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In June, Chris Masi brought a little chemistry fun to Mrs. Larson's first grade class at the A.M. Chaffee elementary school in Oxford Massachusetts. The goal was to have a little fun and, of course, to do a little science. The students were asked to do two simple experiments and use the results of those experiments to do a little work.
The event was hectic, but fun. First, we had the kids squirt a little water on some baking soda, which of course was wildly unimpressive. Next, the students added vinegar, and they were all amazed to see bubbling. Of course, we had to talk about the bubbling, the gas, and how the word "gas" is used in a lot of different ways... Yes, even that way.
As a demonstration of the cool things that gases can do, we blew up a balloon. We had all seen the baking soda bubbling, making gas, so we asked the kids if they knew a way to use the baking soda to fill the balloon with gas; that is, they were asked if we should add water or vinegar to the baking soda to make it bubble. After they had considered their earlier observations, a number of excited students decided that vinegar and baking soda could make bubbles and those bubbles could inflate the balloon that was attached to a soda bottle. Off they went in groups of four—a balloon handler, a baking soda adder, a bottle holder, and a vinegar dispenser—to inflate their balloons. Once again, they were amazed that they had blown up a balloon with chemistry! Making the balloons fly off the bottle was even more fun.
We finished our adventure with a little rocketry. Since rockets are powered by expanding gases we thought it would be fun to use our baking soda bubbles to power some film canister rockets. In groups of two, with Chris's help, the students launched their own film canister rockets. These high flying little rockets were a hit.
If you would like to try this at an elementary school near you, please contact your National Chemistry Week Coordinator, Chris. We have goggles, and materials to help with this activity. You never know, you too might earn a Ms. Frizzle's Science Wizard Award.
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