Fun Science Projects

Though I try to make the kids keep up with reading and math over the summer, sometimes it's fun to turn a fun project into a learning experience. It all started with Diet Coke and Mentos:

Then we branched out to see what other combinations of ordinary ingredients would cause a chemical reaction. Here are a few others to try with your now-empty Diet Coke bottle!

Elephant Toothpaste:

*An empty 20 oz soda bottle (or any tall skinny clear container)

*Hydrogen peroxide

*Active yeast

*Warm water

*Liquid dish soap

*Food coloring

Mix ~4 oz of hydrogen peroxide with ~2oz of liquid dish soap and a few drops of food coloring.

Add this mixture to the soda bottle and place it in the sink.

In a separate container, mix one packet of active yeast with warm water, still and let sit for ~ 5 minutes.

When you are ready, pour the yeast mixture into the soda bottle (a funnel might be helpful) and watch the reaction!

Then we started thinking about reactions we already knew of and tried to figure out how to change it. So, we came up with this:

*1 cup vinegar

*a few squirts of dish soap

*food coloring

*1/2 cup baking soda

Combine the vinegar, soap, and food coloring to your bottle.

Using a dry funnel, add the baking soda.

Now, hold onto that bottle because there is one more project we have for it. Stay tuned!