It's Spring Break
from school here this week and so the grandkids are here for babysitting
servicesJ As
usual, they both wanted to do "some science." I've posted about some science experiments
we've tried here and here and here.
Today we tried
ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE. We didn't have the right type of hydrogen
peroxide…I only had the drugstore variety but for a really big effect you need
20% which can be purchased at a beauty supply store. However, the experiment still worked on a
smaller scale and both grands were happy with it as you can see….
Here is the
"recipe":
16 oz. empty plastic
soda bottle (narrow necks like Coca-Cola are best)
½ cup 20-volume
hydrogen peroxide
a squirt of DAWN
dish detergent
3-4 drops of food
coloring
1 tsp. dry yeast
dissolved in approximately 2 TBSP. very warm water
a funnel
a large pan with
2-inch sides
*safety glasses and
lab smock are recommended (but we didn't have these; used aprons instead and
there were no problems for us)
Directions:
*Stand the bottle in
the center of the pan. Place funnel in
bottle opening.
*Measure the
peroxide and add 3 to 4 drops of food coloring; pour this into the bottle.
*Squirt in just a
little DAWN.
*Dissolve the yeast
in warm water. Pour into bottle and
quickly remove funnel. (The weaker
peroxide does not react as fast so give it a minute.)
How does it
work? The addition of the yeast acts as
a catalyst which makes the peroxide molecules release oxygen atoms…or something
like that!
This is a safe
solution (using the drugstore brand) so the kids can "play" in it
with their hands but certainly caution them not to taste it! As always, my two wanted to "do
more" so we made different colors and swished them all together. All in all, it was another fun science
adventure. My hope is that I am
encouraging them both to be interested in all the wonders of science and that
they will always want to know more.
And then….we had
another fun thing happen today….
This is our backyard
pond. We counted 8 babies and 4
adults. They've been eating our grass
all day. Hope they leave some for my
yard!
Isn't Spring a grand
time of year?
