Vinegar and Baking Soda Reaction Fun (Experiment)

Today we had a few guests over for class, a close friend of mine who also homeschools her kiddos.  We always have a good time when we get the kids together so I decided that we'd do a craft that I've been dying to try from The Mother Huddle blog using classic ingredients, vinegar and baking soda.  I decided (since it was school hours), to make it an educational venture as well.  Like I always say, why knock-out one bird when you can take out two with a single stone...hehehe! 

I followed the directions from the craft mostly just to give this exercise the special twist that makes it magical, but because I used it as a science project, I had to explain what we were doing in a little more detail which took away from the magic a bit.

I used four different food colors, I put a drop into each spoon, then covered the drop with about a half tablespoon of baking soda.  Next, I filled five glasses with 1/4 cup of vinegar and placed my trays out for the kiddos to get ready for the magic to happen.

We went over a print off that I made based on information that I found at Apple-Cider-Vinegar-Benefits.

They learned the chemical make-up of baking soda and vinegar as well as the symbols for each component as represented on the periodic table.

  

After which, the fun began! 

This little guy is who I wanted to keep my eye on just to see his reaction to the bubbling magic.  He did not disappoint me either.  I didn't get a shot with my time delayed not-so-smartphone, but the reaction was priceless just the same. 

His face lit up once the reaction started happening, he even had to take a few steps back (all the way to the refrigerator) and put his hand over his gaping mouth in his amazement.

I really wish I'd gotten the shot:(

I think all of the kiddos enjoyed the activity and perhaps even learned a little about gases and the two reaction that take place when baking soda and vinegar are mixed.

Little man definitely understood the acid base reaction after the experiment and the decomposition reaction that took place.  He actually explained it quite elegantly.

I loved the color twist from the craft, that gave this experiment the extra flare that it needed.  If I had to do it differently, I would have made the preceding lecture much shorter and let them get to the experiment faster and then talked about what happened and explained the symbols.

I gave them each a colored marker based on the color that they had during the experiment, and let them put together the molecular structure of the components that were used in the experiment...they did good!

All in all, I think it turned out well and it was a nice (educational) way to end our school day with our friends.

~Blessings~

Claudea B.



Magnificent Magnets

Preschoolers love science! Nothings more fun than hands-on discovery of new things. One very simple yet exciting object for preschoolers to explore is the magic of a magnet. What could be better than playing with a magnet, how about playing with two magnets! The following are a few science activities using magnets that your preschooler is sure to love. Magnificent Magnets Science Exploration What you will need:

• Two magnets
• Shoe box lid
• Small objects that will stick to the magnet and some that will not
• paper cut out figure (can be characters of a story, such a the Three Pigs)
• Glue
• Paper clips

Now that you have collected all of your items, you are ready to have fun with magnets!

1. First, spread out all of the small objects that you've collected and explain to your preschooler that some of the items on the floor will be "attracted" by the magnet and some will not.

2. Next, have your preschooler experiment with picking up items with the magnet. It may be interesting to hear what your preschoolers hypothesis is on why some items are attracted and some are not. These types of conversations are always fascinating and I encourage you to ask questions. Also, be sure to point out the common denominator of the objects that are being attracted if your preschooler misses this point by sheer excitement.

3. While your preschooler is engrossed in trying to find all of the things that will stick to the magnet, take a few minutes to glue a paper clip to your paper cut out figures. While that dries for a few minutes, ask your preschooler to try to pick up another magnet with there magnet. Discuss the differences between trying to pick-up the other magnet using opposite sides.

4. Now that your paper clips have had time to adhere to the cut-out figures, ask your preschooler to help you put on a magical show. Place your cut-out figures face on top of the shoe box lid (paper clips touching the lid). Next, have your preschooler put there hand underneath the shoe box to move the characters...magic!

I'll be back next week with more on science for preschoolers!

Science for Preschoolers: Part I

Typically thinking about science may conjure thoughts of glass beakers, periodic tables, and scientific methods. However, science for the preschooler is a bit more simplistic in nature. You can still expect your preschooler to use six crucial thinking steps to utilize science. The following is a list of the six thinking levels. 1. Your preschooler is able to discover! This may be the most exciting step and the most natural because it is a preschoolers' full-time job to discover. As the parent/teacher, you can encourage your child to think about what she is discovering by asking questions about what it is she is discovering. 2. Gathering information is something that a preschooler seems to do just as naturally and goes hand in hand with discovery. Preschoolers love to ask questions and that gives parents the okay to ask questions as well. You can ask "why do you think...?" questions to get a good idea of how your preschooler views the world. 3. Understanding is the next thinking level of science for a preschooler. Again asking questions of your preschooler but these questions are more of the "why did that happen?" or "what did you notice?" questions. 4. Experimenting is a level of trying new things with an activity, some variation. This is a perfect opportunity for asking the child about their observations of the comparison between the two scenarios. 5. Evaluating ideas accessing the different scenarios. You would ask "What would happen if we try this?" to encourage the child to explore different hypothesis in their mind. 6. Adjusting is the last level and this happens when a hypothesis or what they thought would happen, did not turn out quite the way they expected. Now the questions that are relevant are again "why do you think....?" You can observe these levels of thinking in your preschooler as you create situations for them to learn from. I will be posting some age-appropriate science activities next Sunday, as a part of a four part series, to give you some ideas of everyday things that can be used for scientific exploration.