STEAM with
Ms. Amy

🍎 June 1: Kitchen Science 🍚

Fire Snake

Did you know you could create a fire snake with sugar and baking soda? Watch this video to find out how the fire snake is made: Black Fire Snake

Make sure you do this experiment with a parent!

If sand is not available, you can still do this experiment. Just place ingredients on a smooth outdoor surface. Make sure you have water nearby.

Once you light the mixture, what do you observe? The snake should continue to grow for about 20 minutes. Why does the baking soda and sugar burn like a snake? When the mixture burns, the baking soda gets hot and it releases carbon dioxide. This causes a lack of oxygen in the sugar and creates carbonate and water vapor. The pressure from the carbon dioxide pushes the carbonate out to form the snake. Sugar and baking soda snake

Solar Box Oven

Did you know you could cook a pizza outside with the sun! Watch this video of my family and I making our solar oven and pizzas!

How does a solar oven work? The solar oven uses energy from the sun to cook food. The foil is used to reflect sunlight into the box. The plastic wrap covers the opening into the box and is used like a greenhouse to allow sunlight to pass into the box while also keeping the heat in. The black paper at the bottom of the box absorbs sunlight and helps to increase the temperature of the solar oven. Solar Oven

What could you make with your solar oven? You can definitely cook more than pizza! Here is a link for more recipes to use with your solar oven Solar Oven Recipes. My personal favorite is the smores. YUM! Send pictures to Ms. Laurel of your creations!

Make Plastic from Milk!

Watch this video to find out how to create your own plastic shapes from milk. How to make plastic

How does the milk turn into plastic?

When you poured the vinegar into the milk, you made a substance called CASEIN. This happens when the protein in the milk meets the acid in the vinegar. The casein in milk does not mix with the acid and so it forms blobs. What shapes did you create from the milk? You could also hang your creations if you place a straw inside the cookie cutter before it dries. Share your photos with Ms. Laurel!. Plastic from milk

Apple Volcano

Did you know you could make a volcano out of an apple? Here are the ingredients you need: An apple, a pairing knife, Baking soda, Vinegar, Spoon, Measuring cup, a Bowl to contain the mess. Have an adult cut a hole into the core of the apple. Place your apple with the hole face up in your bowl and fill the hole with baking soda. Next pour about ½ cup of vinegar into the hole. What do you predict will happen?

When the vinegar is poured onto the baking soda, a chemical reaction takes place that produces a lot of carbon dioxide very quickly. The large amount of carbon dioxide makes a lot of bubbles that “explode” out of the apple volcano. Apple Volcano

Could You Make Rice Dance?

In this experiment you will be using baking soda and vinegar again. Can you predict what will happen to the rice?

Fill a clear jar ¾ way full with water and add a few drops of food coloring.

Next add 1 tablespoon of baking soda and stir. Mix completely. Add ¼ cup of uncooked INSTANT rice and stir completely. Next add in 1-2 tablespoons of white vinegar. What is happening? You can add more vinegar if you need to. Is the rice dancing? Turn on some music and dance with the rice! Dancing Rice Experiment

Popcorn and Salt Science Experiment

For this experiment you only need 3 items: a glass jar and lid, 1 cup salt, and ¼ cup popcorn kernels. First pour the salt & popcorn kernels into the jar and seal with the lid. Turn the jar on its side and roll it on a flat surface so the popcorn and salt mix together. What do you predict will happen to the popcorn if you gently tap the jar on the counter? Does the popcorn and salt stay mixed? Tapping the jar against a flat surface loosens the salt so it falls below the popcorn to form a solid layer and the popcorn rises to the top of the jar. Popcorn Salt

Cleaning Pennies with Kitchen Substances

What substance do you think will clean some dirty pennies the best? In this experiment you will need some dirty pennies, some small cups, water, Ketchup, and 2 or more of the following: Vinegar, Coke, Mustard, Mayo, Juice, Milk, or Lemon Juice. Put a small amount of each substance into a cup. You can label what’s in the cup or place the bottle behind the cup. Now examine each substance. What do they look like? How do they feel? How do they smell? Which substance do you think will clean a penny the best? Place one dirty penny into each cup. Make sure the penny is covered in the substance.

