Potions Class

There are so many things to do with Potions Class that it was hard for me to choose one thing. I ended up remembering this part of the movie and came up with my own Amortentia potion. My students thought it was hilarious because Amortentia is the love potion.

In my Harry Potter pack there is a worksheet that explains what Amortentia is and has students do a quick writing response. Then it has all the directions on how to make the potion. It is really simple (which, again, is why I love it) and students thought it was so cool.

Before I share how to make Amortentia, I want to share something neat I did with the ingredients to make the day a little more magical. I put all the ingredients in different jars and labeled them as “weird” ingredients. For example, Canola Oil turned into Snake Oil, and Water turned into Pegasus Tears. I have labels of all the ingredients as well as a “cheat sheet” that reminds you what each ingredient is named in the Harry Potter pack. 

For Amortentia, you need a tall, clear jar (a vase from dollar tree works – I had these containers from Amazon for something else and just used them) so everyone can see the potion do its “magic.” You also need oil, water, food coloring, and alka seltzer tablets. You can also grab essential oils if you want your love potion to smell. First students put the oil and water into the jar. They think it is cool that the two separate. Then I have them drop 5-8 drops of food coloring into the jar. Finally, they break up an alka seltzer tablet into 4 pieces and drop it in one at a time. This causes a cool bubbling effect. This is the same thing you would do to make a homemade lava lamp!

I also included a Potions Math worksheet if you have more time or if you have early-finishers. If you do the worksheet, I suggest showing this clip from the Harry Potter movies.

After Potions Class we needed a break from experiments (well… I needed a break). So we had Transfigurations Class and Defense Against the Dark Arts.