Science Play - Bicarbonate of Soda & Vinegar

To show the children a chemical reaction I got out the bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and vinegar.  I put a bit of bicarb in the messy play trays and then filled some plastic egg cups with malt vinegar.  The children added the vinegar to the bicarb and loved the fizzing sound and watching the bubbles and flow of the mixture.  I explained how the bubbles were carbon dioxide which is the same chemical we breathe out.  Here's the scientific explanation 

Food colouring could be added to the vinegar in the egg cups for dramatic effect and to show what happens when different colours are mixed.

 

Science Play - Float or Sink

This week I decided it would be nice to introduce some scientific concepts into play with the children.  I did not take my science GCSE and must admit it was something that I lost interest in at secondary school but by researching experiments I found I had a renewed interest in the subject and it was fantastic to see the children learning and making predictions as to what would happen next.

The first experiment we did was:

Float or Sink?

This experiment is to show displacement in action.  I put a bit of food colouring in a clear plastic mixing bowl and filled it with water.  What objects sink and what objects float?  Why is this?  I looked for objects that were similar so we could talk about why one sank and the other floated.  I looked for things made from the same material that were different shapes as well as lots of different materials.  I also encouraged the children to go and find objects to do the experiment with.  The children loved guessing sink or float and placing the items on the correct piece of laminated paper afterwards.

Here is the theory and some other ideas.