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DRC

February 16, 2021 @ 3:00 pm - 5:00 pm

Chemical Reactions

Recommended books:

Magic Tree House: Vacation under the volcano

Magical school bus: Voyage to the volcano

Volcanoes and Earthquakes by Patricia Lauber

Planet Earth

Mountains and Volcanoes By Barbara Taylor

Earthquakes and Volcanoes

Chemical Reactions Lesson Plans:

Objective:

  • Baking soda is a base, and vinegar is an acid. When the two combine, they make a gas called carbon dioxide. You can hear the fizz, see the bubbles, and even feel the fizz if you hold your hand close to the surface of the paper

Material:

  • Black cardstock or heavyweight paper
  • Baking Soda
  • Vinegar
  • Spray bottle or pipette
  • Craft Paint
  • Cups and mixing utensils
  • Paintbrushes
  • Clay
  • Dishwashing Detergent
  • Food Coloring 
  • Plastic containers
  • Borax
  • Cornstarch 
  • White glue or blue or clear school glue 
  • Warm water
  • Measuring spoons
  • Marking pen

Game: Sardines

This game is essentially a reverse version of hide-and-go-seek.

How to play:

  1. One person who is “it” hides and everyone else looks for him.
  2. Each player that finds “it” joins him or her in the hiding place.
  3. As the players find “it,” one by one, they all crowd into the hiding place and end up packed together like sardines in a can (hence the name of the game). The last person to find the hiding place is the next one to be “it.”

 

Baking Soda Paint

Material:

  • Black cardstock or heavyweight paper
  • Baking Soda
  • Vinegar
  • Spray bottle or pipette
  • Craft Paint
  • Cups and mixing utensils
  • Paintbrushes

Instructions 

1: Fill up a small spray bottle with vinegar and set aside.

2: In a few separate cups, mix a 1/2 tablespoon of paint with a tablespoon of baking soda. 

3: Draw a circle on a piece of black cardstock. 

4: Use the paint brushes to paint the Moon with different shades of blue (the paint should be thick). Let your Moon dry.

5: Once the moon painting is completely dry, use the spray bottle to spray with some vinegar it should start to fizz up.

 

Baking Soda Volcano

Materials:

  • Clay
  • Cardboard
  • Food Coloring 
  • Plastic Containers
  • Vinegar
  • Dishwashing Detergent 
  • Baking Soda

 

Instructions:

  1. Fill the empty drink bottle most of the way full with hot tap water.
  2. Add a squirt of dishwashing detergent and some baking soda (~2 tablespoons). If desired, you can add a few drops of food coloring.
  3. Set the drink bottle in the center of a pan or deep dish.
  4. Press the dough around the bottle and shape it to look like a volcano.
  5. Be careful not to plug the opening of the bottle.
  6. You may wish to dribble some food coloring down the sides of your volcano. When the volcano erupts, the “lava” will flow down the sides and will pick up the coloring.
  7. Paint Volcano and allow to dry
  8. When you are ready for the eruption, pour some vinegar into the bottle (which contains hot water, dishwashing detergent, and baking soda).
  9. Make the volcano erupt again by adding more baking soda. Pour in more vinegar to trigger the reaction.

 

Bouncing Balls

Materials:

  • Borax
  • Cornstarch 
  • White glue or blue or clear school glue 
  • Warm water
  • Food coloring
  • Measuring spoons
  • Spoon or craft stick
  • 2 small plastic cups or other containers 
  • Marking pen
  • Metric ruler
  • Zip-top plastic baggie

Instructions:

  1. Label one cup “Borax Solution” and the other “Ball Mixture.”
  2. Pour 2 tablespoons of warm water and 1/2 teaspoon of borax powder into the cup labeled “Borax Solution.” Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax. Add food coloring if desired.
  3. Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup labeled “Ball Mixture.” Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution you just made and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Do not stir. Allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds and then stir them together to fully mix. Once the mixture becomes impossible to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands.
  4. The ball will start out sticky and messy but will solidify as you knead it.
  5. Once the ball is less sticky, go ahead and bounce it.
  6. You can store your plastic ball in a sealed bag when you’re finished playing with it.
  7. Don’t eat the materials used to make the ball or the ball itself. Wash your work area, utensils, and hands after you have completed this activity.

Observations:

  • Observations you can make and then compare as you change the composition of the ball include the diameter of the finished ball, how sticky it is, how long it takes the material to solidify into a ball, and how high it bounces.
  • Experiment with the ratio between the amounts of glue, cornstarch, and borax. Adding more cornstarch will make a ball that stretches and bends. Using less borax will produce a “goopier” ball, while adding more glue will result in a slimier ball.

 

Idea came from How to Make a Bouncing Polymer Ball (thoughtco.com)

 

 

Details

Date:
February 16, 2021
Time:
3:00 pm - 5:00 pm
Event Category:
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