Let the pennies soak for 10 minutes. Place a paper towel in front of each cup. Remove each penny from the cup and wipe off any excess substance with a paper towel. Place them in front of the cups. Which penny is the cleanest? Which one is still the dirtiest? Was your prediction correct? Did Ketchup clean the penny the best? If so, here’s why:

“Why do pennies get so dirty? This ‘dirt’ is actually copper oxide. Oxygen has a negative charge that is attracted to the positive charge of the copper in the penny. They react to form copper oxide. This is why bright shiny pennies dull with age. When we clean the pennies in the substances, we are creating a chemical reaction that breaks down the copper oxide. Ketchup is an acid that breaks down the copper oxide. It also has salt in it that helps break down the copper oxide faster.” Cleaning Pennies

Fireworks in a jar

Gather a glass jar, 4 tablespoons of cooking oil, food coloring, water, a bowl, spoon and paper towels. Fill the jar ¾ full with water. Combine 3 tablespoons of cooking oil and 3-5 drops of food coloring in a bowl. Stir the food coloring and oil. It will not mix! What do you think will happen when you pour the bowl into the jar of water? The oil will settle at the top of the jar and the food coloring will be the “fireworks” and drop into the water! What happens if you add 3-5 drops of another color of food coloring? Do they act like fireworks too? Why doesn’t the food coloring mix with the oil? Food coloring is made from water. Oil and water do not mix because they have different densities. The oil is less dense so it floats on top of the water. The food coloring is more dense, so it falls and mixes into the water. Fireworks in a Jar

Tornado in a jar

Now that you created fireworks in a jar, what about a tornado? What ingredients do you think you will need?

Start by filling up a glass jar with cold water, leaving 1”-2” at the top. Next add 1-2 drops of food coloring and glitter if you want.Then add 1 tablespoon of dish soap, 1 teaspoon of white vinegar and gently stir. Lastly, add the lid to the jar and start swirling the jar, holding on tight. What happens when you stop swirling the jar?

The jar is no longer moving but the liquid inside is still moving. Why is this happening? You created a water vortex - or tornado in a jar!

Further exploration: Do you get the same results if you use warm or hot water? Tornado Jar

Walking Water

Did you know you can get water to walk?

This experiment takes 2 days to complete! First place 6 glass containers in a circle on a table. Add 5-6 drops of yellow food coloring into a glass. Skip the glass beside it and add 5-6 drops of red food coloring into the next glass. Skip a glass and add blue food coloring to the last glass. Add water to all the classes that have color. Cut 3 paper towels in half the long way. Drape one piece of paper towel over the tops of two glasses all the way around. Now observe any changes. What is happening to the paper towels? What do you observe after a couple of hours? How about after 1 day? After 2 days? After 1-2 days, you should see some secondary colors appear in the empty glasses.

You created a color wheel! The color wheel is created because of capillary action - the same action that helps plants move water from the ground through its’s roots into their leaves. The capillary action allows the water to defy gravity and move upwards into the paper towel.

Growing lettuce

In this week-long project, you can regrow lettuce from a stump of a lettuce heart! You can use any lettuce. Place the lettuce heart in a bowl of shallow water. Make sure the water does not cover the lettuce. Place the bowl in a sunny spot and change the water every day. Label a paper with days 1-7. Check the lettuce after day 1. What do you notice? Write down your observations. Use a ruler and measure the new growth of lettuce. Write the measurements on your paper. Check the lettuce daily and write down your observations and measurements. What does your lettuce look like after day 7? How tall is the lettuce? How much did it grow from day 1? Further exploration: Try using different types of water in your bowl. Tap, purified, coconut. Which type of water did the lettuce grow the most? Send your pictures of your lettuce growth to Ms. Laurel! Lettuce from stumps

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