Fizzy, Freaky & Fabulous Wactivity

Supplies:

– Plastic zip top baggies

– Sharpie

– Vinegar

– Corn Starch (just to make the vinegar opaque)

– Baking soda

– Toilet paper

– Food coloring (optional)

– One wacky experimenter (not optional!)

What to do:

– Decorate your plastic baggies as you like. Feeling seasonal, we went with ghosts, pumpkins and monsters! (But you can do this any time of year with any characters or designs on the baggies).

– Fill the baggies about 1/3-1/2 of the way full with vinegar. Add some corn starch for color, add food coloring if you want.

– When you are ready, put about 1-2 tablespoons of baking soda in one square of toilet paper and fold it up into a pouch.

– Put the pouch inside the baggie but carefully hold it out of the vinegar while you zip the pouch closed. When it’s zipped shut and you are ready, drop the pouch in and enjoy the reaction!! Screen Shot 2014-09-22 at 4.06.33 PM

NOTE: We did this outside to avoid clean up. If you are doing this inside, drop the baggies in a roasting pan or something to contain the mess!

SCIENCE NOTE: Curious what’s happening? It’s a chemical reaction. The vinegar is an acid. It’s fancy name is acetic acid. Baking soda is a base called sodium bicarbonate. When the two are mixed together, they react. One of the things released in the reaction is carbon dioxide gas. That’s what makes the bubbles and, if your bag is sealed nice and tight, the stretching and bursting of your bag!