We had a fantastic time during "Mad Science Week."
The kiddos watched and performed a ton of experiments. We began with Elephant Toothpaste. The kiddos watched and listened to the directions so that they were ready to perform the experiment on their own in small groups. The looks on their faces were priceless when the reaction took place.
Elephant Toothpaste is a fun experiment that shows the reaction between 6% Hydrogen Peroxide, dish soap and yeast. The yeast is a catalyst and it makes the peroxide molecule release the oxygen atom faster.
The campers played with the foam soap and water with oxygen bubbles). They were very surprised to find the foam warm because this is an exothermic reaction.
I do explain the science behind these experiments. We have a mixed age group, so I keep things simple and expand upon ideas if there is an interest. I make sure that the campers are being exposed to science vocabulary, using science tools, following safety precautions during the process of experimentation, understanding the importance of observations, and are making connections between what they know and what they are learning about.
That afternoon, to continue our exploration of chemical reactions, we painted with pop rocks. They were able to see, feel and hear the carbon dioxide being released from the candy as it was mixed with the paint. This experiment/art project is always good for giggles, even from the big kiddos.
Tuesday, we made chalk rockets. I let the kiddos mix their own chalk paint (cornstarch, water and food coloring). It wasn't as messy as I had envisioned. They poured the paint into film canisters.
We headed outside and added an Alka seltzer tablet to each canister. We had mixed results. Some shot up and really splattered while others just tipped over, gave a tiny pop and oozed out slowly.
We concluded that the consistency of the paint, type of cap, as well as how full the canister was all influenced the results. This was a rather easy activity so I'm sure we'll experiment with it further in the summer. They all enjoyed playing with the chalk paint.
Magic Milk was our afternoon experiment. All of the ingredients are in your kitchen, so this is a fun one to do at home! Check it out here.
Did you ever wonder what makes disposable diapers so absorbent? We did. So...science experiment time. I pulled apart several disposable diapers to show the kiddos what was in the middle. We found cotton of course and a powder. After doing some research, we determined that the powder was Sodium Polyacrylate. It is a chemical that has the ability to absorb as much as 200 to 300 times its mass in water. So, we decided to test that. We began using just clear water, but it was hard to see. Lindsay suggested food coloring. She grabbed yellow. Use your imagination. Lots and lots of laughter filled the room and I had to send a disclaimer home to ensure the parents that we were not playing with pee pee.
During Bible this summer, we will be learning about the Fruit of the Spirit. Our introduction included a powerful object lesson. The Bible says, "Thus by their fruit you will recognize them." What kind of fruit would you want to be, like this good banana, or like this rotten banana here?
Rain forced us to spend Thursday inside, but we didn't let that stop the mad science. We learned about air pressure and raced balloon rockets and blew straw rockets.
To conclude our air pressure lesson, our final experiment was making water bottle fountains.
I wasn't on top of gathering supplies as well as I usually am, so a big thanks goes out to my husband and son for drinking 12 liter bottles of sparkling water so my kiddos could make their fountains out of the empty bottles! You can grab the directions for the experiment here.
Friday afternoon was spent observing the crystals that we grew during the week and
answering the question, "What was your favorite science experiment?"
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