from what his classmates already made. He looked into his pack and saw the flour and shook his head. He also found blue food coloring among the other things.

He placed a few drops into his half-filled water bottle. He beamed at his now blue water.

He opened his sachet of cooking oil and emptied it into the bottle. He jumped with excitement when he saw that the color of the oil contrasted with the blue liquid under it. Blue and yellow look great together.

Teacher Sam saw what he just made and asked him to shake the bottle in front of the whole class. “That’s amazing what you have there, Virgil.” She praised him.

“I think if I put in a small red toy in the bottle and shake it, I can make something similar to a snow-globe.” Virgil’s eyes lit when he said this, as his classmates cheered for him. — (FREEMAN)