Science Experiments

We do science experiments at least once a week. This week we took pictures. :) We really like our Sonlight Science program. (Definitely expensive, but you can buy it used for much less.) It's literature-based, uses lots of Usborne books at this level, and is very engaging.

This week's experiments were about "fizzing". To start with, we poured clear soda into a glass and dropped raisins in:


The carbonation bubbles were supposed to lift the raisins to the top. The bubbles would then pop, the raisins would sink, more bubbles would attach to the raisins, and the cycle would repeat. Our raisins are apparently too fat - they just wiggled around on the bottom. (No smart remarks from our readers, please!)

Next was the old stand-by, baking soda and vinegar.


About this time, Alex woke up from his nap and joined us. He was very cheerful and refused to sit still long enough to get his picture taken:



I poured vinegar into a glass, and Ethan stirred in the baking soda.


And of course the reaction was lots of fizzing.


The last experiment was the home-version of pop rocks. We stirred together 1 part baking soda, 2 parts citric acid, and 8 parts of powdered sugar:


After tasting the citric acid, here's Ethan's prediction of how our mixture would taste:




He was a little surprised at the fizzing:



But it was better than he thought. He even tried taking a whole spoonful, and discovered that's not such a good idea. Seems if you swallow it right down instead of dabbing it on your tongue, it fizzes in your throat. He gagged. Being a mean mother, I snickered and offered him another spoonful.

Our experiments today came from The Usborne Book of Science Activities, vol. 2.