Tag Archives: carbonated water

Learning from Einstein

Einstein quote

I saw this as I was eating my breakfast this morning and thought how this totally sums up learning through play. And explains why today we revisited gas.

This morning we looked at gas with the more scientific frame of mind, attempting to create a gas by mixing a liquid and a powder. We caught and measured the gas in the balloons again.

As usual we made and recorded predictions, observations and our thinking about why it happened (training the mind to think!).

Only one person predicted their solution wouldn’t make a gas:

Natalie – “I predict no gas.”

 Everyone else predicted lots of gas would be made.

Innes chose a tablet and vinegar and predicted "a big gas"
Innes chose a tablet and vinegar and predicted “a big gas”
Lucy chose to mix a tablet and bubble bath and predicted "a big bit of gas".
Lucy chose to mix a tablet and bubble bath and predicted “a big bit of gas”.
Pearce chose to mix a tablet and vinegar and predicted "lot's of gas".
Pearce chose to mix a tablet and vinegar and predicted “lot’s of gas”.

In fact Sophia and Olivia selected their ingredients based on their past experience with the science. When asked why they had selected bicarbonate of soda and vinegar,

oooops explosionOlivia  replied: “Because it’s going to get bigger and explode!”

and Sophia said, “Because I want mine to get ginormous!”

So there were a variety of results depending on the combination chosen.

“Oh my gosh Sophia! That is soooo big!”  – Millie

The most interesting however was the bubble bath + effervescent tablet………

Gracie and Bramble were able to apply their previous science learning to their understanding of what had happened…

"We made a potion. It forced up lots and lots of gas and made the balloon bigger and bigger!" - Gracie
“We made a potion. It forced up lots and lots of gas and made the balloon bigger and bigger!” – Gracie
"The balloon goed bigger and bigger 'cause of the experiment gas!"- Bramble
“The balloon goed bigger and bigger ’cause of the experiment gas!”- Bramble

Smart cookies eh?!         3 smart cookies

For the afternoon session I took to heart another Einstein quote……

 Einstein quote play

So we just freely “researched” compounds and mixtures.

We had to use our hand and finger muscles to squeeze the ingredients out of the bottle – this helps us prepare to write!

And the phrases “Oh my gosh!” and “Look at mine!” were heard aplenty when the vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, effervescent tablets and carbonated water began to mix.

We used a huge amount of maths language as we were experimenting – “more” ,”less”, “after”, “next”,” first” ,”higher”, “heavier” ,”lighter” as well as hearning myself model more science vocabulary.

Did you know that the greater a child’s vocabulary before school, the more success they have in school? You can read research suggesting that here and here.

Also did you know that the average person produces gas 14 times a day? (Thought Patrick might like that wee fact!) Why not amuse your family with more fart facts?

I’m sure Einstein would have been very proud!

happy Einstein

 

Don’t forget to share the learning that your child shares at home and leave comments to let me know what you think of the experiments and the blog – especially any ideas or suggestions – Thank you!

balloons and gas

balloonsToday we looked and at and thought about balloons and gas. This was a follow up to Isla’s fab question last time:

beaker potion gas“What is gas?”

So we started with our balloon holding bicarbonate of soda on a bottle containing vinegar. We discussed what happened when we mixed these ingredients on Monday.

“The bottle fell over and it just fizzed a bit” – Alf

So the consensus of prediction was that the bottle would fall over.

The balloon inflated however, much to the children’s delight!

“Arrgh! It’s getting bigger! It’s going to explode!!” – Patrick

The gas inflated the balloon.
The gas inflated the balloon.

We squeezed and shook the balloon and bottle and thought about the bubbles (which were made by the gas) and we decided to investigate – could we make a gas?

“Yes!” – Daniel          “It’ll be like a bomb and explode!” – Patrick

We had bicarbonate of soda, vinegar, effervescent tablets, carbonated water, bubble bath, conditioners, shaving foam, caster and icing sugars.

We discussed safety as usual:

“Wash hands after.” – Innes      “Don’t pop the balloons!” – Alex

“Move if you think it’ll explode!” – Daniel

Again there was disagreement about how long it would take….

“25 hundred” – Daniel              “Just a minute or 2”    – Patrick

"It'll take THIS long"
“It’ll take THIS long”

We mixed various ingredients and had a variety of results:

“It grew bigger and bigger and exploded like a bomb! It was going EVERYWHERE!”  “It was because of the gas” – Patrick

Mine made stripes.
Mine made stripes.

In the afternoon I structured it so that we were much more scientifically looking at the gas first. The children could choose what to mix and predict if it would make a gas to inflate the balloon or not.

