Gizmos, Gadgets, and Goo - Wacky Fun with Science Week 1: Fizz! Sizzling & Explosive Science

Week 1 of Fizz, Boom, Read! Summer Reading Club:
Fizz! (Chemical & Physical Reactions) -- Come help us get our crazy science summer off the ground with some sizzling and explosive science!  
(For students entering grades 1-5)

Read: Amelia Bedelia, Rocket Scientist? by Herman Parish. Explain chemical ingredients of her pie – p.60, (optional: booktalk The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake)

Demo: Kid-Safe Elephant Toothpaste


3% - “ok, ours will be more like horse toothpaste...not too dramatic because we only have 3% hydrogen peroxide like the stuff you might use at home for cuts – what happens when you put it on a cut?” (note: local beauty supply had 20 crème version but that didn’t work well so used drugstore 3%)

Supplies: Put a 16 oz. empty bottle on a foil pan, insert a funnel, pour in ½ c. 3% hydrogen peroxide, then add 3-4 drops food color, squirt of dish soap, and 1 tsp. yeast dissolved in 2 TBSP very warm water (make this mixture at least 15 minutes beforehand).

Showed pictures of H2O and H2O2  – explained chemical reaction -- yeast, a catalyst -- a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change -- caused the H2O2 to split into H2O and O (heat), oxygen combined with soap to create bubble foam.)


Explanation from http://imaginationstationtoledo.org/content/2010/08/dinosaur-toothpaste/:  “The yeast contains an enzyme called Catalase that breaks down hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into oxygen gas and water. The oxygen gas gets trapped by the soap, and you get a large foamy solution that squirts out of the top of the bottle! The cool thing about this activity is that the enzyme Catalase can also be found in potatoes, dogs and even us! We have the same enzyme in our bodies. That is why you see the 3% hydrogen peroxide bubble when you put it on a cut or scrape. The oxygen released is what kills the germs in the cut.”
“Now I will show you some real elephant toothpaste!”

Show video: Patriotic Monster Foam from Steve Spangler https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDd3pGIyS7I


For real drama of our own -- went outside and demoed: Diet Coke & Mentos
Supplies: a couple of bricks to keep Diet Coke bottle upright, 7 Mentos (made a good show with room temperature Diet Coke, don’t know if using more would have been more dramatic), tube rolled of heavy-stock paper to use to slide Mentos quickly into bottle.



HOW DOES IT WORK? Why does mixing Mentos with soda produce this incredible eruption? Actually not a chemical reaction -- scientists now believe physical reaction:  http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/lab/experiments/original-mentos-diet-coke-geyser#sthash.GqRzqriH.dpuf

Came back inside – showed book How to Build a Fizzy Rocket – 507.8 SHORES. http://www.sciencebob.com/experiments/filmrocket.php



Craft/Experiment: Made construction paper rockets then headed back outside: Hands on explosive science -- film canister rockets.   Note: it is hard to find film canisters locally anymore (available for purchase online) and only the clear ones with tops that fit tightly inside work. (The black or grey ones with the tops that overlap leak.) We ended up having kids create their construction paper rockets around the black or grey film canisters then pulled those out and inserted the clear ones at launch time.  We swapped the canister, had each child don goggles, pour the tsp. of warm water in and add a ½ tablet, then a teen or adult quickly snapped on the lid and put the rocket down on the ground. (Supplies: safety goggles, film canisters, teaspoon, warm water, alka-seltzer tablets (we used a half tablet for each, but my teen volunteers tried it with a whole tablet and got more “explosive” results.)

Explanation: Chemical reaction -- water starts to dissolve the alka-seltzer tablet creating carbon dioxide gas. As the carbon dioxide is being released, it creates pressure inside the film canister. The more gas that is made, the more pressure builds up until the cap is blasted down and the rocket is blasted up.

Take Home project: Soda Bottle Boat (Related book: The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake) http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/sodabottleboat.html
Copied this two to a page:

		Soda Bottle Boat http://pbskids.org/zoom/activities/sci/sodabottleboat.html Related book: "The Magic School Bus Gets Baked in a Cake". Next Sci
		your results Materials Needed plastic soda bottle thumb tack toilet paper baking soda vinegar marbles Using the thumb tack, make a hole in the cap of the soda bottle. Take three or four sheets of toilet paper and put some baking soda on them. Spread the baking soda out evenly and roll up the toilet paper. This slows down the reaction between the baking soda and the vinegar. Put the rolled up toilet paper into the soda bottle. Also add some marbles so that the opening of the bottle is weighted down and the hole that you poked is in the water. Fill the bottle a quarter of the way with vinegar and quickly put the cap on the bottle. Place this in a tub or pool of water and watch it go! You can also do it without making a hole - loosen the cap.

Program inspired by: Soda Geysers & Film Canister Rockets! http://cheshirelibraryscience.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/g3-program-12-soda-geysers-film-canister-rockets/  –Thanks NDolan! 

Also love this program: http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2014/08/excellent-explosions-chemical-reactions-for-preschoolers/


Stay tuned for upcoming programs:
Week 2: Bang! Balloon-a-mania -- Ever heard a balloon scream, or made a balloon brain? Join us for as we explore a bonanza of balloon possibilities!
Week 3: Crash! Structural Engineering -- The Great Bridge Challenge! We’ll be taking a look at some famous shaking structures then building our own bridges -- and seeing which one can withstand the greatest weight.
Week 4: Boom! Energy Explorations -- Bounce on over to the library and join us for a great big bang with a marshmallow catapulting contest!
Week 5: Squish! Polymers, Diapers, and Goo…oh my! Be prepared to get messy as we explore the powers of polymers by dissecting diapers and mixing up a batch of Oobleck -- the original Newtonian solid (it behaves as both a solid and a liquid at the same time!)






Program plans for younger scientists:
http://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2014/08/excellent-explosions-chemical-reactions-for-preschoolers/