Saturday, July 5, 2014

Bottle Rocket Experiments

This activity addresses Next Generation Science Standard
5-PS1-4.Conduct an investigation to determine whether the mixing of two or more substances results in new substances.

When I first started with the Recycle! Create! group, I thought that I was challenging myself to develop activities for my children.  However, it has become very obvious that my older children, T-Rex in particular, are beyond that.  They still need guidance and supervision , but they can do their own projects.

So, if you will indulge some Mommy bragging, I would like to show you their bottle project.

T-Rex wanted to use vinegar and baking soda to launch a bottle.  Pony artist wanted to try it too, so they each carefully measured baking soda and vinegar and recorded the amounts in their journals.


prompted them to mix their ingredients at the last minute and we set up our rockets out doors.




We were not thrilled with the results, so we went in and journaled.  It was time for me to take care of Little Diddle, so they did not get to try again that day. 


 Our basic problem was too much baking soda.  I pointed this out, so the next time they had time to work, T-Rex adjusted the amount.  It was perfect!  It reacted quickly and explosively!  All over me, so no pictures.

The next step will be to figure out a mechanism that allows us to get things set up before the explosion.  We have done some work on it, but no success yet.  I will let you know if we figure it out. If you have an idea, we would be interested to hear it.





Do you have your own ways to use bottles?  Join the Link up!






4 comments:

  1. What a fun idea!

    And, even though they didn't go as hoped the first time, it's great they were able to learn from it and try again!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks! I agree. It was fun to watch them figure it out.

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  2. I love how they figured out the problem and fixed it too!

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