"It'll go POP!"
“It’ll go POP!”
"It might melt our eyes!"
“It might melt our eyes!”

It was not good, not enough gas”  – Finn

"I'm scared it'll blow up"
“I’m scared it’ll blow up”

“It was small”- Belle

“It looks like a rocket” – Isla C.

"It just made a little gas."
“It just made a little gas.”

Sophia gave us the quote of the day………

“I am OBSESSED with all this gas! It’s like a hundred billion! It’s amazing!” “How much gas are you making????”

science fair awardOur star scientist award has to go to Fraser though. He was one of the first to join the experiment and nearly the last to leave at the end of the morning. He quickly realised which ingredients gave the best fizzy results and experimented with differing amounts in various containers. FraserHe really focused on developing his learning about chemical reaction and gas! Well done Fraser!super scientist star

Why not have a go at some mad mixing at home to create gases and explosions? Any household and kitchen ingredients could combine33052-clipart-illustration-of-a-shocked-school-girl-conducting-a-chemistry-experiment-while-her-chemicals-explode to make an interesting and possibly smelly concoction! Our fizzy favourites have to be the vinegar+ bicarbonate of soda or the carbonated water + effervescent tablets + bubble bath. Let us know how you get on, share any cool pictures or results.

And remember you can find lots of science ideas on our pinterest page.

 Happy experimenting!

Christmas Science

At christmas time the learning continued (you may have noticed the onset of the season in some of the previous posts’  pictures).

It was only right that the science that we explored be linked to not only the previous sessions but also the festivities – helping us all to apply the learning in a meaningful context.

candy caneBuilding on our observations of the changing state of the foam from the Elephant’s toothpaste, we looked at changing states again but of sugar, in the form of candy canes.

We considered what happens to candy when you leave it in your mouth for a wee while. Then considered the results of different solutions – hot water, cold water, carbonated water, vinegar or oil.

The previous experiences influenced our predictions.

Put it in vinegar - it'll make bubbles.
Put it in vinegar – it’ll make bubbles.
"I think it's going to make rain!"
“I think it’s going to make rain!”
"It's going to be bright like a sun!"
“It’s going to be bright like a sun!”

"They will go red"[the liquids] "Carbonated water first, vinegar last"
“They will go red”[the liquids] “Carbonated water first, vinegar last”
So Matthew guessed the differences in the liquids would affect the candy canes the same way but over different times, most children predicted the candy canes would react the same way in all the solutions. But Mathew was closest.

Some of the candy canes had gotten a lot thinner! They had disolved!

We laid the left over canes out side by side so that we could compare them more easily.

The candy cane that had been in the hot water had almost disolved completely. The oil one hadn’t changed at all.

“The oil one will never change” Ramsay

We were quite intrigued about the differences and the disolving and so we came up with ideas of other things we could try the candy canes in.

Only Emily’s disolved in any noticable way, although they were all very very sticky which suggest the process started with them all in some way.

So now we know: sugar disolves in water but not oil, and the temperature of the water can speed up or slow down the process.

xmas einsteinWe also know science doesn’t need to stop at Christmas! You can always investigate H2Ho Ho Ho!

(Too far?)

For more easy science why not check out Pinterest.

Or Happy Hooligans has some fun ideas also.

Don’t forget to leave a comment or share your experiment and learning with us!

Happy experimenting

 

Mad Mixing!

Jordan

Inspired by Isla and Amelia’s interest we looked at potion making, chemistry and solutions.

We started of by thinking about what happens when things mix. Most children predicted it would just change colour.

It didn’t just change colour! It created a gas that inflated the balloon. And boy did the balloons inflate!

We decided to investigate what made the fizz and the gas.mad science potion Could we recreate the reaction with other materials?

The mad mixing potions began!

We used a range of household chemicals and substances : conditioner, bubble bath, baby oil, vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, effervescent vitamin tablets, warm water, cold water, carbonated water. And we got a range of results!

Why not have a look at our log books to see what we said about our potions.

It was so interesting we decided to try it again another day!

We were able to apply our learning from the previous time to this new experiment and were able to predict the results much more successfully.

Why not try some mad mixing at home? Any kitchen ingredients can make some crazy potions (and smells)!

If you want to find out more about home science why not have a wee look at Nina and the Neurons or The Royal Institution’s website for some ideas.

Don’t forget we have a Pinterest board with science ideas too!

Let us know how you got on – you could even send us photos of the mad mixtures through our comments.

Happy mixing!

mad scientist