Summer Science Club Experiments

This has been the greatest fun I have ever had in the summer.  Parents have asked me to continue the science program I have created for my kindergarten class.  I called a few parents of this years’ class and believe it or not, I ran into some others I have taught in past years and mentioned it to them. All were thrilled, and our once a week group has started.

                                           WEEK 1  Carbon Dioxide

Nothing is more exciting for kids than blowing things up, or shooting liquid into the air so we did carbon dioxide experiments. We talked about gas in the air that we need, which is oxygen, and how that is given off by plants and how they in turn they use the carbon dioxide we exhale. Then I said we are going to do experiments that create carbon dioxide that explodes.

1.      

A.We put vinegar and baking soda in a bowl to see what happens. Vinegar is an acid  and when combined with baking soda it begins to fizzle almost like an explosion. In class we use it to “blow up” the volcano’s we make when studying rocks and minerals. I also explained it makes carbon dioxide.

   

                                                                                                         

                                              

    B. The second thing we did was to put vinegar in a water bottle (about ¼ the way up) and about 2 teaspoons of baking soda in a balloon. Put the balloon over the bottle top and the baking soda will drop into the vinegar and create the gas (carbon dioxide) to blow up the balloon.

2.       Our next experiments were with dry ice.  Dry ice is carbon dioxide frozen.                                   

      A. First I showed how movies make the foggy air by putting water on dry ice. Kids love the foggy look but it sometimes frightens them when they watch a movie. After they see how it is made the scary part doesn’t bother  them                                                                                                 

          

  B. I put dish soap on the dry ice to make a bubble factory which always excites them.

                                                       

 

 

 

 

 After that I showed the reaction metal has when it touches dry ice—it sings, and different size utensils make different sounds.                                                                                                                                          

      C. For the culmination of our dry ice experiments we wanted to see if it would blow up a balloon bigger than the vinegar and baking soda one.  We did that two ways--1.one was putting dry ice into a bottle and putting the balloon over it. It did blow the balloon up. 2. The next question was what would happen if I put the  dry ice directly into the balloon.  The carbon dioxide would release so much gas until the balloon would get so big it would break with a loud pop—which was exciting to watch.

 

 

3.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Our next experiment was to use ½ cup hair peroxide (I used 40%) to 3 tablespoons dry yeast and a drop of food coloring. The effect was very pretty—The concoction blew up not into a gas but a soapy sculpture shape.

 

 

 

 

4.       Our most exciting experiment was diet coke and Mentos candy.  I made a tube out of paper that fit right over the top of the bottle to drop 4 Mentos in.  What a tall explosion! They thought this was the best experiment! It went at least 4 feet up.  We explained the chemical reaction to produce the gas again but continued on to see if other sodas react the same way—even diet coke by other companies (they don’t).

This first club day was so exciting no one wanted to miss the next one, even my  grandchildren  who gave up a day of camp to come to Gammy’s science day.

 

                                      SCIENCE CLUB WEEK 2 Polymers

 Mess was so much fun the first week I continued by making polymers. Thank goodness for being able to do all this outside.  We talked about atoms and molecules and what a polymer was. I visually show this by having the children hold hands and pretend we were molecules and have them move loosely around. I explain that polymers are molecules that make a plastic material that has movement.

1. Our first squishy experiment was making a polymer with corn starch and water in a big plastic container so they could step in it--I also used a plastic dish container from the dollar store. I let the kids put their hands in the containers to mix the water and starch together to form a slime which they thought was the greatest! Then I had them take off shoes and socks and step in it. To their big surprise it got hard and they could walk on it like a solid without the squishy feeling. Then they played with it again with their fingers and it was slimy again.  I explained how a polymer can get  and  be hard and soft just like plastic.

 

 

 

2. In a paper cup each child made crazy putty with 1 inch white glue, 3 tablespoons water, and 1 tablespoon borax (found in the soap isle of the grocery store). I use a Popsicle stick to mix.  This mixture was more dense and pliable than the corn starch. If you put more borax it can bounce.

 

 

3. For this crazy putty we used ¼ cup white glue to ¼ cup liquid starch and I added a little water to the glue.  This putty was even more stretchy, more like the flubber the kids buy in the dollar store.

 

 Before we ended we again discussed molecules and how to make polymers and named some plastics they used. At the end of the club I put all their putty in a plastic sandwich bag for them to take home.