Monday, April 23, 2012

ELEPHANT TOOTHPASTE


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?