Who doesn’t love to make things explode in the kitchen? My kids will make a mess no matter what, so I figure I might as well promote some learning while they destroy my house.
I put together a kit for each of my kids, filling a basket with all the ingredients they would need for these experiments. All supplies are from the dollar store or Wal-Mart.
In addition, this gift will help them with:
reading
following instructions
measuring
understanding science: All the experiments have explanations.
I chose experiments that seemed appropriate for their ages and learning abilities. I also tried to choose experiments that would interest them.
Here we go!
1. SLIME
What you need
Instructions
What Happened
The glue contains a liquid polymer called polyvinyl acetate. The borax links its molecules to each other, creating one large, flexible polymer. This kind of slime will get stiffer and more like putty the more you play with it.
Reference: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/a/slime-recipes-project
2. BALLOON FIZZ INFLATOR
What you need
Instructions
What Happened
The baking soda and the vinegar create an acid-base reaction and the two chemicals work together to create carbon dioxide gas. Gases need a lot of room to spread out and the carbon dioxide starts to fill the bottle, then moves into the balloon, inflating it.
Learning and things to think about
Reference: http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/fizzinflator.php
3. EXPLODING BAG
What you need
Instructions
What Happened
The bubbles in the Bubble Bomb are filled with carbon dioxide, a gas that forms when the vinegar (an acid) reacts with the baking soda (a base).
Things to think About
Reference: https://www.exploratorium.edu/science_explorer/bubblebomb.html
4. DIET COKE GEYSER
What you need
Instructions
What Happened
As you probably know, pop is basically sugar (or diet sweetener), flavouring, water and preservatives. The thing that makes soda bubbly is invisible carbon dioxide gas, which is pumped into bottles at the bottling factory using tons of pressure. Until you open the bottle and pour a glass of soda, the gas mostly stays suspended in the liquid and cannot expand to form more bubbles, which gases naturally do. If you shake the bottle, then open it, the gas is released from the protective hold of the water molecules and escapes with a whoosh, taking some of the soda along with it.
What other ways can you cause the gas to escape? Just drop something into a glass of soda and notice how bubbles immediately form on the surface of the object. For example, adding salt to soda causes it to foam up because thousands of little bubbles form on the surface of each grain of salt. Many scientists, including Lee Marek, say the Mentos phenomenon is a physical reaction, not a chemical one.
Water molecules strongly attract each other, linking together to form a tight mesh around each bubble of carbon dioxide gas in the soda. In order to form a new bubble, or even to expand a bubble that has already formed, water molecules must push away from each other. It takes extra energy to break this surface tension. In other words, water resists the expansion of bubbles in the soda. When you drop the Mentos into the soda, the gelatin and gum arabic from the dissolving candy break the surface tension. This disrupts the water mesh, so that it takes less work to expand and form new bubbles.
Each Mentos candy has thousands of tiny pits all over the surface. These tiny pits are called nucleation sites – perfect places for carbon dioxide bubbles to form. As soon as the Mentos hit the soda, bubbles form all over the surface of the candy. Combine this with the fact that Mentos are heavy and sink to the bottom of the bottle and you've got a double whammy. When all this gas is released, it literally pushes the liquid up and out of the bottle in an incredible soda blast.
Reference: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/original-mentos-diet-coke-geyser
5. MINI HOVERCRAFT
What You Need
Instructions
Reference: http://www.howcast.com/videos/181515-How-to-Build-a-Mini-Hovercraft
6. ART IN A JAR
What You Need
Instructions
What Happened
Food coloring dissolves in water but not in oil. Because the oil is less dense than the water, it will float at the top. The colored droplets will begin to sink because they are heavier than the oil. Once they sink into the water, they will begin dissolving into the water (which looks like a tiny explosion).
Reference: http://www.icanteachmychild.com/fireworks-in-a-jar/
7. MYSTERY MATTER
What You Need
Instructions
What Happened
When we talk about states of matter, we usually talk about the three types: solid (like a rock), liquid (like water) and gas (like the air we breath).
A mixture of cornstarch and water make what is known as a suspension. When you squeeze a Cornstarch Suspension it really feels like a solid because its molecules line up. But it looks like a liquid and acts like a liquid when no one is pressing on it because the molecules relax. This is another state of matter, called a suspension (It can act like a liquid, or, when pressed like a solid.).
8. LAVA LAMP
What You Need
Instructions
What's happening
The oil and water you added to the bottle separate from each other, with oil on top because it has a lower density than water. The food colouring falls through the oil and mixes with the water at the bottom. The piece of Alka-Seltzer tablet you drop in after releases small bubbles of carbon dioxide gas that rise to the top and take some of the coloured water along for the ride. The gas escapes when it reaches the top and the colored water falls back down. The reason Alka-Seltzer fizzes in such a way is because it contains citric acid and baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), the two react with water to form sodium citrate and carbon dioxide gas (those are the bubbles that carry the coloured water to the top of the bottle).
Reference: http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/experiments/easylavalamp.html
9. BOUNCY EGG
What You Need
Instructions
What Happened
What did you observe when you placed the egg into a jar of vinegar? What did you see after leaving it for one whole day?
If you noticed small bubbles forming around the egg, that is completely normal. After some time you will notice that the bubbles grow bigger and eventually rise to the surface of the white vinegar. After some time, the egg will start to float due to the bubbles that have gathered around it. The shell of the egg then starts to decompose because of the vinegar. After a week has passed, notice that the eggshell has decomposed completely. Once you take it out, feel the texture of the egg. It feels leathery doesn't it? Now, what's even more exciting is that it will bounce if you try to bounce it against the floor. Try it!
Now what is the explanation behind this? The Magic Egg experiment actually demonstrates the process of osmosis. Osmosis is the movement of liquid from a solution of lower concentration to a more concentrated solution through a semi-permeable substance. Permeable means fluids or gases are able to pass through the material. In the Magic Egg experiment, the vinegar slowly diffuses through the eggshell until it dissolves it completely, leaving the egg rubbery or leathery in texture.
So what is in the vinegar that gives it the ability to dissolve the eggshell? Vinegar is an acid. Specifically, it is a dilute form of acetic acid, which reacts with calcium — the primary component of eggshell. As the eggshell breaks down, carbon dioxide is produced, which appears in the form of bubbles. Leaving the egg immersed in the vinegar will cause its shell to dissolve completely.
Reference: https://explorable.com/magic-egg-experiment
10. MARSHMALLOW CHALLENGE: CAN YOU SINK A MARSHMALLOW?
What You Need
Instructions
When you drop a marshmallow in water, it floats like a balloon. A marshmallow is full of air bubbles, which puff it out. The sugar in the marshmallow gets spread out over a large area, making the marshmallow less dense than water. So how do you make a marshmallow denser? You have to make it smaller.
To try the marshmallow challenge, take a mini marshmallow and squash it. You can do this by smashing it between your palms, rolling it between your fingers, or smashing it against a flat surface. Try to roll it into a ball rather than flatten it into a pancake, because a pancake shape floats better than a ball.
When your marshmallow is as small as you can make it, drop it in water. Does it sink? If it does, you’ve made it denser than water. You beat the marshmallow challenge!
Reference: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/blog/guest-contributor/density-in-action-can-you-sink-a-marshmallow/